I have plants in gritty growing in a "pot in a pot" in my house. You are spot on about hearing the water trickle out while watering. My pots are ceramic and plastic. The plastic pot fits tightly leaving a reservoir at the bottom. The roots evetually grow down into that moist void space. Now about the water in the bottom. If the pots are glazed ceramic, the water won't evaporate very fast. Any raw ceramic, like on the very bottom, will help evaporate out the water. It will also destroy a hardwood floor because of the moisture, so lift it off the ground if the bottom is not glazed. You are going to need to figure out a way to remove the water in the bottom of the pot. With my small ones, I just take them outside and tip them on their sides to dump the water. This would be problematic with a large heavy container. A downtube that you could stick a siphon in would work. The interior stand could be another pot. Generally, I find that to be a bad idea. Sometimes it works and is the right height, but not usually. I make a stand out of 3/4" PVC at the exact right height. This leaves the bottom with as much open space as possible and therefore the greatest capacity for water. You want that void to be empty, no lava rock or anything. That just takes up space unnecessarily. Don't use paper to fill voids. This will be a humid environment and the paper will get funky. Long strand sphagnum moss works well. It also works well as a mulch so that you don't see two pots. If you need to take up a considerable amount of space between the two pots, cut pieces of Styrofoam insulation board and glue them to one of the pots. You don't want stuff falling down into the void if you have remove the interior pot. Just use a couple dabs of window caulk. It can be a good idea to size the interior pot small enough to be able to get a 1/2" pvc stand tube in there between the two pots. This will allow you to stick a smaller tube in there to siphon out the water. You don't need to drill additional holes in a terra cotta pot.

I'll be glad to update you all. Here's an update. I got the seeds several weeks later (no idea the seller was in China). Sprinkled them onto the medium consisting of granite grit and fine pine bark. They sprouted pretty fast, but I think the mix was too heavy because the shoots did not seem to be able to go in at all - they just grew above the medium. Some mold appeared soon after, not much, just here and there in the mix. I did nothing about it and it did not grow much. I watered by misting a few times into each hole, then I'd let it stand and percolate down, then judging by the mix color would often mist a few times more, wait again to percolate. The goal was to have the mix moist but not soggy at all times - it was difficult as expected, I needed to check more than once a day for sure because the lights would dry the small quantity of mix pretty fast. Even if the watering part was OK, without penetrating the mix the germinated seeds were doomed. And indeed the shoots dried up. Even though the mix would be slightly moist, the air right above may have been too dry under lights and the shoots desiccated. Small pockets of mold did survive. :-) So, the other day I emptied it all into the garbage. Lesson learned - need a lighter mix next time if doing something similar. Hey, here's an idea. Pirate Girl, you suggested rooting hoya cutting in water in these. While I am not a fan of water rooting because of the need to regrow soil roots later, BUT I do want to try semi-hydro method for rooting and growing, and I just thought maybe this container can be used. I'll need to use smaller particles than hydroton because I do not think it'll fit through the narrow openings. I'd fill the three globes completely, not partially, with the hydro medium and stick some compact small leaf hoya cuttings in there, defoliated in the mix but of course with leaves above it. To keep the water (fertilizer solution really) fresh, I'd hold the cuttings/plants with my fingers, turn the whole thing over to drain all the water, then refill just a bit or fertilizer solution to stand at the bottom for wicking. What do you all think?

Ya know, I must be getting old...or else I have already arrived. I don't know why I haven't even thought about putting out some of that shade fescue and try it where it's shady. Thanks guys, I might get some tomorrow. I still have a little time left here so I might be able to get some to come up. It kills me to walk over my lawn and see the damb soil, like I've never had grass here before. I mean it really pisses me off after the years of babying this friggin' lawn, and poof...gone. I have spent untold hundreds of dollars trying to get this place looking nice, and I have to start all over again. Geeessshhh!!

Evan, my God, that's hot. Is it humid too or dry air? That makes a huge difference. It was 94 here Saturday and then by Sunday, 54 all day. I was freezing from being miserably hot the day before. My poor trees. Finally temps are just perfect for them. The next ten day speaks of 70's by day and mid fifties by night. Just perfect! Jinny, I finally got a good rain storm Sunday and now all of a sudden I an getting all this awesome green growth for the first time since last year! I love it. I hope my trees don't have to rely on tap water from the hose all summer. It does them no good except that it keeps them alive. Atheen, the vinegar keeps my trees well fertilized and very vivid green. You should see the difference without it. In fact, I think I will take pics of my trees not fed vinegar for weeks. vinegar acidifies my fertilizer solution making all the nutrients available at all times. I have finally stop being lazy about it. Laura, great news. It's about time. Seems to be most problems for every one dissipate once they are outside in warmer temps)