I don't know your area, C, but I haunt the thrift stores (especially on 50% off days!) and yard sales. I doubt that will help much in your hunt for very large pots, though I did see a tree-sized pot at one thrift store recently. $4.99. How's that for a bargain? Bargain-hunting is almost as much fun as gardening!

Also, don't forget that as long as an object will hold soil and drain water, you can plant almost anything in it. Tubs, tin cans, pitchers, old wooden boxes, wheelbarrows, etc. If you see something unique or interesting and it doesn't have drainage holes, that can be remedied with a drill and the right bit. Now, can't you have some fun?

'materfreak is right - my best place is Ross in the kitchen section - if you can buy a small masonry bit for a drill, you can make a pot out of a myriad of ceramic items. I also like using their occaisionally really cool plates for drainage catchers (whatever they're called). Got one the other day that must've been a sushi plate in it's first life - square and an orangish red.

However, I will tell you that I'm not a big fan of outside containers. The sun just seems to cook roots - plants need a ton more water and that might not even help. I do have one galvanized metal tin that was crumpled in one corner holding zinnias, cactus and couple other succulents, but it's in the shade. I tried lining the insides of a 30-40 gallon ceramic pot with Styrofoam that was only partially successful. Other folks have used a pot-in-pot solution - I think it's just a matter of shading the sides more than anything.

HTH!

Most of the plants I want to keep potted would be in the shade, or at least partial shade, so I'm not too worried about cooking the roots. The other reason I want to keep some of the plants potted is so I can move them easily if I find that they are cooking. Thanks for the idea on the discount stores. I know Big Lots sometimes has a good selection of outdoor stuff; unfortunately we are far enough out that making multiple trips to "look-see" is practically impossible.

Have you checked out the hypertufa forum. I've made
several large pots with hypertufa using those large
plastic tubs with rope handles for my mold. They came
out pretty decent, fun to make, and you can use all
kinds of things for molds, making them any size or shape
you'd like.

Happy Gardening,
Gemfire

"hypertufa forum" Huh?? I said...then Goggled hypertufa. Amazing. You folks know *everything*. Way cool. Thanks.

McP

Here is a link that might be useful: Hypertufa Info

The Hypertufa forum has some really great recipes and ideas. Word of caution - it has been pointed out in the forum (and some of us learned the hard way) that the recipes in the FAQ are not necessarily the best. My medium size pots crumbled.

Roanimare gave a hypertufa workshop here and her recipe seems to hold up quite well, however. I'm sure there are others here who can give you a recipe suitable for Arizona. sam

I'll check that out; we had talked about casting our own concrete pots, but decided it wasn't worth the effort or mess. Hypertufa sounds a bit easier to do. Thanks!

Are you coming to the Garden Party 10/1. I could bring my leftover cement and peat moss as I don't have time now to make pots. I hate to waste stuff. sam

Hey, Sam, could we maybe find someone to use your leftovers in a hypertufa demo at the "Garden Partee"? I think a lot of us would like to make some pots this way, but are a bit timid without some good instruction.

I hadn't heard about the garden party, when & where? Sounds like fun!

Does anyone ever travel across the boarder south??.. If you have the time and dont mind a days vacation to travel.. you wont find anything else like the value down there

A friend of mine travels to Mexico about every other week. I asked him to bring back some pots on one of his trips, so we'll see what he comes up with. I'll also try Fry's and Costco and see what there is to be seen. Thanks!

Hi Chicago90. I've had quite good luck, too, at the Guadalupe yard markets selling pots straight from Mexico. Once we were there buying some and a van from Sonora pulled up with some new pots. They are very cheap and definately don't last forever. But to tell you the truth I really don't care if they last. A reason to shop for more and change the 'look' on the patio.

Great idea Tomatofreak. I thought some demonstrations might be fun too! Say how to make a copper trellis, a hypertufa pot, drill a container with a ceramic drill bit...There are lots of talented people on this forum. sam