Soda can drainage?

[cecilsgarden1958]

A friend of mine wants to grow her tomatoes in big pots this year on her deck and says she is going to use soda cans as drainage instead of gravel in the bottom of pots. Is that safe, considering the metal and the paint on the cans?

CECIL

[Sherry_AK]

I've used soda cans in large containers before, but not really for drainage. I just used them to take up space which would otherwise have been filled with soil, and therefore reducing the weight of the container. Worked really great. I guess it also helped the drainage, even though that wasn't really my purpose. I've only used this method for flowers.

I'm not sure there's actually "paint" on those cans. It's probably ink, and hopefully food safe since it's on a food package.

Sherry

[dice]

A few handfuls of tree leaves in the bottom usually works to
keep the container mix in the container while still allowing
drainage. You might not want that for a perennial, since the
leaves will decay over the summer and eventually become
silt, but in a container for annuals like tomatoes, they last long
enough. A layer of lava rock works, too, and is fairly light.

[PaulF]

My wife uses 1 liter plastic soda bottles instead of cans.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Thanks everyone!!!