Home Depot has bright orange five gallon "Homer's Bucket's for several dollars each.
Near the bags of concrete, or one isle over, you may find really big, really sturdy troughs for mixing mortar and concrete.
These next two aren't containers, but they should be right near the concrete section.
"Remesh" makes a great trellis for tomatoes or climbing vines. It's like a 5'x5' section of stiff welded fence, but with squares around 12" across. Much lighter and cheaper than hog panels.
A lighter and narrower form of remesh is a "Masonry Ladder", which ought to be displayed somewhere near concrete products. Idea from Xeramtheum.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/X...
Here's a list of where to ask for free 4-5 gallon pails:
car washes
burger joints (pickle tubs)
school cafeterias
restaurants (especially Asian)
bakeries & doughnut shops
delis
supermarket bakeries
supermarket delis
painters & drywall contractors (if they don't use plastic-lined cardboard tubs)
Home Depot ("Homer's buckets" or "Leaktite" in the paint isle 10/$30)
cat peoples' kitty litter tubs (maybe less UV-resistant)
And you can turn a bucket into a self-watering "eBucket" by following Gymgirl's pictorial tutorial:
The thread "Make an eBucket!" in
Vegetables and Fruit forum
