These can be used for either annuals or perennials. Several of the plants I'll be growing have a two-year lifespan so they won't be harvested until 2012...assuming the world hasn't ended.

I'm not sure how one would set up a solar still that would catch evaporating water but not overheat the plants. If you have some ideas I'd love to hear them.

As for capturing the overflow water, that's not much of an issue. The overflow hole is right in front where I can see it so I stop adding water at the first sight of water trickling out of the hole. Sidenote: I placed the overflow holes on the ugliest side of the buckets thinking they would be turned towards the raised bed behind the buckets, leaving the nice, pristine white side of the buckets in view. Then I realized I couldn't tell when the buckets were full of water, so now I'm looking at the ugly side.

-Blast

Yes, luckily food for eateries comes in food-grade buckets.

That being said, I don't have much fear of chemicals being leached out of the buckets or being absorbed by the plants.

-Blast

Any chemicals I order at work arrive sealed in a jar which is sealed in a bag filled with vermiculite, which itself is sealed in a can filled with vermiculite which is sealed in another bag filled with vermiculite which is sealed in a box filled with vermiculite.

I don't have any idea where non-chemists can get loads of vermiculite. Pearlite can be used, but it's not very cheap, either. I wonder if coarsely-ground charcoal would work?

Enjoy the canna lilies. Mashed with butter and garlic, people will rave about your potatoes.

-Blast

You can find vermiculite at McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com). They are an industrisl supply house.

usual disclaimer.

Vermiculite has become a lot harder to find, and less desirable generally, because some of it was shown to include asbestos. The Libby mine in Montana was shown to contain asbestos, something Libby was well aware of. The production of the Libby mine was widely marketed for a variety of uses and a large proportion of the vermiculite marketed in the US sold before the mid-90s is assumed to be contaminated.

http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/verm.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite

Later mining has undertaken a testing program to make sure the vermiculite is free of asbestos. It has to be noted that these programs are largely operated by the companies doing the mining. The effectiveness of the testing is being reviewed.

The bottom line is vermiculite has lost market share as people have shifted to alternatives.

The alternative offered, even as it is admitted to have different physical quality, is Pearlite.

Perlite was pretty cheap when I bought it in a large bag from a building materials place, far, FAR cheaper than a nursery. The bag was about 36" tall x 18" wide or so. I use it for concrete and planting. At some places, it comes in different sizes.

Check and see if you have a Mutual Materials around you. They're mainly a wholesaler, but the one here has absolutely no problem selling retail.

Sue

This a great idea. I'm going to try several of these with tomato plants on the south side of the house when (if?) the glacier recedes from my yard this spring.

I've bought 4 cubic foot bags of it at my local Agway, for those of you in the northeast:
http://www.agway.com/store_locator.html

Try to find it locally at all costs, the shipping is a killer because it is so bulky (yet light).

Nice setup. But you're killing me -- I can't even think of such a thing until April.

There is some info at Vermiculite.COM--a guide on how and where to purchase vermiculite in the United States and the world., basically, pool suppliers are supposed to carry it