Here you go

I have about 20 containers ranging from 20-30" in diameter all loving Al's gritty mix. I've been using the "Mister" brand irrigation bought at the big blue home improvement store for about two months now, and my fruit trees (dwarfs and tropicals) are doing excellent. For containers, I use the small stake that have a head you can adjust for for drip rates 1 to 10 gallons an hour. At the highest setting, it sprays about 10 streams 12-14" in diameter. You say that you need to spray out 22-23", but I find that my large containers (topped with decorative pine bark) are sufficiently moist at the perimeter with this particular dripper.

My system is attached to a timer (also Mister brand) and is set to irrigate twice a day at 6 am and 6 pm for 15 minutes each watering. I've also ran various misters to my flower and garden beds and now my fears of thirsty plants (especially with Al's fast draining mix) have abated. Nightmares of my wife forgetting to water my plants when I'm out of town have ceased...priceless :P

justaguy2's link is awesome, and the products appear siignificantly cheaper. I will definitely give those products a try in the near future.

However, setting up a drip irrigation system might be daunting to the novice (it was for me!) so I would suggest you browse the Mister section (near plumbing) at that big box store to get a sense of what you need to buy (everything is a la carte...actually there is a ready to go system for containers, but I find it lacking. They have pamplets and instructions on each item there. If you need more description, please feel free to ask.

Thank you so much. That C-Frame downspray sprayer looks interesting or would the tornado mister be a better choice? I've looked at the HD store but the people there seem to know as much about drip irrigation as I do. The only pressure regulator they have is 25 PSI, the different spray heads seem to call for different pressure settings and the HD people didn't know if the regulator they had would work with the different spray heads.

I got all my stuff from Lowes. Used a 50 PSI regulator so I could use both drippers and misters. I've found that HD is hiring younger and younger employees which in my experience have not been too helpful either. If you are interested, here is a link to a $10 off $25 coupon which has saved me lots of money. You could use multiple email addresses for more coupons. Expires 7/30/08.
http://www.loweswinners.com/LifeTakesVisa/lowesVisaLanding.aspx

This is the C sprayer. I buy from the drip store.com. I do think going to the big box and checking things out is a good idea first. They do walk you through it if you research drip irrigation on line. {{gwi:40652}}

I use a drip irrigation emitter called a 'spitter'. They are from Agrifim a commercial maker of drip system components from Israel. Nurseries in this area with a large stock of containerized shrubs and trees in 5 to 15 gallon containers, use them. They are available in four outputs varying from 17 gal per hour to 4 gal per hour. With well water with high iron and manganese content most misters are not compatible. I buy mine from Harmony Farm Supply at www.harmonyfarm.com Al

I now have my C sprayers. I'm connecting to an outside faucet. I have the backflow preventer, 200 mesh filter, Y splitter, timer, pressure regulator and 1/2" adaptor. Are these in the right order or does the timer come after the pressure regulator? The other side of the splitter will go to the watering system for my earthboxes once they're done for the season and I can level them.