I believe they were originally intended to be Florists buckets, and they were on sale in the flowers section of the shop. They are 10 inches in diameter and just over 10 inches tall, so with some drainage holes drilled in them they will make quite nice flower-pots. I have some like this from a previous purchase, and I have successfully grown potatoes in them - one tuber in each. They are quite lightweight and not likely to last more than a year or two, but I think they are good value for money. Certainly better value than the ones offered for sale in Garden Centres.
My second bargain is this packet of Marrowfat peas. 500g for 89p.
Of course they are intended as a culinary ingredient - you can see that on the pack it says "a versatile ingredient for soup recipes" - but I am going to sprout them and make peashoots in they way I wrote about a few days ago (which you can read about HERE if you missed it previously). At only 89p they are really good value as a food item - wholesome and nourishing - (imagine them made into Pea-and-Ham soup...), but they also compare very favourably with "seed" peas bought from a seed-supplier. I'll let you know how they do.
On a related (money-saving) theme... If you don't want to spend lots of money on plant-pots for all those little seedlings that will be appearing soon, why not use pots like these, from Elmlea low-fat cream substitute?
These make ideal pots, because they are quite tall, allowing the seedling's roots to develop with less restriction. They are also fairly narrow (small diameter), so you can fit lots of them on a tray or in a propagator. Just remember to make a drainage hole in the bottom!
I have bought those buckets in the past & they worked very well.
ReplyDeleteWe have loads of those pots as I think the flowers must be delivered in then and they end up with a surplus. Not to burst your feel good bubble - we got ours free. They were just popped to one side where they stack the free boxes etc.
ReplyDeleteMartyn said he has noticed them for sale like yours occassionally too
Grr, 99p wasted then! Our Southern supermarket managers are evidently stingier than your Northern ones. At least mine were new...
DeleteI use the florists buckets from Morrisons too. I've never grown potatoes in them though, I usually use a bigger pot and plant two tubers. They're great for all sorts of plants though, I've grown peppers in them, and aubergines. I've never tried pea shoots, silly question but do they taste of peas?
ReplyDeleteJo, yes, the shoots taste very strongly of peas! I love them; all the flavour of a pea but texture that goes well in many salad combinations.
DeleteNice buckets! I would buy them too, if I had a chance :)
ReplyDeleteStill a good deal I think. I was lucky and got a huge box of plastic pots off freecycle a while ago as they're quite expensive to buy.
ReplyDeleteGotta love a bargain! The pea growing for salad is a good idea. I had missed your previous article so thanks for putting in the link.
ReplyDeleteOn the Elmlea cream container idea - one year I went to the grocery and asked them for yoghurt trays. They gave me loads; these were really useful to put little plant pots into for growing seedlings, or to put your yoghurt containers into.
Getting prepared for Spring, huh Mark? Like the sprouting peas idea and also like Kelli's idea of using those yogurt trays for pots. Such clever gardeners!
ReplyDeleteMy local florist flogs her spare buckets in aid of the local air ambulance every now and then for 10p each - I've got lots knocking around the garden - very handy. Love the idea of using supermarket peas for sprouting - bargain!
ReplyDeleteAs for yoghurt pots, I used them a lot at one point, but then I discovered my local garden centre had a pot-recycling skip so used to dive in head first and retrieve plenty and the size/drainage was much better, so I have more than enough pots right now without resorting to plastic food packaging.
One thing plastic containers are handy for, however, is chopping them up into strips for use as plant labels, use a good permanent felt-tip marker, and hey presto, you need never wonder what on earth is growing ever again - well until the pen wears off anyway.