Thank you for your opinion that I am funny, Al, or Tapla, or whatever name you are going by today. However, it is wasted, because your opinion of me ranks #12,345 on my list of concerns. My only surprise is that your compadre who goes by the name rhizo, or as I once typed it, rhino, which might have been more on target, has not jumped in to your defense yet. Your alliance is apparent to anyone who scans this list for more than a couple of days. (Your term elbo could be a result of poor keyboarding skills or an attempt at humor. THAT you are miserable at.) As a matter of fact, you do talk about yourself endlessly and all the solutions to gardening questions that you have independently come up with. You do not refer to research being done in the horticulture departments of research universities. (BTW, I have a Ph.D. in English, so I "get" your term ad hominum attack. I also am well schooled enough in philosophy to be well familiar with the term. But then you threw it out to impress others, didn't you. It appears that you see yourself, somewhat grandiously, as a Renaissance man. You like to leave the impression that you reinvent the wheel every day. I am a keen observer of human nature and relationships, and the symbiosis between you and this rhizo is interesting. If one feels the other has been disrespected, the other jumps in to defend. It is quite boring in its predictability. I don't doubt for a minute that you two consider yourselves the authorities on gardenweb, and from other posts, you have made converts. A further observation, and it is risky to make judgements based on e-mail messages only, is that rhino/zo is a bitter and pathologically vindictive person who trolls messages looking for "errors" to refute or perceived slights to which to respond with a wicked tongue. You are more subtle in your aggressiveness and sense of entitlement to be the ultimate authority on any subject that comes up, but it's there. I reject your "unsought advice" and will continue to post what I want to say as I see fit. You are now assuming the role of censor? What makes me most curious is that you and your buddy take this list so seriously. To be honest, over the months I have scanned messages for enjoyment, I can't think of one useful thing I have "learned." I see this as pure entertainment, although when people without an agenda such as you have ask a question that I feel qualified to answer, I give a reply based on solid science. Come to think of it, have you ever asked a question? You are strictly an answer man, aren't you. Since you implied that I am too cowardly to openly express my opinion of you, do you still feel that way? Or would you like me to continue?

Warning, no matter what you do - sooner or later, (assuming you're planting something in them or leaving them outside) they will rust. I have my prickly pear cactus sitting in a galvanized tub. They've been there for several years now, and the bottom hasn't rusted out yet. I lined it with a regular black trash bag and poked holes in both the plastic and bottom. (Then I just filled it with cactus mix.) Also, watch out for mosquitoes. Those suckers don't need much water to grow a new batch of suckers. You might consider getting some of those biodegradable thingies (sorry, I don't know their names) that people place in their garden ponds to keep mosquitoes down to one slap per minute rate. (We use them in our earthbox and in our now-rusting red wagon, but the mosquitoes are multiplying anyway. Then again, nothing but container garden, so it's hard to figure out where they're finding standing water.)Water will collect somewhere on the bottom-with or without drainage holes and with or without liners. And speaking of ponds...ever consider making one into a water plant water-feature? Just an idea that you'll have to google, but it looks big enough for a little one. Absolutely adorable, BTW.

i use pro mix bx also ... get it from a local nursery ... the whole point of professional mixes... is the engineered water capabilities ... there is no water management with home made compost ... and not many peeps here on GW like MG stuff ...' so i do think.. you had too many holes.. for what you were using ... but it will probably be different with different media ... those above.. referring to 5-1-1 mix ...are referring to one of als gritty mixes ... use google on that term ... when i said trialing plants ... i meant vines that would cascade down .... i havent done pots in decades... so i dont have a list handy .... but sweet pot is one such .... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Try a latex caulk - something similar to what you'd use to caulk around the bathtub :-) However, I'm not sure reducing the amount of drainage holes is going to help significantly. You want a fast draining soil/container to keep the plants healthy. Retaining moisture for too long will result in root rots. Deck railing containers just don't hold much soil and annuals will fill that with their root system pretty rapidly - daily watering in summer may just be a fact of life! Larger, free-standing containers may work better for you or you can try the larger, trough style planters that hang over the railing rather than straddling it.