How best to use 10" pots

[wbmkk]

I have just been given about 50 10" pots.

Well, they are actually those flower buckets, cut flowers are often stored in. The top diameter is 10" and the height 10".

I'll drill some drainage holes in the bottom ... or maybe an inch off the bottom, around the side, which would leave a 'well of water' at the bottom.

Now my question is, what veg, if any could i use these for ?

I already grow tomatoes in my greenhouse, using bottomless pots on a ring culture system.

I got an allotment a couple of months ago, but think these would be more useful in my back garden, on a large south facing paved area.

Would early potatoes work, or are these pots a bit too small ?

[Bigmallly]

Lucky you, folks are always on the lookout for flower buckets, they are ideal for toms. You could plant 1 or 2 spuds in a pot. Try making a self watering container with 2 buckets, one sat inside the other.

how to make self watering garden planters for container gardening.mp4 - YouTube

[wbmkk]

how to make self watering garden planters for container gardening.mp4 - YouTube

Great video link, but I'm worn out now .. that music just makes you want to dance !

BTW thanks !

[AllInContainers]

My thoughts for those, other than maybe tomatoes (though I was struggling to keep them watered in pots that size last year), would be ...

Kale - one per pot
Peas/beans up a cane tower
Asparagus peas
Chinese artichokes (?)
Herbs such as rosemary or oregano
Salad leaves, radishes, baby turnips and other quick crops
Daylillies (edible)
Assortment of mints to stop them taking over the planet
Chard
Sorrel
A tomato family plant that doesn't mind struggling is Physallis (Cape Gooseberry / Inca Berry)

Just a few thoughts off the top, and all those should be fine for growing outside (Physallis if grown as annuals, or overwintered under glass) so you wouldn't be filling your greenhouse

[Kristen]

I'll drill some drainage holes in the bottom ... or maybe an inch off the bottom, around the side, which would leave a 'well of water' at the bottom.

I would drill them in the bottom (provided there is a rim/lip that means the base is not sitting flush with the surface below), otherwise right at the bottom of the sides. If they are higher up I think any water sitting in the bottom of the pot is going to be a problem; even filling the bottom with gravel, and putting compost on top, I think will cause problems with the transition layer between "soil and gravel".

For self watering I think you would need a wick to pull up water from a reservoir below (as per the link to the self watering planter above), rather than the compost bring in direct contact with the water over the whole area.

[chilli_grower]

CHILLIES AND MORE CHILLIES!!!!

Here are some in flower buckets from last year:

[mothhawk]

If you're good at DIY and/or have plumbing skills, you could link the reservoirs of all the self-watering pots (which I'm sure you're going to make) with piping in the same way you would link water butts, so that you only need one filling bucket, with the fill level marked on it, and a draining hole only in the end of line bucket.

[Potstubsdustbins]

These buckets are great, they have a couple of draw backs but nothing you can't get over.

As well as toms and cumbers this last season I grew extra cauliflowers, curly kale and calabrese 1 per pot with great success. Great for small quantities of carrots ( don't do what a friend of mine did and grow that many he had to lever them out with a trowel.)

I like to put my PSB in my dustbins after the potato harvest so use the buckets to bring on the small plants to a reasonable size.

Great for runner beans at 1 plant per pot, all my runners are grown this way.

Cut down to about 6" high they are great for radish, lettuce etc. I get about 30 radish to the pot and set one every 3 weeks this gives a good supply of fresh radish at all times.

As to watering this can be troublesome but if you plant correctly it will alleviate the problem. Always leave at least a 2" gap between the top of the compost and the rim of the bucket, this gap can then be filled with water. Providing you do not let the compost dry out watering once a day in the hottest weather will be plenty.

Potty

[Kristen]

I've always wondered why Supermarkets treat the buckets as a one-way-trip piece of packaging. Seems very un-green to me (although of benefit to many gardeners of course, provided they no supermarkets are just chucking them)