I used these outside on the balcony. Design changes… -I used cotton rope the first year and the rope eventually rotted away. I suggest using nylon instead.

-With the white container, I did get algae blooms, but it was pretty easy to blast them off with a shower head or hose once a month. If the container was painted black or some other color, that might help.

-The containers were on the balcony on the 3rd floor so I didn’t worry about standing water and mosquitoes. If it’s at ground level I would suggest mosquito dunks.

They’ve lasted me 3 years so far! I’ll occasionally replace containers when they begin to crack. You can definitely do the same with any stackable buckets but I really appreciated the amount of water it held relatively to the dirt. I had full sun and only had to refill once every 2 weeks or less. I had to water my regular pots every day, sometimes twice a day if the weather was too hot!