Thanks for the info, PV. I especially appreciate the pictures. I am in a very rural area, but I do get down the mountain once every month or two and will check things out again next time I am in town. The cheap plastic containers in the second picture are from a Home Depot-type store? I like those for the small plants and think I will get those. As for larger plants, trash bags sound fine to me, as I am not concerned about looks, but I do worry my youngest dog might think they are there for her to destroy- we actually are extremely vigilant about taking trash out with us every time we leave the house because otherwise she loves to tear open the bags and spread her new found goodies all over the house! Any ideas for large containers- shallow or deep? When I googled I found some really cool things like wine barrels and wooden crates, but these things are more expensive than the huge heavy planters at the Home Depot than I cannot not afford to buy. I must not be looking in the right places...

Tacy - the plastic containers in the 2nd pic are actually nursery pots which I got from an online greenhouse supply company. I garden on an 11th floor balcony, so I have to keep things light; I bought a bunch of those pots in a few sizes and they have held up well for me - eleven years now. I'm transportation-challenged, living in NYC, and have come to depend on online sources for a lot of my supplies. Here's a link to an example of what I'm talking about - Blow Mold Containers.

The heavy, decorative pots that Home Depot/Lowes, etc. carry can get very pricey, but they should have decent sized plastics for not too much. I've gotten 15"-square pots for $5.00 - they can hold a tomato plant or a couple pepper plants, or other stuff. I've used them to grow eggplants and mini-cauliflower plants.

Other sources for cheap(er) big pots might be Sam's Club or BJ's, if those stores are available to you.

I see from your page that you have a large yard - have you thought about raised beds? They could be easy to build - a rectangular wooden frame filled with soil, and planted out - perhaps even using square-foot gardening principles. You might want to look into lasagna gardening beds as well. I'm not a ground-gardener (yet), so not much to offer there.

Expediency is the mother of invention. Just let your imagination roam when it comes to containers for growing.
A laundry basket (for example) lined with a trash bag - with drainage holes, of course - and filled with soil has to be good for growing something. I always figure that my plants will be so lush that the container won't be noticed!

PV

You can look in hydroponics under Sustauinable Hydroponics for idea's on growing , well everything with now waste water or soil to handle. Or go to Photobucket.com and look under ChristianWarlock to see methods that have been in use for years. there are several albums so look under the all albums list too.

You could use grow bags, I got some 10 Gallon Sunleaves grow bags on ebay for $1.59 each. I also make self watering containers out of walmart 18 gallon storage containers, I think they are around $4 each, and 5 gallon paint buckets are never more than a few dollars

I have the same problems as you, with trying to find cheap containers. This year I experimented with milk crates and landscape fabric. So far, it's worked out pretty darn well. I'll try to post pictures of them.

Basically what I did was measure, cut, and sew the landscape fabric so that I made a rough cube, with enough fabric at the edges to let it overhang when I stuffed it into the milk crates. It gives plenty of aeration, and plenty of drainage.

I figured out how to make a good tomato container as well, using two stacked milk crates. I cut out the bottom of one, using a heavy duty serrated knife, then I cable-tied them together. Then I just made an extra tall landscape-fabric liner, filled with soil, and planted my tomatoes. They seem to be pretty happy, at least with all the room.

You'll have to invest a little cash into buying the landscape fabric, but not too much -- $10 for 3'x50' at Lowes, and it gave me quite a few containers. The milk crates I scrounged around for (free). You don't have to use milk crates though, anything that will support the fabric is fine because you're just using it as a frame. So, I had left over wire laundry baskets that I used for containers, old wicker baskets, an old plastic hand shopping cart, an old wire trash basket....

We used plastic containers from kitty litter w/drilled holes for homemade earthbox type containers - they came out to roughly 4.5 gal. I've heard others get 5 gal. buckets from fast food joints/restaurants (used for pickles, etc.) I also recently purchased some "Root Pouches" (similar to Smart Pots) that appear to be a heavy interfacing type fabric. Haven't yet used them, but will explore the possibility of sewing my own if they work. ;)

Anything that will hold dirt that you can make a hole in (and cut off the top of some) will work. Margarine containers, soda bottles, sand bucket with lost handle, coffee cans, trash can, produce styrofoams... There are several discussions about this on the frugal gardening forum. If you're buying bagged soil for something big like tomato, you can just use the bag the soil came in. Cut an "X" and slip your plant in. Poke some holes around the edge, at the bottom, in case it needs to drain from a rain.

If you're growing short edibles, try using gutters. Here's a link showing gutters attached to a wall. http://pinterest.com/pin/218495019391180502/

I've also seen 1/2 round gutters or large diameter PVC pipe cut in half lengthwise w/ holes drilled along the 'bottom' -- add dirt and hang the new growing bed along the balcony edge where it gets some sun. You can hang multiple lengths of gutters one under the other with as much space in between as you choose.
If you need 5 gallon buckets, go to a restaurant that sells Asian food. They buy soy sauce in 5 gallon buckets and usually just throw them away.
I've used different size plastic buckets from Dollar General or other thrift stores -- drill or punch a few holes in the bottom and plant 'em up. Leave the handle on the bucket if you want to move your plants around later. Big plastic mixing bowls work too. None of these will last more than 2 or 3 seasons in full sun because the plastic will become brittle but they are very inexpensive to replace. They also can be found in fun colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gutter Planters

Have you considered buying those big heavy-duty plastic 'muck buckets' and drilling holes in the bottom? They are similar in size to a half barrel. I've grown tomatoes in them before. They can be had for about $7 to $10 each at Walmart or at farm supply stores and have handles on them.

You can also grow veggies in a 'pallet' -- here's a link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pallet garden

Oh my gosh, that planted pallet is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Gorgeous. Now, where can I buy/find/drum up a pallet?

Look for pallets at the back of stores where the store accepts deliveries. Also, Home Depot and Lowe's and Ace Hardware often have a lot of pallets lying around and they might just give you one or two. Drive around your city's industrial area and you will find pallets.

If you are interested, check the Web for ideas because you can make all kinds of things from pallets -- furniture, shelves, swings, etc.

Our local garden center, is encouraging people to recycle the plastic pots that the plants come in when you purchase them. We are asked to bring any plastic pots we have that we no longer want and deposit them is a special area on the gardend center's grounds to be recycled instead of ending up in the landfill.

I wonder if anything like that exists in your area because it would be a good place to get free pots.

New friend on facebook, Chris Perez I wish he lived closer, these look so great in full bloom, he is super talented. Love them Im trying to get the Garden Center I work for display a few.

The planted pallet is gorgeous! Thanks for giving us a gander!