Dollar store, auto parts store (oil change pans for large trucks)' thrift shops, garage, sales, old dresser drawers, styrofoam ice chests, coffee cans, wastebaskets...

Paint and drainage holes and you're good to go!

Jan

I asked the cafeteria in my building at work if I could have the large hal gallon & gallon plastic containers that they get yogurt, cottage cheese, mayo etc in bulk. I cut sticks the height of the container and wove wire around them to cover the outside. rustic charm & free...except the spool of wire for a couple bucks at Michael's..but they look great!

Rustoleum spray paint does wonders for making mis-matched containers look like a coordinated set of pots. I just did my plastic ones with oil-rubbed bronze. Even the uneven spots look good, very rustic.

Anything that will hold dirt that you can put a hole in the bottom...

Aluminum turkey roasting pans are usually less than $1 and hold a lot of dirt. It's just really hard to move it after it's full, know where you want it before you fill it.

Plastic stuff - like if you buy a made cake, margarine tubs, ice cream/sherbet buckets, coffee cans, Pringles cans, styrofoam produce things, 2-liter or milk jugs with the tops cut off.

On trash day in the spring, it's common to find stacks of discarded nursery pots, or other items suitable for planters.

If you need lots of space for roots, some things can be grown right in the bag of "dirt." Tomatoes are commonly grown this way. Just cut a hole in the top of the bag to insert the plant, and a small hole near the bottom in case it rains a lot.

There's a discussion in balcony gardening forum about decorating ugly pots.