Construction buckets will work, food grade are used for pickling or brining, no leaching from the plastic. Nursery pots (not blow mold) are sturdy yet flexable. They'll last outdoors through the winters with no brittle cracking issues. Sure they're expensive if you're looking at the 14 gal and up shrub/tree types. But you can take the 5 gal drill (I recommend) 3/4" holes app. 12 of them and line the bottom with a lite weight material. Anything from layers of burlap, styro-peanut packing, cedar wood chips which are light weight and the insects hate.......rocks if you have to. I opt for the cedar mulch. I have 18 gal containers with numerous drain holes filled with 1" of cedar. During the startup in spring I take a wheel barrel and place a heavy duty screening frame over it. I'll then "Pan for Gold"..........I wish, but I'll force all the container medium through the screen. Any lumps or leftover roots are broken up or discarded. All my raised beds are topped off with the soil. I'll place the leftover mulch back into the containers...app 75 or so...........my wife said less for next year....ok dear,...74. Any ways the containers get refilled with a new mix, mushroom compost, peat, torpedo sand, loam, some other crap....I mean garden compost, castings, and a few other ammendments. The reason I don't use gravel is because its heavy and the pots aren't light as it is......ever try getting rid of it?Bottom line the 5gal buckets will work, you'll just be sacrficing the overall size and production of the plants..........did somebody say a bucket of ice cold longnecks?
