Bucket or hole in the ground

Ivan debating between putting a bucket in the ground or just digging a hole and put treated soil in it. Any advice? Pros cons?

it depends on the native soil, if it's really wet or really dry then you should use a bucket. take a handfull of dirt from a couple inches down and squeezez it, if water is dripping out its too wet, and if it crumbles and turns to dust when you open your hand its too dry. google feild capacity!

ps if it's good soil and there is no risk of flooding in the area just plant em in the ground and they will be monsters by fall!

dig the hole and put your own soil mix in, if you use a bucket it will limit your root growth to the size of the bucket...

how would you compare a 7 gal bucket to a 10 or 15, does it really matter after a certain point?

U might also want to look into grow bags. Their alot cheaper then buckets and they come in different sizes as well as already having holes for drainage

We just had our first rain tonight here in Colorado... I am probably going to put at least 2 in pots and just dig holes for the rest. I am also thinking about keeping jugs of water out with them. Anyone have ideas on how to catch the rain or just a simple watering system?

I wouldnt put jugs or anything like that out there, it's just more stuff for hikers/helicopters ect to see and then they know someones probably growing around there. plus im pretty sure the amount of rain collected in the bucket will evaporate in equal time, meaning it will rain- evaporate, rain - evaporate, it wont compound each time it rains.

unless you engineer some sort of contraption to work efficiently it a waste of time, someone posted somethin about these things called "tree rings" or somethin like that, they look good but you gotta fill em up yourself.

I was trying to find the thread about it, do you know where you read that?

i googled "tree rings" or tree watering rings, sumthin like that until i got a hit. there 25 bucks a pop, you fill them up with 5 gallons of water and they slowly drip water into the ground around the base of the plant. you can put nutrient water in them too wich is a huge benefit, only drawbacks i see with em is that there black so the water might get hot if they are in the sun all day, but im sure you could always mulch over em or whatever. 25 bucks a pop aint cheap but you can use over and over every year, im gonna try some this year if i got some extra loot. peace