You can eat the produce without harm but that begs the question as to why the mix has become anaerobic? Do the containers have drainage holes? Are you overwatering?

Thanks for the reassurance about the food part.

My best guess about the anaerobic part is that I just don't have the right mix. I probably won't grow in buckets again. They have been overflow from our garden when too many seedlings have made it. We don't have great sunlight options for them.

There are drainage holes. We also added wicks. We did still have the soil sink a few inches on each 5 gal bucket. We have also had crusting issues.

The stinky bucket I emptied had not been watered in about a month and hadn't gotten any rain.

We had a very hot and dry summer here in Northern Colorado and didn't water at all in June and early July because were trying to kill fungus gnats that had started in our indoor seedling mix. We used a moisture tester every day and I realized that I needed to put up protection to stop water that had been coming through the fence from our neighbors' sprinklers.

Once I did that, I left the plants for dead and they suffered until we started watering again and the outside temps came down. My husband may have been watering too shallow from mid-July to mid-August, but I'm not positive. He seems to love his little trips out to check on the plants every other morning and seems to be watering the buckets more deeply and less frequently now. The plants are actually quite happy now given all of their early struggles.

I'll probably empty the buckets into my yard in the Fall. My mom is going to take the empty buckets to her house. She'll probably fill them with a preconfigured, bagged mix. I'll remind her to keep the wicks in.

how big are the holes?

Hmmm...maybe they aren't big enough. Before anyone else uses them, what size should they be?

I have been moving the celeriac into the garage due to the cooler nights and I do know that water travels out of the bottom.

Thanks!

I checked last night. The holes are probably way too small. My guess would be 1/8". Sixteen holes. Some were clogged and some were not.

I must have misunderstood completely, but I'm learning. Always a rush getting things planted out in the Spring I'll add bigger holes before I pass them to my mom.