Well I can only tell you what I use. I have tried several different ones over the years but prefer to use Earth Juice products, primarily Earth Juice Grow and occasionally Microblast for tomatoes and thier Bloom for some other vegetables. It is a liquid and mixes easily and is organic and low in salts. I mix 1 T per tank gallon and feed approx. every 3-4 weeks starting just AFTER first fruit set.

Mine is a siphoning system so with a gravity fed system you might have some settling-out and need to monitor and/or remix.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Eath Juice

Dave, that is so cool! I am dying for some pics of your garden. I wish I lived close to you, several other posters also, you all seem to have it going on!

I've posted many pics in the past couple of years and a few of last year and 2008 are in current threads. None so far of this year as I'm in the process of finally giving in to the need to fence. The $%(%#@&^ armadillos have really done me in this year.

They have always been a moderate problem but this year over the course of 3 nights they took out half the pole beans rows, all the carrots and beets, and most all the broccoli and cabbage. All that work down the tubes! Managed to salvage a bit but most that still can be will have to be re-planted.

I'm too old to be climbing back and forth over fences and such. Maybe fence stiles will make a come back. ;) With the sons' help we should have most of the bigger gardens fenced in by first of the week.

With your containers it should be easy to set up a small drip watering/fertigation system. All you need is some plastic tubing, a drip emitter for each bucket and one of those in-line MG feeder things - the one that will accept a hose on each end - and a cheap manual water timer for the faucet.

This is some of my containers from year before but you can't see the drip set up on them. It just runs across each container, dead ends in the last pot and the timer turns it on and off each day automatically. With the containers I feed weekly.

Dave

Thanks for the info Dave. I located a local source for the Earth juice. I understand the use for the Grow product, but am confused about the Microblast. Is one better than the other for my situation? Their website wasn't too clear on the use for Microblast.

Microblast is strictly micro-nutrients - no N-P-K. It is magnesium, boron, cobalt, iron, zinc, etc. Since micro-nutrients can leach out of containers with watering just as N-P-K do and micro-nutrient deficiencies show up in the plants, I supplement with it a couple of times a season. You can add it to the drip or use it as a foliar spray.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Mineral deficiencies in tomato plants pics

Mr digdirt

Like your set up. I am going to do a drip irrigation this yr for my containers and hope that you might give a little advice.

Do you use emitters that are 1/2 gph or 1 gph per container? Also how many times and for how long do you water those big brown pots?

Your armidillo problem is my rabbit problem.