Looking for Lightweight & Durable Trays/Pots.

Jaspirac

Seedling
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A couple of projects I've got growing need to be made more portable, but I'm having a hard time finding any pots or trays that are non-ceramic or clay in the size I need. I'd love some suggestions.
Looking for 24" wide, round or oval, 4"-6" depth. A container of rubber, composite or any material that can handle a 36" tree with medium and be moved/transported without concern to the container. I have some ceramic trays selected locally but the weight will make the projects extremely heavy to move and risk cracking. Thanks-
 

sorce

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I logged all my product numbers in this thread.


The material itself can be doubled for enough strength for your sizes.... stapled to wood, etc etc, you will find new ways, etc ...

Welcome to the Sane side of Crazy!

Sorce
 

Shibui

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Mica pots were made from recycled car tyres but ended up more expensive than ceramic bonsai containers so have all but disappeared.
There are several companies making plastic bonsai trays but I think only in smaller sizes as far as I know.
Fibreglass is used for some lightweight garden pots but I have not seen low profile bonsai type pots except for owner made.
I have also seen several different reinforced cement method for bonsai containers also owner made though.
 

Trenthany

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Not having the breadth of knowledge most of these guys have I can only refer to what I’ve seen locally. Wigert’s has a variety of plastic and other similar material pots as well as their various imported and domestic pottery. Some they even refer to as mica although shibui says they’re hard to find. Maybe it’s a different brand name or something? Regardless of the curiosity of that statement from my limited perspective of the bonsai world I know Wigert’s carries pots that fit your description and to my limited budget seem very affordable for the sizes.
 

Jaspirac

Seedling
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Thank you for the replies on this thread. It got me thinking outside the box but refining my search found me a suitable container.
One option that came up was "Fiberstone" from Vietnam which is a fiberglass and stone mixture and there are importers- no weights are given that I found yet but I imagine it should lighter.
I ended up getting some 24" bowls from https://veradekshop.com whom were quick to let me know that their bowls are only 6 lbs.
I'll still keep my eyes open for other options.
 

TinyArt

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It’s early AM, so thinking may not be sound — but what about repurposing a steel kitchen sink? Has a drain hole. Might be modified if too deep? If it had a husky wooden support with cut-out handles, might not be atrocious to move?
 

leatherback

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Here in garden centres there are loads of round, shallow pots for cheap. If it is projects and not final pots these work perfectly fine for training purposes:

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