Drainage Holes - Morrisons Flower Buckets (MFB's)

[Dynamite]

Hi there. Thanks to the Forum, I found out about Morrisons Flower Buckets, commonly known on here as MFB's. I went to get some tonight and came away with nearly 30 for £2.

Question I have is about drainage. They obviously don't have holes in as they are designed to carry water for fresh cut flowers. I plan to use them for my greenhouse plants such as Tomatoes and Cucumbers.

Three questions.........

* How many holes?
* What size Holes?
* Should I put holes in bottom or low down on the sides say an inch from the bottom so that there is a small reservoir to pool water?

Kind Regards.........Rob

[roitelet]

I put the holed in the sides about an inch from the bottom with a hot poker and about 8 holes

[the big lebowski]

on the ones i have i drilled holes in the base and some of them cracked ,i had them upside down without any support on side so you might want to try drilling into a block of wood or put 2 bits of wood down and drill inbetween them ,i put 4 holes in each pot with about a 1 cm drill bit ,cheers

[Nicos]

I'm a side person too....nice to have a small water reserve as you say.
Hot poker is a good idea....I use pointy end of a secateur to drill the holes.
5-8 depending on their size.

[Thelma Sanders]

I put a red-hot pointy knife through the bottom (and twist to widen the hole) in 4 or 5 places - then stand them in old bowls, so I can see how much water they have/need.

[Cadalot]

You can't beat a soldering iron for the job, some have small bit size holes so water can weep, I normally do 4 holes at quarter points. Potato buckets get the shaft of the soldering iron and a larger hole again 4, normally about 25mm up from the bottom so some water is retained in the bottom of the bucket.

The soldering iron makes a ridge around the holes which stops them splitting. You can become quite inventive, here is a top that was formed with the soldering iron, holes lined up so I could tie them together and fleece or debris netting put over the top bucket to protect the plant.

[Bren In Pots]

I put the holed in the sides about an inch from the bottom with a hot poker and about 8 holes

Me too.

[jackarmy]

Similar to all of the above but since the invention ( or at least my dsicovery) of Air Pots, i now also drill shedfulls of tiny holes all around the sides as well.
Weather it makes any difference who knows but nothing to lose ey

[alldigging]

Stack of three and drill them carefully with a small drill bit. Lots of holes but small seemed to work.

[Florence Fennel]

Mine are an inch from the bottom too, made with my sharpest pointed kitchen knife!

[Tripmeup]

Stack of three and drill them carefully with a small drill bit. Lots of holes but small seemed to work.

Me too......................

[DannyK]

I use a hot piece of 15mm copper pipe for large holes and 4mm wire for the small ones.

The wire can also be used to weld up cracks in pots.

Like the soldering iron idea. Will have to get some spare bits.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Short end of 15mm Cu pipe and thick glove, warm pipe to cherry red, pipe will melt through 4/5 holes in seconds before reheating.

Pipe will form a ridge of molten plastic round the holes thus preventing any future cracking

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Stack of three and drill them carefully with a small drill bit. Lots of holes but small seemed to work.

Me too......................

And me!

Obviously a "Bottom Man"....................

But I let the drill do the drilling, and not my hand fistedness!

[SMW]

How do you get the buckets so cheap?