gg,

Are the emitters 1/2 gal per hour? How many plants and what type will you be putting in your 18 gal. I grew tomatoes in mine and they started out using very little water in the beginning and up to a gallon and a half per day when I started harvesting. How much water did you supply your plants previously? Aloha

I haven't bot anything yet, thought I'd ask people with some experience what they do first.

I grow all kinds of stuff in containers with pretty good success. I never measured water before just put the hose to it and let er run.

1 big tom in 18 gal container
1 bush early girl in 4/5 gal bucket
1 chile pepper per " "
2 squash plants per 18 gal container

I am thinking of getting a 1/2 gph dripper for each tomato in 18 gal container and run it every couple hours to equal 1 1/2 gal that you said that you use at the height of the season. I water very sparingly when transplants are first set out. **My biggest question is will a single 1/2 gph dripper spread the moisture out to 10 inches on each side or is it better to get (2) 1/2 gph dirppers or a 1 gph?

A few suggestions:

1. Use an adjustable emitter
2. Change the emitter in a few weeks if needed
3. Add an extra emitter later on if needed

Regarding the question about will a .5 gal emitter spread moisture out 10 inches? Yes, if left running long enough. Naturally a 1 or 2 gal emitter will do it quicker.

If you don't want to fuss with adjusting the emitters or changing them later on, I'd probably go with 1 or 2 gal emitters and simply run your system less in the early season and more in the late season.

FWIW, seems my local stores all sold drip emitters in 5 or 10 packs and were quite expensive. I found a nice website for inexpensive drip emitters and cheap shipping. They also answered my emails and helped me select the right stuff.

http://www.dripirrigation.com/

gg,

I would use more emitters or even drip tube in a small circle to apply water faster and in more of a spread pattern in the container. Do you have a reservoir area at the bottom of your container with overflow or holes in the container bottom to allow through drainage of the soil? My containers are the Earthtainer type that feeds water from the bottom. I replenish only what the plant uses. Aloha

I have holes at the bottom for drainage. I am going to use 2 drippers 1/2 gph for each large tom container and 1 dripper for my 12" buckets that house chile peppers based on everything I've taken in over the last few days. I can add more if needed or run longer and at the same time I will have a simple ball valve to turn water down on lines if needed.

For a tote like that, a shrubler makes more sense. They are ajustable, but you will need shorter irrigation times. (I think they typically run several gallons per hours.

If you want to use emmitters, get cheap flag emmitters. They take apart for cleaning, and you can substitute the core of a 1 gph or 2 gph emmitter into the original 1/2 gph body to change the dripping size.

One way to get even watering is to use old towel or bedsheet on top of the peat moss, but under the mulch. It will act as a wick.