After a plant swap I usually bring home 10-15 different plants in assorted pots. In order to keep them watered until I can plant them, I set them in a small hard plastic kiddie pool. You can get one for about $10-15 dollars new. It is especially useful in hot weather. Also I use the little pool as a place to split plants, repot plants and any other messy jobs in the garden. Then I store it behind my shed til I need it again.

Wow, what a great idea! And if you use Freecycle, or some similar neighborhood thing, you could probably even get one for free.

Excellent! Thank you for posting it!

You can use these as cheap raised beds as well. When I use them for potted plants, I always throw some mosquito bits in there to handle any standing water.

Oh and I almost forgot - my doggies love to play in the pool too so I bought a separate one just for them

They also make great whelping boxes if you have a litter of pups. Plenty of room for mom to stretch out, pups can't get out until they're pretty big, and real easy to keep clean.

We use the kiddie pool as an oil drip pan for big equipment!

I just planted my onions and garlic in kiddie pools. The guy at Toys R Us was fascinated by that.

LizDTM said:I just planted my onions and garlic in kiddie pools. The guy at Toys R Us was fascinated by that.

Tell me about the soil you used in it please?

I have a kiddie pool sitting in the garage, to be donated to the thrift store. I got it when our oldest dog was a pup, he's now 4 1/2 years old, 106 lbs. and doesn't fit in the pool anymore and our other dog who is 1 1/2 yrs old, 84 lbs has no interest in it but he's getting pretty big for it too.

Lin! You've got a raised bed just waiting for you to use it!

Kristi, I use Kellog's raised bed and potting mix. Has compost mixed in. Smells like it's got manure mixed in as well. I get it at Home Depot and it's way cheaper than the big names. Packed into the bag like crazy. When you open it, you have to break it up. So much more than what the bag looks like it holds.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Kel...

Thank you Liz and thanks for the link also. I will look for it. I am guessing you also drilled drain holes in the pool in case monsoon season hits.

The only thing I used a wading pool for was to keep some house plants hydrated while on vacation, It worked well. So many good ideas here!

LOL Liz ... not raised enough for me; I'd rather have raised beds 4 feet off the ground so I don't have to bend very far.

Kristi, yes, add the holes! Very simple to do. The plastic is quite thin. I took a picture of my peas and garlic growing in one of the pools.

@pod I looked for the Kellog mix this morning. It wasn't available in Austin, nor within a 100 miles of here! Guess I'll have to have a plan B.

Cute! I wonder if some colors are more conducive to these plants growing well...

Bubbles said:@pod I looked for the Kellog mix this morning. It wasn't available in Austin, nor within a 100 miles of here! Guess I'll have to have a plan B.

On the link Liz shared, it looks like you can order it to be sent to a Home Depot to be picked up. We'll have to explore that option.

Great idea, pod!

We'll see how the colors differ. I have my onions in blue pools, smaller and a bit shallower so the potting soil is right up to the top!

I really wasn't teasing about the pink wading pool. I would bet there is research out there that would tell us one color encourages plant growth more than the others. I will be interested in seeing how well yours produce. Please keep us posted.

Oooo, an experiment! I like it.