I grow a large part of my ornamentals in pots that over winter outdoors. The cheaper plastic types last maybe 3-4 years and then disintegrate. I began using a faux terra cotta colored plastic pot from Akro Mils 30 years ago which was superior in quality to other similar looking pots on the market. I've had plants overwinter outdoors in them for a good decade or so. The problem is finding Akro Mils pots any more. There are still some to be found and if you do run into them I'd say they are still the best choice. Second to them the same style/color pots by Fiskars can be found at Ace Hardware. They are pretty durable as well, although not as thick walled as the old Akro Mils pots....Below is a picture of my assortment of pots. It's not a decorative photo by any means, but it shows you the style I prefer. Note that the pot is smooth all the way up to the rim. No indentations or shifts in size. This makes for an easier transfer when you up pot to a larger size.........Maryl

I don't have advice on what to get, but what NOT to get...we got big pots on clearance at the big box store. I think they were originally $15 or $20. I'm glad I didn't pay full price, because they only made it one season. We're using a couple this year by nesting them, but they're trash next. I have some that may be like Maryl gets. They've lasted 4 seasons so far. I have killed everything I ever planted in terracotta. I think it dries out too quick compared to plastic. A lot of people talk about the grow bags. I think I will try some next year. DH brought home like 20 giant coffee cans and creamer containers from work this week. They're ugly, but they're free. I also use 5 gal buckets. They're ugly, too, but have been useful. They will last at least 3 seasons if you don't sit on the old ones (don't ask me how I know). I will be interested to see what people say here because I need to start looking at more quality containers in the future.

I've seen Akro Mills pots on Amazon. Not cheap.

I have tomatoes in grow bags this year. I'm sold on them. Way healthier plants than in plastic pots. I use a higher percentage of compost to potting mix than they recommend on the other boards, otherwise they dry out way too fast. More compost means I can water every 3 days rather than every day. I'm going to do as much as I can in grow bags next year. Herbs seem to do great in hard pots, so I'll probably keep those in them.

For large containers, I mostly use molasses feed tubs, gifted to me by a local rancher. We just drill holes in the bottom and they're good to go. The ones I use nowadays are mostly black, but in the past we had some that were white, orange and blue. They last a good 6 or 8 years before they start cracking, and last even longer if I move them into the greenhouse (unheated) for the winter. I don't grow much of anything in small or medium sized pots anymore because they have to be watered too frequently for my taste, especially in drought years. In the veggie garden I have 10 big green resin pots that I bought at CostCo back in late winter or early spring. They are very pretty but all are in the first year so the jury is out on how long they will (or won't) hold up. My tropical fruit trees have been in resin pots for several years now. They spend the winter in the greenhouse and the summer in the yard, and the resin pots look brand new, so those have held up really well. I like the resin pots. They give you the look of pottery but are lightweight and the resin holds up well, so far, to sunlight. I don't buy plastic pots any more. They just don't last like they used to.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone.

Dawn, don't tempt me. I have a Costco membership and I'm not afraid to use it. :) Life expectancy is the main attribute I'm looking for. I'm needing something kind of medium-sized. I know that's vague.

I wonder if the molasses feed tubs you speak of are same as these blue "protein" tubs I'm using. We buy them at Tractor Supply to get the cattle through the winter better. They look like this:

I've been reading about making one's own Hypertufa pots. Seems promising, and if you want you can give them a decorative look. They're supposed to be able to last a while and aren't heavy. Anyone experimented with these?

Charles

I found some 10 inch Resin pots on Amazon that seem to fit the bill. By the way, has anyone experimented with Hypertufa? DIY types seem to really like planters made from this stuff. Here's how Lowe's suggest they be made: How to Make Hypertufa Pots

Those Akro Mills pots that Maryl have lasted for a decade for me in blazing inland SoCal sun. They do fade from UV like the lighter ones shown in her pic. They have lasted for me with big plants and heavy planting mix adding up to 300 pounds moved around on a dolly.

Here is a link for the big ones on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Akro-LIA24000E35-Classic-Color-24-Inch/dp/B005J23FRY/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1476543082&sr=8-19&keywords=akro+mills+pots

My permanent plants are in Gainey Ceramic pots made in La Verne, California, unfortunately the last California pottery manufacturer driven out of business by our idiotic government. Some of them still look perfect after 40 years.

Charles, Yes, those tubs look similar to the ones that the molasses feed comes in, though I've also had some that are larger than those blue ones. We just drill drainage holes in the bottom of them for drainage and they make great containers. The colored ones fade more easily in the sun than the black ones do....or at least it shows more with the colored ones. My orange ones faded away to a light pink over a few years. My friend, Fred, who is still ranching and gardening at the young age of 94, had back surgery a long time ago(maybe 15 years ago or more) that made it hard for him to work in his garden. I convinced him to put tomato plants in some molasses feed tubs and now I believe he only grows tomato plants in feed tubs. What works for him (to eliminate bending and stooping) is to put the feed tubs up on a table, stone wall, etc. so they are about waist-high. He has been thrilled with how easy the plants are to maintain and harvest when grown in the tubs. He's the one that has given me molasses feed tubs. I have elevated some of mine merely by putting one of the tubs upside down on the ground and using it as a base for another tub set on top of it. I do that with greens grown in winter and early spring because it puts my greens up higher than the rabbits and other small varmints can reach, which keeps them from eating the lettuce and other greens.

Next winter when CostCo gets the resin pots in stock, I'll try to remember to come here and post that they have them. We usually go to the CostCo stores in either Lewisville or Southlake and it seems like they get the pots in the stores around the same time the potted citrus trees arrive---so maybe in March. Possibly as early as late February. I love CostCo. We shop there a lot. Buying in quantity works for us since it is such a long drive to a store of any size at all. Sam's also has some nice very large pots in the springtime, but I found CostCo's to be a better price (surprisingly).

One of my favorite planters is a large, galvanized metal stock tank. I've had mine about 25 years and the bottom is rusted out, but it is amazing how many plants you can grow in a container that size. I've even grown sweet potatoes and potatoes in it, though not at the same time. Filling it up with a soil-less mix is expensive, but I kept it more economical by gathering deadfall branches from the woods and filling the bottom 18" or so of the container with tons of them and then stomping them down as flat as I could to eliminate air pockets. I also used lots of spoiled hay on top of that bottom layer of wood, and then I mixed up my own version of Al's 5-1-1 mix and filled the rest of the container with that. Nowadays, I just top off the container every year by adding a few inches (more if needed) of compost to the top of soil-less mix in the container.

I made hypertufa pots once. I remember that much. I don't remember how well they worked or how long they lasted. The older I get, the less well I remember things. They were really easy to make though.

There's just not enough hours in the day for me to do many crafty things any more, but I used to make all kinds of stuff like that.

Dawn

Thank you for the recommendations and info. Greg, I admit I had already bought other pots (Fiskars) instead of the Akro-Mils ones because I was scared away by the Amazon average review rating. But I just went back and read them and some of the worst ratings were not convincing. Perhaps I should've just taken Maryl's advice. I may make another purchase.

Dawn, my sister-in-law also cannot bend well and I intend to fill some of these blue tubs for her and raise them up higher like you suggested. Since you went into some detail about your usage I'd like to ask a couple of questions, because I think our family is going to make extensive use of these in the future:

1) Will these provide room enough for the roots of most garden plants? I'm not informed yet on the space needs of various typical garden vegetables and don't want to plant something that just won't do well. You've mentioned tomatoes, but will a squash plant do well in one? Bush/pole beans? A potato plant? Cucumber? I've already seen things like lettuce, kale, onions and tomatoes do very well in them. (I got this idea from an old local farmer who set dozens of them up for his wife).

2) Will a 60% soil - 20%peat moss - 20% dried manure do well? The soil is about half black clay and half sandy loam. Note: I've already noticed in the first 2 tubs I filled that the soil has settled quite a bit, making it more dense. The Kale and Collards seem to be growing fine, but I'm wondering if a different combination of ingredients might be recommended.

I of course welcome input by anyone whose used large containers.

I will try the Hypertufa pots this winter. Looks like playing in the mud -- has to be kinda fun. I'll report here.

Charles

I purchased four large resin pots from SAMs this spring. They have worked very well, don't know about how long they will last.

Dawn, do you put your stock tank in shade? I have a large round one that has a rusted bottom at one of our places, but I thought the plants/roots would get too hot if I sit it in full sun.

I use our empty mineral tubs for everything, they are great. I use a 50/50 mix or potting soil and aged manure. Sometimes I add a little ruined hay or compost. I have planted tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers ( I ran them up a fence instead of letting them run along the ground), all have worked well in the tubs. I did give them a little afternoon shade because I was concerned about the roots heating up in the tubs. Marcums carries a raised bed mix that I might try instead of the potting mix next year.

Following.

Charles, Everything I've grown in molasses feed tubs has grown well, including carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, horseradish, turnips, beets, bush beans, bush lima beans, bush cowpeas, beans, all sorts of greens, peppers and tomatoes. You even can grow summer squash, winter squash, and melons (including icebox watermelons) in containers as long as you chose smaller, more compact varieties. There are varieties of squash and melons bred just for container growing. If you want the names of some of those varieties, let me know and I'll list the ones with which I am familiar. There's even a new watermelon bred for containers that will be available as a 2017 AAS winner for which seed will be available shortly.

The soil in most feed tubs is deep enough for everything, though I do have some that are quite a bit bigger than others. I even grow citrus trees and brugmansias in them, and my brugs are 8-10' tall and many years old. The keys to success are to use a good, sterile, soil-less potting mix to ensure good drainage, feed regularly (because constant watering also will constantly leach nutrients out of the growing medium) and provide consistent moisture. The most carefree gardening I've ever done was with plants grown in molasses feed tubs watered by a drip irrigation kit for containers.

Stockergal, I try to put the galvanized stock tank in an area where it gets shade from mid-afternoon on. However, I have successfully grown plants in it in full sun with great results. I did try to provide shading for it when I could. Some years, I grew sweet potatoes in it, planted fairly close to the edge so that their foliage cascaded down over the rim of the container and shielded the sides of the stock tank from the sun. That was pretty cool. I've also just surrounded the stock tank with smaller containers (I think that year I used Tidy Cat kitty litter buckets spray-painted dark green with Fusion spray paint) filled with Laura Bush petunias and other often vining) flowering plants to help shield the stock tank from the direct rays of the sun. Even when I didn't shield the stock tank from the sun, warm-season plants performed well in it. Cool-season plants didn't do as well, so clearly their roots got too hot. One year I just wrapped the outside of the stock tank with burlap. I don't know if it really kept it cooler, but I like the look of it. Of course, burlap rots pretty quickly in our climate, so that burlap only lasted a year (and, oddly, seemed to attract scorpions that liked to hide under the burlap).

Dawn

Thanks Dawn, I think I will drag that big tank out and try t.