I was using a combination of the soaker hoses and 1/4" drip that had small holes. I had hoped that the vacuum on top would draw air bubbles up. When I tried to put holes in the bottles, they drained way too fast. It worked a little better with a rigid bottle. But there were still problems with controlling flow. I also tried having just a normal bottle with a couple pinholes in the bottom and trying to control flow by loosening the cap. I either got no flow once the bottle collapsed, or emptying a 2 liter bottle in a couple hours, when I was aiming for a couple days. If I tried this again, I would try using one large container, then find a better way to put a hose into it, and use a water timer. Then have all the individual containers fed by a single source. Probably a lot closer to Nancey's. But I'm thinking self-watering containers will be my plan for the future. I'll have to drag tons of water to the balcony anyways, but not having to figure out watering evenly will help.

50' is definitly a little far for 1/4" drip tube. I love doing planter boxes and balcony pots. I would have done this run with 1/2" poly to get to the boxes. If you spend some time planning the route of the pipe, you might even find it possible to hid a lot of the run behind siding and trim. Once you are close to the boxes you can build a drip manifold and run your 1/4" tube, 2 to each box if needed. You could also try using a bubbler or spray type emitter instead of a drip emitter, they put out much more water. However I'm not sure your 1/4" run is supplying enough water to make much of a difference, even if you took the emitters right off.

Actually since I posted my original question, I did more investigating in the basement, attic etc. The plumber's rough sketch gave the wrong impression...he drew it with the "exit" mid-way between a 2 inch drain line (for old sink; I think/hope this is totally dead/capped) AND a 3 inch drain...so I think he MUST have used the 3 inch drain, and just did the drawing very inaccurately. He also told me the "exit" was in the exterior wall, and I'm pretty sure that's wrong too. I think the 3 inch pipe runs down an interior wall, about 3 feet in from the exterior of the house. The toilet (with no change in location with remodel) rests over that interior wall, which is directly over the main stack for house. (But toilet drain has to go about 2 feet horizontally to reach it). Apparently he didn't care how accurate his description/sketch was! He was "let go" by the owner a few weeks after he did our bathroom; not a good sign. In the meantime, the owner of the firm did not show up when I was told he would, (yesterday) and they're not returning my calls, at least not yet. They're making me very nervous. Yes, the owner is licensed and I assume the employee who actually did the work is licensed. A permit was pulled; we have the CO (but as I said in my "much too long" question), the inspector barely looked at the plumbing. The contract says the workers must be licensed. Maybe I just need to be more patient. Will call again tomorrow, and also call the carpenter/GC who recommended them to ask for his help. If no luck, will bring in someone else to fix the problem(s). Hopefully will be fixed for less than my outstanding balance. If fixing costs less, I'll pay him the difference despite the fact that he is jerking us around. If not, will bill him and take legal action if he doesn't pay. I've never had contractor problems and this is the 4th major project on house. I think I treat people with respect and I try to be professional and knowledgeable. I just wish they'd at least call. Lainie

@Patricia Colwell @ci_lantro If you ever wanted to know what happened with this project, I kind of forgot to update. I'm not sure hiring a professional was right for this job as you would have needed a plumber or handyman skilled with second floor laundry who have seen this setup before or they would have been guessing just like us We were fortunate to carefully fix it up ourselves. We cut through the metal around the "drain" to preserve it (glad we did!) and removed the rest of the decaying pan. We worked with what was there to find an inspection panel and a drain. Unfortunately the drain was really clogged and we spent a good amount of time working on and cleaning the drain to get it working. Whoever installed it (or clogged it) previously was not confident in it as we found an old shirt tied around the pipe. We got a smaller pan from Killarney Metals that did the job we needed even if just for the washer (sturdy and smaller in front for a pull out drawer). We had to custom make (including metal shaving) our own flange and inner pipe to original pipe setup. We also re-did the walls and floor. We also caulked around the trim for extra protection. In case anyone ever finds this later and maybe needs the outcome.