At one time I got all my pots of various sizes from a landscaper who was a branch of a large local nursery. The landscaper had a mountain of used pots. They won't pick up black nursery pots and the landscaper had to pay to have them hauled away. He said I could have as many as I wanted. I use to pick them up by the trailer full. That's how I got my very large tree pots which are bigger than a half barrel. After 8 years I'm still using them I had so many. So look in the yellow pages for landscapers and call to see if you can get some free pots. Mine were even sorted by size where the landscaper stored them. Some large garden centers also have a stockpile of pots. Free is always good.

It varies with them. I am within easy driving distance of Plant Delights, they are one of my fav perennial sources b/c of the uniqueness of plants that you find there and their quality is superb. Last year I got a Amarcrinum from them in a 3.5 inch pot. It was defin ready to come out of that pot, but not unhealthy by any stretch. I prefer for them to be this way, so that I don't have to pay a 2 gal price for a 1 gal plant (so to speak). Rather it be ready to come out when I get it, but still healthy. I also got two different lycoris from them last year. Those had plenty of room still when I got them in the spring. It's not unusual to see both ways there with their 3.5 inch pots. Some are bursting their pots (but still very healthy plants) and others have some room to grow still. Either way, I've never had any complaint with anything from them. Just my experience. This post was edited by funnthsun on Fri, Mar 7, 14 at 8:47

I managed to find almost all the large black pots I wanted by asking businesses that were putting in cedar trees if I could have the empty pots (Cedar trees come in fairly large and heavy pots much of the time). Many restaurants that have an outdoor dining area will do some sort of landscaping - if they're putting in big plants, that means big pots. Lawn/landscaping maintenance companies often have large pots in the back of their trucks, or know of places you can get them. City gardening trucks are worth asking too. I framed my request politely and carefully - I wanted them to want to give me the empty pots and be happy to do it. I was interested in keeping things out of the trash... Recycling/reusing the big pots was much better... I would come get them... Please call me when they're evailable... BP

I assume you want 30 one gallon containers. I just received a hundred "one gallon" pots from the Greenhouse Megastore. I just googled for pots and found these people. The bm300 size is what's considered a one gallon pot in the nursery trade. It's actually about three fourths. With shipping I think it came to about 40 cents per pot. If you want a true one gallon you have to look elsewhere. I also ordered a 4 cubic foot bag of perlite and it cost about two thirds what I would have paid locally. Ichabod Here is a link that might be useful: Greenhouse Megastore