I don't know what sizes you want, but Lowe's has a pot recycling project where they give away pots from plants they've tossed out. I've gotten pots up to 7 gallons, and a lot of cell trays and 1-gallons. You need to ask them when is the best time to look.

Also, talk to landscapers. Many of them will give you their used pots for free, or sell them to you cheaply. That's where I got all my larger black pots.

Thanks, DG. I will check with Lowe's. I did call one nursery/landscaper and he was charging more for used pots than I can buy new online!

My two closest Walmarts also have a Recycle Rack. Like Lowes... I deliver what I can't use, take what I need. If you are looking for small, starter-plant size pots, there are a million things that can be used... yogurt cups, toilet paper cores, Dixie cups... on and on... search the [Frugal Gardening [(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/frugal-gardening-dsbr0-bd~t_29881)[forum[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/frugal-gardening-dsbr0-bd~t_29881).

Carol in Jacksonville

Thanks, Carol. I am looking for 1, 3 and 5 gal pots. I will check my closest Walmart.

I stopped by my closest Walmart and Lowes this afternoon. No luck at all. I will try some others tomorrow and over the weekend.

I had ordered about 20 different varieties of daylilies and some other plants a while back thinking I would be able to plant them in my new home. But, the closing date for my house keeps getting pushed back and I am afraid if I leave the daylilies in the box any longer, they are not going to survive. I can find the nursery pots for a good price online but the shipping is more than the cost of the pots.

Cottage cheese and yogurt containers (not individual servings, but the big sizes) can work with holes punched into the bottom. Same with liter soda bottles, cut in half, holes put into the bottom (or knife slices - anything that will allow drainage). Look in your recycle bin and see if there aren't things that will work temporarily.

Carol

Dollar store plastic window box for lilies?

Carol - We don't drink any soda, so don't have those. I did have a couple of yogurt containers but cut them up to make temporary plant tags.

Thanks, Irma. I will go check the Dollar store tomorrow.

Put a wanted ad up on Craigslist asking for pots. Explain why you need them. Gardeners are very generous. Also, call your local garden club and tell them what you need and see if any of their members can help you out. Cruise the streets on curb trash pickup days. People toss pots out all the time.

In the meantime, look at Dollar General for the buckets in the section where car washing or cleaning supplies are. I think they are about $2, and can hold a few of those daylilies until you can get them planted.

Also, go to grocery store bakeries and ask if they have any buckets they can give you. They get icing in 2-3 gallon food-grade buckets that are great for plants. Sometimes delis have them too. I know that Firehouse sub sells 5 gallon sauce buckets for around $3, and the money goes to charity. Ask florists also. I got some black pots that they use to hold flowers one here was throwing out. I just burned holes in the bottom with a small soldering iron, and I have things growing in them right now.

If worse comes to worse, rob soda bottles and milk cartons out of recycle bins and use those. Those big cat litter buckets are good too. I just threw out a bunch of them I didn't want anymore.

The dollar tree also has small buckets that would be good. I know you want free, but sometimes cheap is all you can get in a pinch. It's summer, so look for beach buckets in the toy section.

Milk gallons cut can make good small pots. 5 gallon bucket, ask a pool guy if he has any.. also kitty litter buckets from a cat lover...buckets from painter will need a bit of cleaning but doable, also ask at you favorite eatery if they have any gallon or larger containers you could have.

DG - It would be nice to find some pots free but I don't mind paying. If shipping wasn't so expensive, I would have bought new nursery pots. I have a lot of pots already and once my plants start going in the ground I won't be needing that many pots. So, I did not want to spend a whole lot of cash for even more pots that I will only need for a couple of months.

I understand about not wanting to spend money, which is why I suggested raiding recycle bins. I have dumpster dived for some of my pots! I'm always looking in the dumpsters here and pulling out any pots I can find. I've gotten a couple of really nice ones, too. I've gotten some from "curb shopping" as well. I had a neighbor who drank a lot of Hawaiian Punch in 1-gallon bottles. He used to toss them over the fence, and I cut them down, burned holes in the bottom, and used them for 1-gallon pots. I still have a couple of plants growing in those. They're tough, too!

I guess what I'm saying is free containers are out there, but you have to be willing to go to some strange places to get them sometimes. ;) If you get desperate, buy a bag of heavy-duty black trash bags, roll down the tops, fill it with soil, and plant it in that. Then you can just stick them in a box to transport them to your new place. OR you can use those reusable grocery bags, if you have a few. Line them with a plastic bag so they don't get damaged, and plant in those. Anything you can line with a plastic bag is game.

Can you tell I'm the queen of frugal gardening? LOL

Yes, you definitely have my vote for Queen of Frugal gardening. Everyone here has given me suggestions I would never have thought of!

Heavy plastic bags - what a great idea. I may start ground-planting in plastic bags to help keep moist.

Irma, they aren't good for long-term planting, because they don't stand up to the sun very well. They're great for a temporary fix when you need to move things, though.

I really wish you were closer, vml68. I got a lot of nice free pots from Lowe's today, and a few markdown flowers too.

I have several hundred used pots from 1 to 3 gallon. We are located in Hernando, Citrus county.

Thanks, Roseguy. You are about an hour and a half away from me. I am hoping to find something a little closer.

vml68 - did you put a "wanted" ad on Craigslist? Also, put it in the Farm and Garden category, but you have to change the wording a bit. It won't let you post the exact same ad on two categories. Once I put an ad on Farm and Garden looking for pots and some guy who owned a nursery called me and I got over 100 pots of all sizes from him. He said they had been stacking up for years, but he'd never tried to give them away. I give him $5 just to be nice, and he was happy with that.

Also, I've put a sign out in my front lawn saying "Need Plant Pots. Drop Yours Off Here." and had about 30 pots by the end of the week.

Gardeners are very generous, as you know. I'm sure local gardeners would help you out if you let them know what you need.

DG - I've haven't used Craigslist before but was going to do as you suggested. Then I saw a couple of different people had already put wanted ads for nursery pots, so I did not bother. There were also ads by people giving away nursery pots but they were gone by the time, I responded to the ads.

On Friday, I saw an ad for nursery pots under curb alert (I did not know what that was, the words 'curb' and 'alert' should have clued me in!) and I sent an email to the person asking about the pots and I got a snarky reply a day later about it being a curb alert. Anyway, she said they were still there, so I rushed on over and they were gone by the time I got there. I tried a bunch of different Lowe's over the weekend and got two 1-gal pots. I decided I would just order new pots online.

This morning there were a couple of new ads offering nursery pots, so I called right away and one gentleman told me he already had someone coming that afternoon to pick them up but to give him a call later in the day, in case the lady did not take all the pots. The other guy had 75 pots all neatly stacked in different sizes ready to be picked up. I rushed on over but somebody beat me to it. This guy had just bought a lot that was previously a nursery and he was trying to clean up the property and get rid of all the pots left behind. He showed me where there was still a huge pile of pots and told me to dig through because he thought there were still some in there in good condition. I did just that and managed to salvage about 20 1-gal pots and 5 3-gal pots! There were some 20 gal and larger pots I would have liked but they all had dead trees with their roots growing through the holes still in the pots. I did not have the strength or the energy to deal with that.

I got home and the other gentleman I had spoken to earlier in the day told me that the lady who was supposed to pick up the pots did not show up and I could have all of them. I scored quite a few 1 and 3 gal pots from him, too. He also gave me some cotton seeds from a cotton tree he had growing.

I guess, there are quite a few people looking for nursery pots in my area. Anyway, I had a very lucky day after striking out for the past few!

I'm so happy you got some pots! Craigslist is a crapshoot sometimes, but worth it when the stars align. The thing about putting a wanted ad is that people who have things to give away usually look through those ads too, and will call you if they have what you want. I've had that happen quite a few times, and when it does, they'll hold stuff for you. That's how I got my bed, almost brand new, never slept on. It came from a woman who had bought a park trailer, already furnished, and the bed was in one of the bedrooms. Her son moved in with her and wanted a larger bed, so they gave me the twin with solid oak frame and brand new Serta mattresses. I've been sleeping on it for 7 years, and didn't pay a penny for it.

Good deal, vm!! Yay!!!

Carol

I had close to a hundred plastic nursery pots of all sizes that I had collected over the years that I threw in the recycling bin before I moved down to FL three years ago. I feel guilty thinking about it now but I had no idea anyone would want it. I did bring my zillions of ceramic and clay pots with me. I just did not have the heart to get rid of them. When the movers came to pack my things, they asked me if I ran a nursery business and I lied and said yes. I was too embarrassed to say I am a bit of a hoarder!

That is so funny! Here you are... moving again... what are you going to tell the movers this time?!? I can't wait!

I saw my niece this past weekend who is in the horticultural program at Clemson. I took her tons of pots that I no longer need including very fancy ceramic cache pots - all wrapped in newspaper. (Lots of tropical plants, too... she's going to have fun this winter trying to keep all that stuff alive...) She was thrilled. It's very good practice for all of us to get the right stuff to the right people and stop filling landfills. :)

Carol

vml, don't feel bad. I had to do the same when I moved out of my house. I tried to give them away, but nobody wanted anything but the 3 gallons or larger. I had hundreds of 1-gallons that I had to recycle. I hoarded all my square 3-inch pots for years because they were hard to come by. Now it's really good I did, because I'm going to be propagating things to sell before I go, and I can get rid of the pots along with the plants.

Speaking of having too many pots, I have nowhere to put my pots in my courtyard, so they're all piled up in the corner, looking horrible. I'm thinking of buying a bicycle tent to put out there, because I need it for my bike, but also just to hide the pots.