merrittgene

I have had really good luck with lettuce, spinach, and cherry tomatoes (I slightly bent the legs of a square tomato cage to fit the bucket.)

One 1/2" hole is plenty. I've never had one get plugged.

I totally dump the containers out every Fall, remove all of the root matter, add new peat and soil as needed. I've never had significant soil in the drain pipe, so rock filler isn't needed.

The pipe makes a reservoir, and the perforations allow the water to seep into the adjacent soil. When I fill the pot to the overflow hole, there is about 4" of water and wet soil in the bottom. The water wicks thru the soil over time, so all of the soil is damp, and the pipe is mostly empty. This allows for oxygen at the root level.

I add water to the reservoir which is in contact with the soil, so the wet soil at the bottom wicks water up to the unwatered soil at the top. The roots grow down to the bottom of the container, but the entire container does not fill with water (due to the overflow hole), so most of the plant does not have wet soil all the time.I made this when I didn't have an in-ground option, and the boxes are portable. I also like that the water stays with the plant and doesn't flow away to the entire lawn so it's water-efficient. And, the height of the box keeps (most) of the rodents away.

I think it would, although I don't know if these tall containers are the correct depth for strawberries.The idea I want to try is to use house rain gutter to plant the berries, with the gutters mounted high on a trellis, so you could walk under it and pick the berries from the vines hanging down.

Thanks for the feedback. I dump out and rebuild every bucket every fall, and keeping soil out of the corrugated pipe has never been an issue. The pipe doesn't fill with mud. I suppose the black pipe might not be as healthy as the white pipe, but it is designed to be in the soil for decades without breaking down, so I doubt it's leaching much. Plus, any leaching would have to pass through the soil, and roots, and plant before reaching the fruit or vegetable.

Oh, and I've never had a significant amount of soil enter the corrugated pipe, so the porous sock has not been necessary.