1) A good potting mix will be free draining and hold plenty of air for the entire, expected life of the planting. You'll not likely achieve this with any blend of potting soil/manure/compost. The ingredients are just not stable enough & will hold too much water for too long. 2) Layers are ineffective or counterproductive in containers, including 'drainage layers'. They (drainage layers) simply decrease the amount of soil in the container & thereby decrease the total volume of water contained in the soil, which allows air to return to the soil faster. It is better to grow in a homogeneous, free-draining mix throughout the container. This also prevents the possibility of alternate layers of saturated soil in the container. 3) Fresh manures should never be used in containers. They are too 'hot' and manure itself, whether fresh or aged, breaks down to very fine particles very quickly. This can easily cause the soil to hold too much water, at the expense of aeration. There is information in the link I'll leave. Pay particular attention to the favorable comments that can be read as affirmation of the idea that long term aeration should be the number one consideration when considering any container soil. Al Here is a link that might be useful: More soil info

That's true, Joe. The time line varies some depending on where you live but you do eventually have to re-pot. In warmer climates that is between 2 and 4 years because they grow for a much longer season. In my zone 6 I have to do mine between 4 and 5 years because my season is short and they don't get root bound as quickly. When I change the soil I root prune too. A sure sign that your rose is root bound is if while you're pouring the water in the top of the pot it's running out the bottom just as fast!

I am not looking for attractive, I am looking for cheap and sturdy for all the fruit trees and berries I have in pots, so I have switched to the big plastic lug-tubs with rope handles. They also have the benefit of being much easier to move around when filled with soil. Big Lots has some now for $7.00, I believe, MUCH cheaper than plastic pots and much larger for the plant, too. Carla in Sac

Wow those Aladin are really small, if I didn't see the playing card in the picture I would have thought those were full size turks turbans. The Aladin gourds should be fine in your half barrels. The All Size Mix should be okay if it is actually the gourds pictured. The description worries me though since it says, "Amazing range of shapes and colors, both large and small." The gourds they have pictured are all small in my opinion and large gourds to me are the hard-shelled gourds. Although if you are growing them along the ground size shouldn't be too much of an issue. One thing to watch out for is that if you let a vine just grow over the side of the barrel that is 12"-18" off the ground the vine may break before it touches the ground. You might want to think of a way to support the vine before it touches the ground. It wouldn't need to be fancy it could be something simple like four sticks in the ground about a foot apart and just tie the vine to the stick at closer and closer points to the ground as the vine grows.