Just some advice for these who are rooting or moving rooted cuttings to larger containers...

You do not need to buy nursery pots you can reuse old plastic soda bottles, red party cups, even paper milk cartons as temporary pots. I call these my "poor man's pots". There are three things to consider if you decide to go in this direction.

1- Make sure to poke holes in the bottom of the reused container so water will drain
2- These reused "pots" are for temporary use only and can get warped or broken down by direct sunlight and the elements over time
3- Your neighbors/ spouse will hate you if you leave them in a visible space because your yard will look like a dump site LOL


Please comment if you have any other innovative pot ideas or if you tried one and it didn't work :-)

Plastic gallon milk jugs could be used as a medium sized pot if you cut the top off? We don't have them in Europe but I guess people in US have many of them around the house.

And 5 gallon buckets are great larger pots in a dump site garden. I go from shoe box moss to 2 Liter pop bottle to 5 gallon bucket. All free except the site box moss. 5 gallon buckets should last a long time even in full sun.

I use red solo cups, water bottles, 1/2 gal milk jugs, Mountain Dew bottles all for cuttings.

I use butter tubs, sour cream tubs, whipped cream tubs for my Philodendron and Angel Wing Begonias

I use 1 gal trade pots to sell trees and use 3 gal buckets that I get free at my local Krogers flower department for the larger trees.  The really large trees go into Cattle Chem lick buckets that I buy from my local feed store for $5, they are probably 25-30 gal.

We do not recycle, we re-purpose.

Plastic coffee cans.  

Definitely ,

I also use 5ga buckets from the hardware store at 4-5 dollars a piece. Use a 1/2 drill bit (or the biggest you have) to drill holes on the botton AND THE SIDES near the bottom...drainage is key. Fill with compost and perlite, or the best soil you can afford.

Anything made for food proper is fine (like soda bottles or cups are ok for a while when you're starting but long term the wrong plastic is bad). If you have a place near you that sells juice for wine they have the best stuff, they often have 6 gallon, #2 HDPE buckets. They're safe, thick and will last forever. Look for this on the bottom. If you see this symbol your good:

 

if you really want to understand all the plastics potentially used for something you're going to eat....Check this out HERE

I only say the wine juice because they often come in 6 gallon which gives you a bit more space....5 gal, #2 HDPE is just as good. Look behind restaurants, anywhere with a cafeteria like a school or business that sells a lot of food....They probably pay to get rid of them. I can't recall the last time I paid for a bucket....There's some cleaning to do.....

U line baggies are cheap like £3 for 100 bags. I pot them straight onto a 5 gallon from that.

I use 16-20 plastic coke bottles to root cuttings in. I've used 2 liter plastic bottles to root cuttings in. 5 gal. frosting buckets to plant in. I've also used the coke bottles of all sizes to air-layer.

Hi All i use the cups from the takeaways as temp containers they come in various sizes and are Free as you can just pick them up of the floor when they are thrown away give them a good rinse in clean water poke a few holes in the bottom & around the sides fill with moist compost & cutting using the lid cut a slit & hole in the lid & slide over the top & snap down this helps to preserve moisture these containers are a one use fix but Hey they are free & you have a never ending supply   Only suitable for cuttings NOT TREES

Speaking of pots, I have scored over 100 various containers, from fair shape to unused by riding around on garbage day. Amazing what people throw out. I have not bought a plastic pot in 5 years. I have  125 to 175 containers during the summer months with tomatoes and peppers.

I have almost all of my established cuttings in the larger yogurt containers you buy at any grocery store.  I'm not sure of the exact ounce size.

The only advice I will add is whatever container you use, make sure it perfectly "round" or "square" with no goofy shapes in them.  Reason being (and I found out the hard way), last year I needed a quick and dirty larger-ish container to throw my tomato plants that I started WAY to early into and I used the Folgers coffee containers that are round except for the indentations on the side that are used as a makeshift handle.  

Don't get me wrong, they worked in a pinch, but they would NOT come out at transplant time due to the root growth and I had to literally cut the container in half around the plant to get it out, which was just a huge pain in the butt.  

I use lots of coffee and creamer containers. Take a short blade knife like a sharp pocket knife or box cutter and cut all four sides. Then open like a flower and it all comes out in a ball.  

Paint buckets...