Over here and in hotter countries Oyas are used. These are terracotta pots sunk into the ground around plants and filled with water which leaches out into the plant roots and surrounding soil. Not widely available in the UK in larger sizes I don't think when I looked on line.
As I said previously we tried a solar powered pump with battery operated timers but found that it used too much water unnecessarily. It was also quite expensive (I think about £180) so it wasn't very good value. It needed a lot of monitoring which the drip system doesn't, our only problem is that there is no water on site so the tanks need to be high enough for gravity to work but low enough to refill from containers if the water levels get too low. My OH spends quite a lot of time filling containers and transporting it to the allotment.
Do you have a close source of water? How do you plan to fill this automated watering system?
I think a waterbutt two feet off the ground with a batter timer switch attached to the tap with two or three outlets, depending on your square footage. Buy some cheap hose and drill holes along it on one side spaced either four inches apart or where your plants are (eg for cucumbers hills or tomato wells). Plug up the end or kink it over a few times and tie it off. You'll need to experiment a bit with hole size.. I drilled mine a bit too large first and with it being a tap from the mains the pressure blasts holes into the soil.. not good for seedlings or small plants. With yours being gravity fed you'll have to find the sweet spot between enough water freely flowing out and water reaching all the way to the end of your hose line.
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