Has anyone else noticed locally that it is impossible to find any clear cups anywhere, even from the notorious manufacturer, "Solo"?

For some strange reason, it has been this way in Atlanta since the Superbowl.  A few weeks ago, there were tons of clear cups everywhere.   Like, literally, I bought a sleve in three different stores over the last 4 months with no searching.  Now, the only thing available is these new see-through orange/blue/pink cups, opaque red cups, or frosted cups.   There is a new product out also, some new opaque green "square bottom" Solo brand cups.

Today, I wasted a couple gallons of gas going local pharmacy stores, Target, WalMart, Publix, Kroger, and even stopped at a few gas stations.  I finally broke down and stopped by Starbucks and got some of their clear 16oz cups.  They gave me a half dozen for free, which is enough to get a couple of uknown cuttings cupped up (Bisirri #1, Schuyler, Hobart, 143-36)

But wow....I went to at least 12 stores in the ice and snow... and there are ZERO 16oz or 18oz clear cups anywhere.

Hi Jason
if you dont already , save em for next season . Mine were given to me in past and i keep washing them and reusing em. You know its a nice also that i dont have to make new holes in em !

water bottles work well also

Hey Sal, I found that the Smart Water brand water bottles are amazing - smooth sides, etc.  Really tall, also.  The problem is, with the way I "sleeve" my cups when they go from the bin to the window (to protect roots from light), the water bottles are useless.  Sleeving is SO convenient that it negates me using anything other than clear cups for rooting.  Saves on aluminum foil, costruction paper, etc.

The Starbucks 16oz cups work perfect.  I punch 5 holes in the bottom (like the 5-side of dice), and punch 4 in the side - north, south, east and west; one hole right through the girl's face, one opposite of that, and two in between, in the middle of the green lines.

This seems to provide good aeration and prevents uneven watering.  I may also start punching fouor similar holes approximately 1/2" from the base of the cup to aid in draining and reduce water buildup near the bottom the cup.  My current 9-hole nethod has been working great.

Martin, I would never give up my cups... but I have over 30 cuttings rooting right now, about 13 varieties, I think?  I'm out of cups already!

Why do you protect the roots from light? 

Jason, I can't find the 20 oz. clear  cups I used before either without buying a huge case. I'm reusing some I used before. I do have lots of the 32 oz clear/opaque soup containers, so I guess I'll just use those, I guess.

Jason i cracked up when i read
 about 13 varieties, I think? 
yes siree you sure need them cups. Hey one day in the future would love to see pictures of some of the plants .
Love seeing others plants.  ; )

This is a one-at-a-time way to get them [actually they are 16oz.]

Costco food court "Berry Smoothies" come in these cups:

They look perfect for gene's upside down technique, even comes with a lid so no foil required.

Paulandirene,

You beat me to the punch.
I was going to suggest to Jason that he should go to Starbucks and purchase about two or three dozen cold Frapps @ $5 each and pour them outside and use the empty cups.

All jokes aside Jason,

When I get home I will go to Lowes or Home Depot and purchase the Jiffy Moss tablets. I will use them with the smaller or skinnier ( pencil size ) cuttings. Once the roots become visible I will take them as they are and put them into larger pots. What's so good about that is you don't risk disturbing or breaking off the roots.

Hi Folks, I found the 16oz clear plastic cups on costco.com, however in true Costco fashion, they are sold in lots of 1000.

Jason,

At 0.05 each that's a steal.
Yes I'm interested!

Get me a few dozens and I will pay you the total cost, No need for you to each the cost of shipping.

Thanks

I have a couple (or few?) dozen already.  Go ahead and PM your address, I'll get them out to you.

Jason,
You have e-mail.
JD

I also couldn't find any clear one's so I went with the blue ones. Perhaps the color will act like sunglasses. They are real cool to look at. Roots are easy to see through them.

I have been buying slushies at 711 and putting 2 or 3 cups everytime so far they have not noticed and I have about 20 cups so far and try to get them twice a week.

Gene thats a good Idea what your doing I have lost quite a few cuttings from pulling them out of the cups are you going to just take the foil out after and push the rooted cutting gently down?

The only thing that bothered me about the tinted ones (I got orange) is you can't see what color the roots are ;)

Gene, those are some nice healthy looking roots!

Jason, as you can see in the photos the root color stands out greatly at this time.  I hope this works out OK.

Nelson, yes I plan to put the correct amount of potting mix in the larger pot to bring the new plant to the right height. I then plan to remove the foil carefully while holding the cup inverted. Next move will be to set the cup in the center of the new pot with the rooting mix on the potting mix. The next step will be to put potting mix around the cup up to the top. Then I will gently life a little on the cup while pushing down on the soil and cutting hoping that it comes clean. As I raise the cup a half inch at the time, I will be packing the potting mix around the root ball as best as I can until I have the cup removed. Sounds like a plan, I just hope it works as slick as it seems it could.  "gene"

This didn't show up in my costco.com search last time, but it did this time. It seems that Costco also sells the cups in groups of 50 also:

Solo
Plastic Cold Drink Cups
16 oz/50 ct
Item # 117513
 
$5.64
Shipping & Handling included

Here is another source for the 16 and 20 oz. Solo cups as well as a choice of 3 different lids.

The 16 oz. are $49.49 for 1000.
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/solo-straight-wall-16-oz-clear-polypro-plastic-cup-1000-cs/760PX16.html

The 20oz. are $69.00
The lids are expensive. 1000 flat/ $32.99 per 1000
Domed with or without a hole/ $74.00 per 1000

I went by Starbucks today and bought an entire sleeve of their 16oz cups for $5.  Haven't counted to see how many are in it, looks to be about 30-40 cups, so that's around 13-16¢/cup.  It's about 4x as much cost per cup, but I honestly don't know what the heck I would do with 1,000 plastic cups, except share them with you, my fig friends!  Of course, my wife would probably shoot me also.

The cup I bought is their "Grandi" sized cup, I believe.  There is a larger cup that appears to be around 20oz, which I think is "Venti" size.  They also have a smaller cup, which looks to be about 12oz, I think this is their "Tall" size (although it looks short and wide to me!).

I miss the local "Dollar Store" where I used to buy 16oz clear cups (5.25" tall) just for one dollar. I used them as disposable thinking that there are a lot more where they came from. However, these Dollar stores don't stay in bisiness in some places very long and other stores have non-see-through type only which are not good for impatient hobbyists wanting to see and enjoy the visible roots though recent posts indicated roots ar ebetter off with no light. The used ones become brittle after a while.