I find it depends on the bulb size, Lizalily, although, the more room you can give them for root growth, the better... within reason, of course... I've had to stuff a few larger bulbs into pots that are a bit too small for them, but it's all I had available at the time... I think the norm would be a pot that allows about 2 inches between the bulb and the pot wall, all the way around. I have some of my smaller bulbs planted in 4" pots that are rather short and squat... and my really big ones in 8" or 10" pots... those are taller, of course... most of what I'd consider to be medium sized bulbs are in 6" pots. The Lovely Garden klister I planted as a whole is in a larger pot... I'd say it's probably about a 12" or better sized pot... when I shop for clay pots, I try to get a large variety of sizes... and I prefer the inexpensive plastic drip saucers to the clay ones, only because you can more easily bottom water using them... they're a bit deeper than the clay. I don't know why I didn't think of poking holes or making slits in plastic pots before! It could be done quite easily using anything sharp and heated, such as an ice pick or even a butter knife if it were heated enough. An old wood burning tool, that you don't mind ruining a tip of, would work, too. You could even get fancy and create different shaped holes or slits... if you could find something metal that could be heated, and was in the shape of a heart or star or anything, really... you could have some really cute, and cheap, orchid pots! Lizalily, I have found lots of clay pots at secondhand stores, flea markets, garage sales, Salvation Army and Goodwill stores... but even if you buy them at your local garden center, they're relatively inexpensive... I have found that they cost more at Walmart than at the garden center! I pay an average of .69 cents for a 6" pot and .89 cents for an 8" pot... the larger the pot, the more costly, of course, but unglazed clay is fairly cheap. You might even be able to find them wholesale online for less... I've never checked because I think shipping could be more than I'd want to pay, plus they're rather fragile...

I have been seeing the numbers of these ants multiply quickly this year so I watched them for a few minutes. They where crawling up the outside wall of the concrete apartment building I live in so I thought I would try something. I got my bottle of Ortho ant B gone Max and sprayed it in the hole between the bricks they were going and into, the nest holes along the side of the building they were coming out of and to my surprise there have not been any for the last 2 days not even in the larger part of the grassy area outside my door, where sometimes it looked like there was no grass at all just ants. I am still however seeing them in my apartment but one here and one there. they have not been bad inside at all just wish I could find where they are coming from and do something about it, not sure what to do with pets around so getting the pest control in is the last resort. But I suggest if you are having problems with the little black carpenter ants and have pets I have only seen one or two of there guys after putting cinnamon in the tracks of the windows and spraying vinegar around the outside door (refreshing once a week)which may be a safe way out doors where your pets hang out. Good luck this year everyone with the ever growing population of our unwanted little friends

Buy Home Defense. You can use inside your home & outside perimeter. It kills almost EVERYTHING! We live in Florida and I worked at Lowe's for awhile & learned all about how $7.99 saves us a lot of headache. You can simply spray in corner rooms or along the baseboards and you might see an increase as you disturb them & they disappear. This works for palmetto bugs, spiders, mites, ants, (although for ants I prefer Terro because it attracts the abyss they drink it go back to the nest and kills the entire nest. They also carry it in gallon jugs & refill bottles. You can get it at any store like Walmart, Target, Lowe's, Home Depot etc.

Muckpuck, I get these sometimes, I mostly get the lovely fan-tail mealy-bugs, but they die the same way. 1. You can remove the eggs with your fingers, just squish it up..same with the adults, they do hop though sometimes when you go to squish them..and they hop far, so be expecting that, lol. 2. Use a couple drops of liquid dish soap in a spray bottle of water..(everywhere I read says a couple drops, but I give a good lil squirt, and have never harmed my plants) Anyway, shake it up, spray it on them and they will die, try to spray gently and close to them. They will instantly die. The soapy water will not harm your plants at all, but if you are nervous about it you can always hose it off after each application. Do the soapy water every 3 or 4 days for 2-3 weeks, your lil buggers will be gone. You want to do it this long so you stop the life cycle. If there are eggs that you missed and they hatch, you will get them at the next application. If you get more later on, repeat the process. This works on any soft bodied lil bugger. 3. This one isnt so easy, lol. Dab a Q-tip in alchohol and just touch it to the mealy-bug NOT the plant. This is more of a remedy for if you just have a couple, not an infestation. Good Luck! Daniella