Growing in a 55 gallon drum?

[fruitlovers]

All pesticides are safe, all products are safe, because nobody wants to be sued. Consume at will....and other delusions. 

[Mark in Texas]

What brand of tobacco cigarettes do you smoke, Mike ?

Word is that Big Mike (not me) smokes Texas Red Bud, how 'bout you?

Facts before feelings,
Mark

[Mark in Texas]

All pesticides are safe, all products are safe, because nobody wants to be sued. Consume at will....and other delusions. 

Who's delusional?

Enjoy your worship services at the altar of organic wackos Oscar.   I'll get the facts and live on.

Mark

[boukmn]

Now, now guys.  No need to get testy w/ each other.  I'm here to learn from you guys...and I am willing to accept that there are now less risky forms of vermiculite on the market.  I still won't use it since there are more effective alternatives available that are even less a potential risk.  That's not sentimental "feelings" but a judgement call based on the info I had and comparing it to what I just learned in the thread.  I'm a precautionary principle kind of decision maker. 

Mark, even Oscar was with you ....up till your corporate credulous statement:
"With today's veracious litigious society I don't think a manufacturer is gonna sell you something that may be hazardous to your health. " statement that makes us do a double-take.  You don't really believe that now, do you?

[NaturalGreenthumb]

Need to figure out which ones better.

Anyone have any expeierience in growing in eithe one?

I need to put my plants in pots.

Estheticly barrels would look better but the trash can with wheels is movable since it will have its own wheels.

The barrels are movable to but I would need to buy a barrel dolly.

Need some opinions and suggestions.

Thank you.

[boukmn]

Yes, barrels are much nicer looking.  Why don't you try those plastic look-alike 1/2 barrels?  Same esthetics with a fraction of the weight.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Pots-Planters-Barrels/N-5yc1vZbx4v

[fruitlovers]

All pesticides are safe, all products are safe, because nobody wants to be sued. Consume at will....and other delusions. 

Who's delusional?

Enjoy your worship services at the altar of organic wackos Oscar.   I'll get the facts and live on.

Mark

I guess all your ancestors were wacko then because prior to about WWI everybody was organic. Most pesticides were invented after that war when stockpiles of no longer useful chemical weapons began to be turned into a new profitable venture: agricultural pesticides.

[Mark in Texas]

Mark, even Oscar was with you ....up till your corporate credulous statement:
"With today's veracious litigious society I don't think a manufacturer is gonna sell you something that may be hazardous to your health. " statement that makes us do a double-take.  You don't really believe that now, do you?

Yes, I believe that or I wouldn't have stated such.  When a court of law awards millions to folks who burn themselves with a cup of McDonald's coffee or get caught up in an elevator door because they're too stupid to get their big ass out of the way.....  In the end, it's your responsibility to wear a mask or gloves when handling what you consider hazardous materials.   I make my own custom soil at least twice a year by the tractor bucket load and come time to pour vermiculite into the bucket I let if fly.  Being lightweight it swirls all over the place in the wind.  I'm still standing and as healthy and strong as a horse. 

I don't care what others do, I'm not some nanny control freak or neurotic. I'm a reasonable person who spends hours getting the facts.  I report, you decide, and you make a choice.

2nd, I have a right to defend myself and the Monsanto's of the world and won't put up with the sideways angry daggers thrown by those who adhere to misguided half truths and spin spearheaded by an industry that's only in it for the money or the cult.

Now......how's that project going my friend? 

[Mark in Texas]

I guess all your ancestors were wacko then because prior to about WWI everybody was organic.

Right, and before 1800 folks were inhaling the toxic fumes of candle soot and getting skin cancer from being out in the sun while spreading organics on their crops.  What's your point?

[Mark in Texas]

Yes, barrels are much nicer looking.  Why don't you try those plastic look-alike 1/2 barrels?  Same esthetics with a fraction of the weight.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Pots-Planters-Barrels/N-5yc1vZbx4v

A heavy duty, good looking plastic container would be a good choice because of its light weight.  To really tweak it and improve plant health coat the inside with a root tip pruning paint so you don't have to upcan for a long time.  You'll get twice the vigor and production in half the volume of soil. After this thread expired --> http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=3239.0  CTMIAMI tried it and filmed an excellent YouTube demo on planting a mamey in a MicroKote treated pot which reflected no root spin out.     I have used copper hydroxide latex paints to treat pots for years, Griffin's Spin-Out, with consumables and perennials.  And before someone does the automatic knee jerk drill "but chemicals are bad for you".....the fact is, the copper ions are NOT translocated past the terminated root tip.  If they were the plant would be killed due to Cu toxicity. 

Mark