When you use a ratio of 5:1 potting soil and perlite, you'll get exactly the same amount of wicking and aeration as if you were using only the potting soil. It's only when you start getting up around a 60% perlite component that you would notice any significant change. Perlite reduces the o/a VOLUME of water the soil is capable of holding, but that is of no value in containers with an unlimited water supply because it doesn't change the wicking potential until you increase the particle size of the predominant ingredient(s). Does that make sense to you, or should I illustrate further? Al

"Did you later start using the gritty mix and abandon the basic mix?" No. I use the gritty mix for plants that will be in the same soil for more than a single growth cycle. I use the 5:1:1 mix for all my veggies and display containers for the decks & gardens. I usually turn the 5:1:1 mix into the gardens, beds, or the compost pile at the end of the season. You got the gritty mix right, but The 5:1:1 mix is 5 parts partially composted pine bark fines 1 part sphagnum peat 1 part perlite garden lime The granite for the gritty mix is usually found at rural elevators/feed stores under the name "Gran-I-Grit" (grower size) or Cherry Stone (#2 size). Al

Hi KY girl, Are you still looking for a cold hardy gardenia, I know its been several months since you posted this, but in case you haven't found one, I just purchased two from Lowe's. Its "Miami Supreme" variety and the tag says although not to 0 degrees but hardy (20 to 10 degrees). If you go to this website: Lowes.com/plants Click on plant search and type in L7109, under the plant tag code number and it will give you some of the plants specifications, I know it's not zero degrees but might work out for you if you cover them really well when it gets below 20.Or pot them up and bring them in when its below that. But then I live in Florida and lucky for us it never gets that cold. These are my very first gardenias, so I am really new and have been reading all I can on how to take care of them properly. Good Luck!

Al, thanks for this excellent tip. I always knew there had to be a better way to drill drain holes in hard ceramic, but I never managed to figure it out. I have spent many hours swearing and sweating trying with a variety of carbide and diamond tipped "glass/ceramic" bits that were recommended to me by local hardware stores, but it never worked out well. I gave up on buying cute little dishes with the hopes in converting them to usable plant containers some time ago. So after reading this tip, I took a trip to my local big box and pick one of these bits up. Was about $15 for a 1/2" "lenox diamond hole saw". Seems like the correct term (at least when searching online) is "diamond hole saw". The right thing looks different than a normal bit or hole saw - in particular it does not have anything resembling saw teeth or a normal drill bit at the end, but what looks like chewed up metal (which I guess is impregnated with diamond, and works by grinding rather than cutting). I just made a perfect 1/2" hole in the bottom of an old coffee cup, and it took only a few minutes and wasn't difficult at all, at least as compared to my previous attempts with the wrong tool. I used wd40 as lubricant - maybe not ideal but it's what I had handy and worked alright. The only hard part was getting it started, it's absolutely critical that you hold the work piece to be drilled securely, ideally in some kind of vice. And while this may be obvious, GO SLOW, especially as you reach the end of the hole, or it'll probably make a bigger hole than you want by breaking out the back. Anyway, this is just great, and thanks again. Daniel ps, here's what I got basically, so you can see what it looks like: http://www.lowes.com/pd_511346-28303-121096DGDS___?productId=50325481&pl=1&Ntt=lenox+diamond+hole+saw, though I got a 1/2" one.