no pictures, but my FIL would use 3" PVC pipe that was 18-24" long and drill holes in the bottom 3-4". He would water into the PVC pipe and it would "slowly" drain out. He used this mainly for his tomatoes, I did it for a while but didn't see much use in it, may try it again.
Tomatoes need a lot of water, and they need it consistently, to avoid skin splitting. using a dripper system means that the problem of skin splitting by inconsistent hand watering is reduced.
Friends in Alabama have a unique method of container gardening, with irrigation. They buy a hard plastic kiddie pool. Fill fabric Walmart reusable shopping bags with potting soil, and plant their seedlings in them (they're made of polypropylene, like fabric "grow" bags are). Put those in the pool, along with a mosquito dunk or two. Fill the pool with X amount of water, every morning, from a hose. They say it works great! For those worried about the mosquito dunks, they're made with Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis. (B.t.i.). And while it's lethal for mosquito larvae, it's safe for other living things.
The aquaponic system I built started with a trough about 20' long, gravel at the base and dirt on top. The trough had about a 20 degree slope to a 40 gallon fish tank with feeder goldfish. A solar panel and small battery drove a boat bilge pump on a timer and delivered the water to the top of the trough. One perfectly complimented the other.
