im starting a thread to bring together peoples different and creative ideas of holding vessels for seeds and seedlings to mature trees. most often the industry standard is the standard for a reason but sometimes theres something better or cheaper hiding in plain sight.
if youre doing something different because its better or because your frugal id love to see it! feel free to discuss the merits and application of these alternatives vs the standard as well.
ill go first. being interested in root pruning i came up with these two ideas. one was to use poly batting to create grow bags that had a simple woven seam where you could quickly pull it out and release the plant:
these were pawpaws but i have some figs in them as well. i think they do what their intended goal is but they do take a while to assemble each one so probably not worth it on any scale.
another idea ive had for cheaper pruning tree tubes is plastic craft mesh. i believe they are made of nylon so not sure of the longevity from uv but i havent noticed anything over the 1 season of use. they were partly shaded, though, because they were also housing pawpaws:
the cool thing with these is i made cuts in them to hold their shape which also allows you to undo them when it comes time to planting. you can just plant the tube and pull it out! maybe an upgrade would be to use a pole/stake hotdog wise to hold it together and then you can use it as a tree tube after planting and it provide enough shade and trunk protection one downside is there is no bottom so i lined the bottom of a milk crate with some of the poly and that worked well. the 10.5"x13.5" size with some overlap to hold them together made them the perfect diameter to fit 3x3 in there:
as an upgrade to this idea, this year im going to up pot my figs, into milk crate that are lined in the poly as im going to be keeping them short and squat to be able to be moved in for the cold.
what are yall using for taller tree seedlings for things like pawpaws or persimmon? ive seen some use pvc pipe(might be on the expensive side) or tar/roofing paper. was thinking tyvek might work well here
I’ve gotten containers from restaurants, recycling centers, discount stores etc… refuse to pay full price for a friggin’ pot. a local discount store had white 5 gal buckets for $1.50 each. i bought 30. they also had qt. painting buckets for .30 i bought 20. can always use them for pots, storage whatever. i used to use the fabric pots but they dont last and you’re always watering them. i still got about 500 containers i scavenged from working at the university cafeteria.id have them set the containers the food was in, aside for me.
I have the cheap Chinese pvc bags and they are not bad. But there is no denying potted trees of equal age are bigger.
Thankfully the wife’s estate sale business allows a wealth of reclaimable pots of all types. Plus a bevy of garden chemicals and supplies. You just never know what is coming.
Currently we have two reclaiming projects. First a potato field under muck out hay. And a Jon boat becoming a planter deal. We are lining the potato field with a lot of old cinder blocks we nabbed.
Very creative. We can get some plastic pots pretty cheap here like 15g for $3.50 and 25g for $8. When I first started gardening I was doing a lot of the air pruning pots but I found them to be annoying to water. I have some plants that like plastic more than the grow bags, but I do have some avocados and jujubes doing very well in 25g growbags.
Now I have drip setup so watering isn’t really an issue, but moving pots still is so I still prefer plastic. Those square milk crates with the poly bags look like the best of both worlds
i also have set up a drip system so watering really isnt an issue. i think my more permanent trees will go in pots vs trying to do them in pruning setups. though, i still like the idea of getting square grow bags that fit perfectly inside a milk crate or lining them with poly batting which would be cheaper.
since they are sized to fit the milk crate you can create little water reservoirs our of cut in half milk jugs, which seems fitting:
Great topic. My perspective is from the POV of an urban gardener, not someone producing for a nursery kind of situation. I have a small footprint and limited container needs.
I like the larger yogurt containers (32oz) for smaller plants. Punch some holes in the yogurt pot and use the lid as a plate for the bottom (I grow a lot of starts indoors).
I have been surprised at how easily we have gotten cheap/free wine barrels. These are of course not practical for any use aside from established plants, but I’ve been surprised to find that this is by far the cheapest source of large containers for us. And they look great. Being in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are near wine country (Napa, Sonoma). We have a friend with a winery and get them free, and have learned that it’s hard for wineries to offload them all. It’s common to find really good deals (especially considering typical Bay Area prices), and with a little effort, I think these can be easily had for free.
For raised beds, has anyone experimented with using pallet wood or sheet metal as a makeshift bottom to deter the inevitable escapee (raspberry, etc.)?
One other thing I’ve considered is to make planters out of concrete, but I heard this is discouraged because it raises the pH by quite a bit. Anyone have experience with concrete planters? Potentially with a liner (like a garbage bag) this would be a cheap alternative that may be viable
Some friends of mine have a pot maker that uses wet newspaper and a mold. You just wet some newspaper and lay it over half of the mold, then you put the other half of the mold on that pushes the paper into a pot shape. You let it dry in the mold and when taken out they hold their shape and are surprisingly tough. I wish I knew where I could get one.
I have about 200 new to me fruit trees ordered… so im going to bag them up in pvc pots this spring and plant them this Fall. I reckon something like this is what will happen.
Potatoes- i am going to use old storage totes and old trash cans. Whatever will hold dirt.
I have asked some family and friends to look for ones they dont use or need in exchange i will provide them with some of my yield.
My local state road was cleaning out ditches and ROW… on a road that gets no salt… so i got 20 tons of good topsoil to use.
Free woodchips now as they are cutting canopy.
More and more i want to use what is trash/refuse to some and make treasure.
one downside is there is no bottom so i lined the bottom of a milk crate with some of the poly and that worked well. the 10.5"x13.5" size with some overlap to hold them together made them the perfect diameter to fit 3x3 in there:
