I'm wondering this too! I've asked a couple local nurseries and they say no... I'm guessing the die hards have landscaper connections that give them the leftovers after planting? Also maybe a Craigslist want ad.
I've got 44 seedlings needing pots... I've been stocking up at Home Depot too...

I see on Craigslist some people are selling new and used for about 50 cents.

I got some at Orchard Supply (they retail for $1.30 but I had a coupon) that are also "gallon" but are substantially larger than the Home Depot ones. I'm so bad a judging how big a gallon is... I need to put a gallon of milk next to them because the gallon pots all look pretty small. When I first bought some, I accidentally bought two gallon (which I guess my rooted cuttings are happy enough about).

Yeah, I looked at Craiglist, too. Looks like there is someone here who is willing to trade plants for them.

And I have a hard time judging the gallon pots. The ones I saw at Home Depot may have been 1/2 gallon. I'm not sure. They looked big enough to put seedlings in for a while, so I did pick a couple up.

Check Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-NURSERY-POTS-1-2-3-5-7-Gallon-GROW-BLACK-PLASTIC-gal-/400186408311?pt=Planters_Pots&var=&hash=item5d2cf7fd77

I would check out the local Gardening centers as well as Landscapers.

My local Hydroponic store carries them in different sizes, so check to see if you all have a store new you. The prices are really reasonable for sturdy containers.

If you need some to get you by, email me and i can send some to you.. i have plenty of them.

Take care,

Laura

Thanks, Laura. I may talk to some of the Landscapers down here. There is bound to be someone who has some extra pots.

And I don't know of any hydroponic stores here off the top of my head, but I'll definitely start looking for some.

Thanks for the ebay link, too, derft1.

I just went yesterday to a local nursery and they have a plastic pot recycle bin and the nursery as well as customers put pots in there for others to take FOR FREE!!! I got a ton of smalls, 1 gallons and a few 3 or 5 gallons all for free.

I have also called a nursery and asked and gotten a bunch of 3 gallon pots - many are willing to give them to you free of charge just for the asking.

check Lowes and Home Depot-they both now have an area to recycle old pots, trays, etc.

Plant swaps are where I get most of mine.
Call your local landscapers, often they will give them to you
Resale shops like Goodwill-ask them, they usually just throw them away, there is a resale shop across the alley from us and they save them for me.

Tally HO!

Disneyhorse, try Orange County Farm Supply on Chapman just east of the 57. You can get 1 gallon black grower pots that sell for 99 cents at HD for maybe around 50 cents or so. The more you buy at one time, the less they cost.

Actually, they don't officially use terms like gallon anymore since they don't hold a real gallon. I think they are called No. 2 pots. No. 5 (5 gallon) actually hold 3.96 gallons. It has to do with the pots being tapered so they can be stacked, which means they lose a bit of volume compared to a straight sided one.

Great news. After calling around, I found a local nursery that was willing to sell me "recycled" plastic pots for $0.10 apiece. I can't remember the name, but it is on Coit about a mile and a half north of Hwy 121 in Frisco if anyone in this area is interested. Thanks for the advice everyone.

That's is where I get all mine. a local nursery has a recycle bin. I've gotten some monster pots out of it.

Mike