Anyone know where bill gets his planter pots for his sips?

Dont know where he got his but I found the same dimensions as his in black at home depot for $19.00, you have to go early to get them before they sell out

Look up local wholesale nurseries and give them a call. They will often sell used black nursery pots way cheaper. I can even get new 15 gallon pots for $5

They night not be as thick though, the ones I got were about half inch thick, really strong stuff like Bills.

But if you dont need them heavy duty, the ones at the nursery's are good

Not sure exactly what you seek but this place has a large selection:

http://www.stuewe.com

Costco also carries the resin half barrell type like the one from home depot...

Rado , this is the company that makes the pots Bill uses :
http://www.smartwareproducts.com/smartware-products.html

$19.00/depot

How to your sip perform?

It performed well, first year in the sip got about 10 Sals Corleone
Typically I would have to top it off every four days, in the middle of Summer with extreme heat 92 plus, I would top it off every few days.
Right now, its in my garage sleeping with an air root ;)

I've been using the same HD half barrel pot Pete mentioned for two years now. Have six in use planning on adding four more this spring. Very heavy duty and the trees seem to love them, as I got a boat load of figs. I do not top water, just filled the bottom well every other day. Word of advice mike sure you use some protection from the summer sun, as you don't want to cook the roots. I wrap the sun side with auto windshield sun reflectors.

How do you move your pots?  Do you hand water?  Thanks!

Hi figgoonie. SIPs have water reservoir which allows water into the root system by wicking from the bottom up. Water is poured into the reservoir thru a fill tube which runs from the top of the pot. The reservoir is on the bottom four inches of the pot and has a overfill hole, opposite the fill tube, drilled into the pot to prevent overfilling. Some growers hand water from the top as well. I just rely on the wicking. The pots because of their size are a bit heavy, but can be easily move about with a two wheel hand truck. Usually trees can stay in these SIPs up to three years before having to be root pruned and repotted. More information can be found in the Start Here link at the top of this forum. Go to growing in pots sublink.

These pots look really nice.  I wonder if Home Depot in Canada carries them.  If they do, I'm sure they cost a lot more.

The concept is to have a filled reservoir at bottom and irrigate using the wicking action.
See photos of how Bill does it over here http://figs4fun.com/bills_figs.html

These pots are the real deal. In other words, Peter is correct. These pots are pretty close to what Bill use to use for his pots. Years ago, Bill and I talked about his pots. He USE to only have those in the video. Today, he uses similar pots but they are 2 inches shorter,14 inches deep vs old ones are 16.. Most of all of my container trees are in SIPs, just like Bill's method. My friend SChaplin visited Bill 2 yrs ago and brought me back 2 of his pots. Those at HD are the correct width and depth which match Bill's pots but they are not the same manufacture. Bill's old pots are called Smart Barrez. His new ones are not the same as his old ones and are only 14 inches deep. These at HD are 16 1/2 deep and 22 1/2 wide!!

Like Peter said, these are $19.98 at HD. Today I bought 8 and going back to get 8 more. For SIPs, they are freaky awesome. If you call Bill or email him, ask him about his pots. He will tell you he no longer uses the big 16 in deep pots, only the smaller ones now. And he doesn't use a down spout for an overflow like his picture shows. Today, he just drills the hole. IMHO, these pots are excellent for growing fig trees. Now is the time to get them before they are gone.

I bought a few of the pots from Home Depot for $19.98 and indeed they are great but mine and the ones on the H.D. website are not 16" deep but 14.92" deep x 22.5", is there another model that is deeper? To me a little deeper is better.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/22-1-2-in-Dia-Rustic-Oak-Resin-Whiskey-Barrel-Planter-with-Iron-Band-HDR-023395/205626595

Snaglpus- Do you still use Bill's original method of cutting PVC pipe to about 3.5", placing on the bottom and wire mesh screen/burlap over them for the water reservoir?  or do you use the flexible corrugated plastic drainage pipe with the basket in the middle to allow the water to rise into the dirt?  thanks

Also, notice the pot next to my HD pot, that pot that is shown cracked and broken was thrown out last year, that was actually more money than the HD pot! I bought that at a local nursery, I think I paid around $34.00 for it. The sun & weather makes it brittle where it just falls apart.

That HD pot is 1/2 inch thick, it wont crack, made very well.

I have used both methods, the cut PVC pipes and the drainage pipes, in my SIPS. I've noticed no difference between either method except the drainage pipes are a little quicker and easier to make. Both work equally as well. Tyler, good idea using the sock over the drainage pipes.

Dave... relieved to hear it works just as good! (I just bought a 100' roll this morning lol).   $0.69/ft for big "O" vs $1.79/ft for PVC around my parts. You're right its easy to work with and you don't need to measure. Just count the required number of slots and cut with a utility knife.

Dave to you go with 3 wicks in your pots? I was thinking of going with 4 spread around the outside (my half barrels aren't tapered at the bottom like Bill's pots are so its a wider area to draw moisture up into) but wasn't sure if that would make the soil too wet or not.

Tyler

Tyler, I went with one center wicking zone. I went around the inside perimeter with the drainage tube one turn.

Thanks Dave... that sounds like a great idea! Even less work ahead of me now. :)