Well water versus city water depends on the quality of both and in most cases is six of one, half dozen of another. As far as emitters, high flow emitters generally will result in the water not watering evenly as it just runs through the pot. A couple solutions are use lower flow emitters for a longer time period or use emitters that disperse water over a greater area such as the misters or mini sprinklers (inverted types). Another solution is to add more drip type emitters (of lower flow). Example, a 1gph emitter delivers the flow you want, but not the coverage. Use 2 1/2 gph emitters. It does take some experimentation to get things dialed in the way you want. For larger pots you might prefer the drip hoses with emitters prebuilt in with 6" spacing. Wrap them around the pot to get a more even dispersal of water. Also keep in mind that just because the surface isn't evenly wet this doesn't mean a couple inches below the surface the same is true. The water tends to fan out horizontally as it goes downward.

Hi Cramps, Please describe your ditch water take off system and filtering system in more detail. For example, do you siphon water out of the ditch or pump it out. How big is the ditch and is it a concrete lined ditch or more of a stream? How fast does the water flow in the ditch? Where is the ditch located in relation to where it is needed (elevation difference)? Is 40, 120 in microns units? Physically describe how the filters work? Is cost a major factor in your decisions? The pressure compensator emitters are the easiest to clog because of the torture track that the water must move through to get out of the emitter. Good for preserving pressure but lousy for keeping the emitter free from clogging. How much surface area does your filter expose to the water surface? Please start with this info and forum members can discuss some improvements or alternatives. If you don't feel like answering questions to fill in the info gap, then I suggest you do some experiments. Try a short run with 40 filter and put a container under a drip emitter and record the depth over time. In a month do it again and see if there is a or decrease in depth in the container. You can do it more frequently if you like. Do the same with an 80 filter and 120 filter. At the end of your experiment cut the tube and look inside and see what got by your filters. Also have a sample of water sent for analysis to a soils lab and they can tell you the sizes of particles that you are dealing with in the stream. What ever you do please post your result or decisions back here on Garden Web. thanks. JMHO Aloha

I think feeding it on every watering is fine--as long as you make sure to dilute the plant food concentration appropriately. Since the plant food is normally only given once every 7-14 days, make sure to dilute it in the feeder down to only 10-15% of its normal strength if you plan on applying it for each feeding. For example, my own plant food that I use says to give 1 tablespoon per gallon every 7-14 days. Since I like to water each day and spread out the plant food evenly, I give 1 tablespoon for every 7 to 14 gallons of water, but water my plants with it daily. I'm sure with a little scribbling on a notepad and a cheap calculator, you can figure out the right ratio to give for your watering rate. It's actually been said that this method is even better for the plant, since it avoids those "feast or famine" periods between giving it good dose of plant food one day followed by nothing but normal water for the next 7-14 days. Also, if you are looking for a fertilizer injector, be sure to check that you are able to acheive the minimum volume of water needed to activate the injector. Most "water pressure operated" fertilizer injectors that I have seen need a minimum of 30 gallons per hour (1/2 gal/minute) of water flowing through it in order to inject the accurate ratio of plant food into the outgoing water stream. Any less than that and it may likely just sit there spitting out plain "unfertilized" water. You might not have enough plants and enough water flow to be able to use a fertilizer injector properly. Since you mentioned that your drippers were 1/2 gph drippers, then I would figure that you would need at least 60 drippers going simultaneously in order to meet the 30 gph minimum. Just my humble opinion...

This happens to us on a regular basis. Hubby fixes it. We don't have a winterization problem though. Ours is heat and critters. Drought causes critters to go for a drink where they can. We have walkie talkies here on our acreage, and the last thing I remember the other day was saying, "Hey!" He responds "What?" I respond. "We are watering the driveway!" Huge leak! He carries leak repair stuff with him when he does his rounds.