I use a woodburning tool, works great, took care of everything so far, two new pots very thick on the bottom. The only thing is that the juice jugs are heavier gauge plastic, and it takes longer to cut around them with the hot knife, no way with knives or scissors, have all different kinds, but burning drainage holes not bad at all. Gallon jugs are much easier, I do burn the drainage holes in the bottom but make a slit and can easily cut around with scissors, faster and more precision than the hot knife for me. I only had a couple clear juice jugs anyway as I usually buy frozen. Prune juice ones are too dark. 2 liter bottles are a lot easier. I do have a good drill but no way to secure by myself, and would be harder to control, the woodburning round tip goes very fast for most things, feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of that investment already.

Another soldering iron user here! I vary on the number of holes I put in, but I usually put at least one, sometimes two, holes in each quadrant on the bottom, and four in that little trench (two in the bottom and one higher up at each end of the trench). I also put one hole on each side near the bottom. These side holes can help if the bottom gets clogged/frozen/blocked, etc. So usually at least 12 holes total, sometimes 16. Honestly, I can't give a good explanation of why sometimes I do 12, sometimes more. It's just how the mood strikes me the day I'm poking the holes, lol. By the way, I also use my soldering iron to poke a hole up on one side of the jug, at the bottom of the handle. This hole I use to poke my scissors in to start cutting around the jug. Not a ridiculous question at all! Experiment and you'll find what works best for you. Remember, it's easier later on to add more holes than try to tape up the extras! (too many holes can lead to too-dry containers). Good luck and have fun! Dee

Hi John, thanks for the reply. I'm putting veggies in them. I've only done 3 so far (hoping to know more before I plant the rest), and I put the holes in the bottom about an inch apart each. The soil was way too wet on the last one and, boy, it sure wasn't draining very fast... I guess that could be a good thing, but if it takes TOO long, then that could be bad. So far, I think it'll be okay. I was too scared to put the holes on the side as that is not the most common place you see them and, perhaps, that might be for a reason(?), so until I know better, I guess this will have to work. I'll try to give an update when I know better how these are working. ~Angela

I use mainly shredded junk mail/office paper with a little cardboard for bedding. I do use alot of UCG, mainly because I make a pot on the days I stay home plus I go by Starbucks several times a week. My wife and I really do not produce much in the way of food scraps. We eat fruit.. but rarely is therr more than a banana peel or apple core left over. No melons-(wife has major food allergies to alot of stuff). We eat alot of frozen vegetables and cook just about enough for the two of us with almost no leftover. Even when I make a salad, I have been pulling leaves off the Romaine and other lettuces in the garden so I don't have much waste afterwards. We do use alot of onion so there are a few ends and skins left over, and the ends of green beans and squash which are producing well right now. This also is to reply to the "how much food scrap do ou generate" thread. Lately I have been bringing in compost from my outside tumbler. I had some very questionable stuff in a regular pile so I added a bunch of grass clippings and UCG and the pile has been hot for a few weeks now. The stuff I brought in a little while ago is still pretty hot but since I did not put more than 1/2 gallon into each bin and it is cool inside, I should not have a problem.