moonowl I am glad the videos helped. I only did one bucket last year and it was much larger and produced 75 or so peppers compared to the one I had inground that was much smaller and yielded only 20 peppers, I did pull it out of the bucket after the season was over and all I can say was I was impressed with the root growth, the bucket was full from top to bottom of prolific roots. I did modify the system they show by using 4" net pots instead of the plastic cups as the wick, the solo cups just seemed a little too frail for my liking, and yes it seems to be a great alternative to growing inground. Christopher. p.s. I wish I would have taken some pictures to share.

Hi, Ellen - Wicks you intend to use to drain the soil needn't be as absorbent as those used to supply water from a source below the soil. To illustrate, saturate your soil in a plastic cup that has a drain hole in it. Allow it to stop draining, then push a toothpick part way into a drain hole so it hangs below the container bottom and observe how much additional water leaves the pot after flowing down the toothpick. Usually, leaving about 3" hang below the container works very well, but there is no harm/disadvantage in using longer wicks. I use strands from a 100% rayon mop head. Al

fruitnut, Thanks. We don't have a water shortage. I'm trying to find a way to decrease the burden I put on the neighbor who waters for me when I'm gone. While I don't know anything about a drip system, I'm considering trying that for some of my pots. However, the pots I'd most like to use a drip system for wouldn't have access to a water spigot. I'd consider using a rain barrel. Even If I had to top it off with a hose before I left, it might decrease the neighbor's work. But because I have no idea how much water my pots consume, I don't know if 50 gallons would go very far or not. (I can't run an experiment at this time. It's only 10 degrees out.) Do you have any idea how much water a potted blackberry, blueberry, or cherry might require on a daily basis? Thanks.

dgr, Don't know the level of your pocket book. But a centrifugal pump is somewhat expensive to purchase and run for such short bursts of time. These pumps are good at lifting but run a higher volume. So you would be starting and stopping the pump. You might look at filling a pressurized tank which would do better at feeding trees 300 feet away. A tank 15 ft in the air only gives you about 7 psi which is not strong enough for long lines or frequent drip interval. I would talk to a local irrigation or pumping person to map out what you want. Go to more than one person to get a good feel of the local costs and configurations. Aloha