Wooden Training Pots... Cedar?

Has anyone used cedar for wooden training pots before? I got a bunch of gorgeous kiln dried untreated rough cedar given to me by my father in law, and wondered if its natural state could or would harm a tree growing in the pot. I have had a reaction to cedar and I hate getting cedar splinters. I have worked with it quite a bit (I am/was a carpenter for years) and heard it is somewhat toxic (the oil I think )
Something to note, I live in PEI Canada, and I am not kidding, there are not even those short terracota pots that many use for training. Nothing plastic either. All of my larger Yamadori I have been getting are in wooden pots I made.

So back to the original question, could untreated cedar boards be ok for home made training pots?

Cedar will work fine for training boxes. I find that it starts to rot out after a couple of years if not treated. I coat mine with a preservative/wood stain - sometimes 2 coats and let it dry in the sun for a week or two before use. That extends the life a quite a bit. I have some that are 10 years old that have been brushed clean, dried, and restained every 2-3 years when empty.

I forgot to mention that I use coarse screen (hardware cloth) in the bottoms of the boxes. That gives great drainage and also also eliminates the place where wood rots out the fastest.

That's what I should've done to my pine boxes I made this spring. Good idea Marty!

Cedar boxes from fence boards...Yeah they are great. If you put ears on them on opposing sides it is easy to pick them up


Good luck with them