Planter Box For 5 Gallon Bucket Tomato Plants

This growing season is the first time that I’ve started tomatoes from seeds inside. I’m attempting 5 varieties this year! In this post you’ll find a free plan for a planter box for 5 gallon bucket tomato plants.

The good news is that my seedlings have done pretty well. But the bad news is that I have tons of extra tomato plants, even after I’ve given a bunch of them away!

Instead of throwing the extra plants in the compost heap after all that TLC throughout the spring, I decided to plant a handful of the extra tomatoes in 5 gallon bucket containers.

It took me a little while to find some food grade 5 gallon buckets for my tomato plants, but I ended up purchasing a handful from the Lowes website and also a few from Tractor Supply, all of them around $5 each. Considerably cheaper than the big terra cotta planters!

The downside is that 5 gallon buckets aren’t the prettiest planters! I like a rustic planter box style that’s not too big, so I settled on a compact design that can hold four 5 gallon buckets with my tomato plants.

Using 5 Gallon Buckets for Planters

Here’s a quick note on how to prepare the 5 gallon buckets to be tomato planters. Using a 3/4″ drill bit, I drilled 5 drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets: one in the middle, and then 4 equally spaced around the bottom. Next I drilled 4 more holes in the sides of the buckets about 1″ to 2″ from the bottom. It’s a good idea to add some wood chips or gravel to the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket tomato planters to promote drainage, then fill with soil that’s designed for container gardening.

This design, made out of 2×4 lumber and fence pickets, is about as economical as I could find. Of course, wood prices are ridiculous right now, but the cost of supplies for one of these planter boxes that holds 4 tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets is about the same price as buying a single nice decorative planter at the garden center big enough to grow one tomato plant!

Also, because the plater box for the 5 gallon buckets doesn’t come in contact with the soil, you can use pressure treated lumber without worrying about it (although ACQ treated lumber is considered safe for garden beds, but that’s another post!).

Planter Box Project Plan

Building these planter boxes is a great weekend project and it’s an easy build even if you don’t have a lot of woodworking experience. You’ll need eight 8′ 2x4s and 6 fence pickets for the 5 gallon tomato bucket planter pictured above, although you can find lots of ideas for the siding online.

I’ll briefly walk you through the project plan below. I also created a nicely formatted plan for $5 that includes a shopping list, cut list, diagrams and step by step instructions. Like my other plans, this also comes with a 3D SketchUp model for those who are total nerds like me!

Material List:

• 8 – 2” x 4” x 8’
• 6 – ⅝” x 6” x 6’ fence pickets

Cut List:

• 8 – 2” x 4” @ 26”
• 8 – 2” x 4” @ 24”
• 4 – 2” x 4” @ 29”
• 4 – 2” x 4” @ 32” cut at 45°
• 8 – 2” x 4” @ 5½”
• 18 – ⅝ x 6 @ 18½”

Here’s an exploded view so that you can see how the 5 gallon bucket planter box is assembled. The bottom support for the 5 gallon buckets designed for easy drainage.

While this is a very easy plan, you’ll want to have the following power tools for this project:

• Miter saw for cutting your 2x4s and fence pickets. As you can see from the diagram, the top trim has 45° corners. That’s not necessary, and you can just butt the trim together, but I think the 45° corners look nicer.
• Table saw for ripping the siding. If you use fence pickets for the siding, you’ll need to rip at least one of them down for a smaller gap. You may need to rip more… I’ve found that fence pickets can vary a good bit from the 5 1/2″ width that they’re supposed to have!
• Power drill with screwdriver bit – you’ll be screwing a lot of decking screws into this planter! I also recommend pre-drilling your holes when attaching the joints. Things just go easier when you do that.
• Pneumatic nail gun for quickly attaching the siding. Of course this is optional, and you can use a hammer and nails, but it goes so much faster if you have a nail gun!

How to Assemble the Planter Box For 5 Gallon Buckets

While my downloadable plan provides step-by-step instructions with detailed illustrations, here’s the short version of how to build the planter:

1. Assemble the 4 legs first
2. Build the top and bottom supports separately
3. Attach the bottom support onto the legs
4. Flip the planter over (this makes it easier!) and attach the top support
5. Add the top trim
6. Attach the siding

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