There is absolutely no reason why it would not work. Another way would be to buy one bucket and attach a drip line to it and run the drip line around the tree.

I think it would work too. I also think you'll be surprised at how few holes you'll need to make in the buckets in order to have them emtpy out. I've made a couple of vacation waterers in the past out of similar buckets (with the plan that they would drip longer than what you're describing) and it's always surprising how quickly the water drains out, so I'd say test-drive with plain water and just a small hole or two and let us know what you do and how it works out.

You can always also try those fertilizer spikes and clear an area of mulch, hammer them into the soil, water and go, but they do need to be where there is frequent deep irrigation so placement might be an issue. I think your idea is a fun experiment--keep us posted!

Take care,
Grant

Thanks for the feedback! I guess I'll give it a try. :)

Grant, you're right about the holes, of course -- I hadn't even thought of it, but GPH drippers have tiny holes, don't they! Obviously this system wouldn't have the same water pressure behind it, but even so, you're certainly correct that a couple small holes will do it. Especially because I do want it to drip, and not flood... feed the tree, not the mulch.

Thanks again.

It is actually a great way to fertilize. My neighbor does it with just 1 bucket all of the time for his palm trees and roses (I know it is 1 small hole in the bucket). I use a siphon device from Hozon. Make a concentrate in a 5 gallon bucket and hook up to a hose. It sucks it out of the bucket at a ratio of 16:1 and then I just put it down with a hose sprayer. I think it easier than continuously filling buckets and carrying them. I think my application rate is about 1 gallon for 12 seconds.

Neat, keep us posted on what you do and how it works out. Hozon sounds cool too, I'll check that out.

Happy gardening everyone,
Grant