I've been letting my little, mail-ordered trees grow to some size before I plant them, so I wound up needing lots of big pots, 3 gallon size. I found a good many on trash day, when people would set out their garbage and sit big, empty containers by the side of their garbage cans. When nobody was looking I'd sneak over and get the empty plant containers. Another place I got a lot of containers was a nursery that was going out of business. I just asked them did they want somebody to dispose of their big containers for them, and they said 'Yes'!
I don't know what you'll do for potting soil, Cathy. I guess you could buy the cheap kind and hope for the best. It's a lot less expensive per ounce if you buy the giant bags.
It sounds like you've got enough milkweed to feed an army of monarch cats! :)
MissSherry

Here's another suggestion...

My hubby is a Plumeria fanatic (you have NO idea). So, although I am raising butterflies and need soil for my plants, he need containers upon containers and the necessary 'stuff' for his Plumies. What he does is this: he goes to the nurseries (yes, he now has friends at certain nurseries! much like I do at 'my' nurseries...) and they save the one-gallon pots for him! You know how they often transplant pots of plants into nice looking decorative containers? What do you think they do with the old plastic stuff? They throw them out!

One nursery actually gave me a lot of the small ones for raising individual milkweed (I was trying an experiment a few years ago that didn't work for me). The nurseries can't re-use the containers because of bacteria/virus/etc. so they are more than happy to recycle them with their customers.

Our neighbor across the street happens to work as a gardener (his company cuts our lawn-meager little lawn that we have) so James actually saves the pots (all sizes) for my hubby. The other day, in fact, I cleaned out the massive quantities that James brought over. :) Hubby was pleased as punch. He'd cleaned some out earlier and the others were just sitting there and I was annoyed about something so washing them out with the hose was a good way for me to get out the !@#$%. :)

So, ask! You never know who will be happy to donate stuff to you.

As for soil? Home Depot and other stores will often cut you a deal OR give you the bags of soil that have been torn open. They often can't sell the torn bags and so will be more than happy to have someone take them off their hands. :) ASK!!!

CalSherry aka tdogmom

Ohhhhhh, super thread!!!! I've learned so much! Now I know how to upgrad for the milkweed i'm trying to grow!!!!

Thanks for this great post!!!

I used recyclable items around the house, like big coffee cans (you can dumpster dive for these, too), milk jugs are great, just cut off the top. I save all my plastic plant pots that I purchase plants in, and then wash them in a 1:10 bleach solution before using them again.

You can also use wax paper containers that juices come in, or the clear plastic containers that grocery items come in. I've even used ice cream cartons. Lots of people throw these away, too. Check out big trash day in the city where people trash all kinds of usable items for pots.

You can go to the market and in the produce section ask the guy if he has any waxed boxes that fruit and veggies come in. You can put two or three plants in these, just poke holes in the bottom. They'll work for one season.

People throw out gallon size water jugs, too, which work great for potting plants.

Just make sure to wash them in the bleach solution before using them. I set mine outdoors in the sun to dry.

Susan

I am thinking the only item you really can not get around buying is the potting soil. Many great ideas posted above. Always ask, ask, ASK! Worse that could happen is some one would say "no".

Also try looking or asking on your local Freecycle site. You wont find soil there but you perhaps could ask for old containers.

Buying potting soil in a yard quanity is cheaper than bags but that is quite a lot of material and the delivery fee would run about as much as the soil itself.

Go to your local big box stores for potting soil, and ask if they have broken bags of it. Sometimes they will give it to you just for disposing of it for them, and sometimes they will charge a nominal fee for it.

Susan

Susan, I save all my cardboard half gallon milk and oj containers all winter. Then I cut the tops off and use them.
Sometimes the dollar store has some cheap containers.

I also have many plastic containers that I bleach and re use every year.

For potting mix I buy a big compressed bale. It's about the size of a large peat moss. It cost about 30 bucks but is still much cheaper than buying the bags. It's pretty light so I sometimes mix in a bag or regular potting soil. I find it works really well straight for starting seedlings.

No matter what, you're still saving a ton of money by not buying the plants.

Geez...I have dozens and dozens of them...every so often I send bags of them to recycle....1 gal size....'course, if you're going to keep plants in containers, 1 gal is not enough...you need the 3 gallon size, which are harder to come by.

Guess I buy too many plants! HD/Lowe's sells the plastic fake terracotta for not too expensive....buy a few at a time.

As for soil...I am learning too....DON'T use straight potting soil, it tends to get tired after awhile and becomes unusable.....buy a bag, some sand, and some of your own soil...and mix them up with a bit of lime (unless you're in a high ph area) and some good fertilizer granules (I use organic)....mix it in a wheelbarrow until you get a consistency you feel is good, the potting soil does give good water holding capacity, the sand improves drainage, and your local soil adds bulk and micro organisms....I have had very good success with this....just make sure you have enough potting soil that when watered your mix doesn't harden.....(sand + clay = cement!)

Now...for raising cats....I need to upload a pic of my new cage......I built it myself....and am so proud of it!

Paul, I add chicken manure to my potting soil as well as additional perlite. No matter what kind of soil you buy, they never put enough perlite in it. MissSherry has got me putting chicken manure in everything! I hope I don't forget and add it to the meatloaf someday!

Susan

MissSherry, Hee hee, I had to laugh when you said about sneaking over when nobody was looking and get the pots. :) There is a town about 10 miles from here that has a big trash day and now I remember how someone described how people cruise the streets looking over other people's junk to see what they can use and jump out of their cars and grab what they want. Ha, that sounds like something I could go for. I think they might have already had their trash day this year though but not sure. Yes, I bet that nursery was glad that you took care of their unwanted pots. I'll have to look at Lowe's and see if they have any broken bags of potting soil. Sometimes they do and put it on sale for half price. Yes, I think I probably do have enough milkweed to feed an army of cats and so I'm not worried that I won't have enough this year. :)

tdogmom, You make it sound like your hubby likes his Plumeria as much as you like your Monarchs. :) Does he raise them to sell or he just likes to grow them? I bet between his plants and your butterflies, people passing by your place must think that they're in some tropical paradise. That's cute how you both have your nursery friends and nice that they save containers for you. It sounds like cleaning those pots was good therapy for you. Hee hee. It also made hubby happy at the same time. We don't have a Home Depot around here, but we have a Lowe's and sometimes they'll have broken bags for 50% off. I'll have to check that out. I forgot all about that.

Susan, You sound very resourceful and I could do that too if I can't find any pots anywhere for free. Yeah, I saved my plastic pots too that I purchased plants in. I don't even know anymore how I ended up with 20 some one-gallon pots. Those already have swamp milkweed growing in them (they're just poking their heads through the soil...just soil that I used from our place). I don't know why I didn't even think of the gallon size jugs...we have some of those that we bought milk in and I could use those.

Jill, Yes, I'll definitely have to buy the potting soil. I just hope I can find some for half price. I know the SuperWalmart has real big bags of it for something like $9, I think. I never heard of Freecycle. I just learned something new again. I had been buying the small bags of potting soil for convenience. I have back problems and can't lift a whole lot like those bigger bags of potting soil at Walmart, but surely I could get hubby to do it.

MaryAnn, That's a good idea too, using the half gallon milk and oj containers. I imagine that some of the plants that I'm starting later than the others won't get real big and I could put them in those. I wish I could get big bales of potting soil like you describe. I never saw anyone around here have those. They'd last quite awhile! Well, for me, that's a month or so. Ha. That's for sure, at least starting the plants myself is much cheaper than buying all of them. I can just imagine that if I'd go to buy all the plants that I started from seed this year, they'd cost hundreds (maybe even a couple thousand) of dollars.

Paul, I wonder if I'd be able to keep milkweed in pots up here year-round without them freezing considering that I live in PA. I'd do that if I knew it would work. It would save some time. If I'd try keeping some over winter and find out that they don't make it, I could at least use the soil over, I guess, rather than keep buying new every year. I wish I knew for sure if I could keep them over winter without them dying. That's a good idea you have about mixing the potting soil, sand, soil, lime, and fertilizer granules. I do that sometimes when I feel adventurous. :) I also built a new cage but didn't get it finished because of all this plant stuff. I hope I can find time to finish it this year yet or else I'll have tons of caterpillars on our back porch this year.

THANKS, EVERYONE, for your excellent advice!! :)

Cathy

:) Cathy, you do make me smile. We are sort of the 'garden folk' in our neighborhood (or maybe the crazy folk?). Nope, hubby doesn't sell his Plumeria but he does give them away IF he feels good about it. tee-hee!

Having my butterflies about has really helped his Plumeria, for sure. He has had so many seed pods because of my butterflies. Of course, we do have our tiffs because I want more butterfly space and he wants more Plumeria space. He tends to win...but that's okay because I am slowly getting my space for the Milkweed. (it is growing UNDER the Plumeria...not of MY doing but of its own sneaky doing...)

Summer is the best because it is so fragrant and the butterflies are everywhere...aaaaah!

ROFL!

I bet that if you planted in the square half gallon milk jugs (or any square thing) that you could cuddle them together under heavy straw mulch in the winter and they'd do fine....

I have baby swallowtail caterpillars munching on my fennel. I'd really prefer them to eat the parsley that's about to flower. Would it be bad to move them?

Try it and see if they'll 'take' to the Parsley. :)