I'm getting ready to bottle tomorrow. I am going to use the priming sugar tablets that come premade since that seems easiest. There is a slight bit of sediment (or yeast?) at the bottom of my fermenting jug (1 gallon). How should I go about filling? Should I leave the siphon above that sediment so that I don't get any into my filled bottles? Or is it okay to just put the siphon all the way to the bottom.
The siphon is designed draw above the sediment. If your sediment is especially thick you can always hold above it, but it doesn't sound like you have that much.
Although you say it is probably yeast, typically hop residue makes up most of the trub so if there is a chance it contains some hops, you should try to avoid siphoning the residue. Like JohnSnowNW says, an auto-siphon has a tip that protects against picking up much trub. However, if you are using just a tube and the cut end is open and unprotected, you should hold it above the trub. You'll probably get a little bit in the first bottle, so keep it off to the side and mark the cap so you'll know to use this one for your first test bottle to see if carbonation has reached the proper level. Try not to move the hose after that first bottle is filled because it will have cleared a small area on the bottom of the fermentor and the rest of the bottles should be pretty much free of residue.
A little sediment is ok. A lot of sediment wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's generally better to leave a little beer behind in the fermenter than try to get every last drop of beer and a lot of sediment. The racking cane shouldn't be touching the bottom of the fermenter. Just take your time and don't move your fermenter around. Try to keep all of the trub at the bottom of the fermenter. FYI: I usually prime a 12 oz bottle with 1/8tsp of table sugar with good results. Make it an unlevel tsp if you need more carbonation for an IPA or a wheat beer.
