Not sure if its harmful or not . But you could try to get some 5 gallon buckets free or cheap . Many times car washes,restaurants ,have buckets they toss out ,land scappers may have containers they are trying to get rid of ,doesnt hurt to ask. Try joing a "freecycle" group in your area,where everything is free.Try a google freecycle search. Check on "craigslist" for cheap buckets. Home Depot sells 5 gal buckets for

dickiefickle,

"Home Depot sells 5 gal buckets for Are you saying the white food grade does not hold up as long as those home depot buckets?

Here I thought I was doing a good thing in getting food grade white buckets. I hope they at least last a few years. Thaks for that info, now I will know in the future.

Thats exactly what I am saying. Food grade is not made to sit in the outside elements.
About second or third year the food grade plastic is super brittle .

I didnt know that about food grade buckets either. Thanks.

That was a test to see if I could upload pix. Guess it worked!

Night Stalker

nothing wrong with recycling containers idea. I would stay away from anything that had paint or similar in it. There is always someone disposing of plastic nursery containers, or you can stop at garden centres & ask for free ones - most have drop-off box for people to bring & recycle empties.

I would definitely p/u wooden crates/drawers that are sometimes put out for garbage p/u, as long as they are not falling apart. Just provide drainage holes (drill thru bottom). They will not last forever, but you may get couple of years out of them. You could paint outside if necessary.
Also old ceramic/china bowls, jugs and similar, you just have to provide drainage holes. Doesn't really matter even if they are chipped, it will probably be covered by the plant anyway....just some ideas...