I use old annual pots when it's time to pot up the seedlings. Some people use solo cups, yogurt containers, basically anything big enough to hold some dirt. Transplant your tomatoes deep! The little white hairs on the stem will become roots.

Local nurseries have the best prices on bulk soil in my experience. Some of the bulk mulch and rock people sell it, too. You might have to buy much more than you need if you go that route, tho.

Depth depends on what you're going to grow. Lettuce can be very shallow (4 inches would be enough); but if you're growing carrots you'll need much more (about 12 inches). If you're not growing root crops, 8 inches is probably more than enough for just about anything else.

I've been starting my own peppers & tomatoes for many years now & when transplanting to pots before setting out, I use soilless potting mix - mostly the 'Black Magic' stuff they sell @ Big Lots & for feeding I sprinkle a tsp. or so of Espoma organic fertilizer over the top & water w/ Maxicrop seaweed extract or compost tea - that takes care of several weeks' feeding for me.

& I use 8-16 oz. size cups, recycled plastic pots &/or yoghurt containers w/ holes poked around the bottom edge. The longer I know the plants have to wait to be planted, the larger the size of the container.

That said, lately, I've been using cheap pint-size paper pulp pots I got from Target & Big lots earlier in this year - I don't think they have them anymore tho...

Forgot to mention - if you used peat pellets & there is mesh around them, remove it before transplanting

This post was edited by carolb_w_fl on Wed, Aug 21, 13 at 13:04