DIY Pots - Concrete

[Haines' Trees]

Been spending a lot of time looking for pots for the repotting season. Nothing fancy, literally just some basic clay training pots for a decent number of trees. Most of my trees that need repotting are between 2 and 5 years old so they don't need to be huge pots, ideally 2.5-4 inches deep and 6-8 inches across the round top. There is literally nothing to select from at my local big box stores and specialty garden places are charging crazy amounts. A coworker suggested I use some portland cement and sand mix poured into a form to make whatever size pot I want. Portland cement doesn't contain any hydrated lime so there shouldn't be an issue of leaching into the soil and making it crazy alkaline.

Thoughts? Anyone tried this?

Also, planting in open ground isn't currently an option. I'm living in an apartment but my trees are down the street living on my parents' property. Trying to save for a plot of grass of my own.

 

[Pitoon]

What's wrong with nursery pots cut down to the height you need them to be? You can get them for free from Home Depot or Lowes. Just look in the the dead plants section and ask if you can take the pots.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I've made concrete pots. Not great ones, but they worked and held up until today and will probably be fine for the next decade.
Best to use a mold, one that you can re-use. I've tried floral foam but the stuff sticks like crazy to concrete.

I found less sand and more portland makes a more solid and smooth look, but too little sand makes a weak structure that easily snaps/breaks. So it's a game of trial and error.

Food containers, wooden molds, even regular garden soil as a mold, portland mixed with tile glue and akadama fines, you can be as creative as you want. Just make sure you use gloves. I have the skin of a million babies on my hands, and even lye has hardly ever made a dent in my elegant fingers - once. HOWEVER, not everyone carries that gift of the gods and most peoples skin will dry and crack like a wet desert floor in the summer heat after molding cement bare handed. Just use gloves.

Some people use fiber glass or iron mesh to reenforce the concrete, but if the walls are thick enough it should hold on by itself. The trick of using paper as a way of enforcing it and in the meantime lowering the weight is something you can scratch off your list; once it gets wet, it'll start cracking.

 

[Haines' Trees]

Hmm interesting. I think I’ll make that a project this winter and see what I can come up with

 

[Joe Dupre']

Search "draped concrete pots" on Youtube. Really easy and you can make them most any shape you want. There's an older lady from Georgia that makes all kinds of pots that way.