Thank you for your opinion that I am funny, Al, or Tapla, or whatever name you are going by today. However, it is wasted, because your opinion of me ranks #12,345 on my list of concerns. My only surprise is that your compadre who goes by the name rhizo, or as I once typed it, rhino, which might have been more on target, has not jumped in to your defense yet. Your alliance is apparent to anyone who scans this list for more than a couple of days. (Your term elbo could be a result of poor keyboarding skills or an attempt at humor. THAT you are miserable at.) As a matter of fact, you do talk about yourself endlessly and all the solutions to gardening questions that you have independently come up with. You do not refer to research being done in the horticulture departments of research universities. (BTW, I have a Ph.D. in English, so I "get" your term ad hominum attack. I also am well schooled enough in philosophy to be well familiar with the term. But then you threw it out to impress others, didn't you. It appears that you see yourself, somewhat grandiously, as a Renaissance man. You like to leave the impression that you reinvent the wheel every day. I am a keen observer of human nature and relationships, and the symbiosis between you and this rhizo is interesting. If one feels the other has been disrespected, the other jumps in to defend. It is quite boring in its predictability. I don't doubt for a minute that you two consider yourselves the authorities on gardenweb, and from other posts, you have made converts. A further observation, and it is risky to make judgements based on e-mail messages only, is that rhino/zo is a bitter and pathologically vindictive person who trolls messages looking for "errors" to refute or perceived slights to which to respond with a wicked tongue. You are more subtle in your aggressiveness and sense of entitlement to be the ultimate authority on any subject that comes up, but it's there. I reject your "unsought advice" and will continue to post what I want to say as I see fit. You are now assuming the role of censor? What makes me most curious is that you and your buddy take this list so seriously. To be honest, over the months I have scanned messages for enjoyment, I can't think of one useful thing I have "learned." I see this as pure entertainment, although when people without an agenda such as you have ask a question that I feel qualified to answer, I give a reply based on solid science. Come to think of it, have you ever asked a question? You are strictly an answer man, aren't you. Since you implied that I am too cowardly to openly express my opinion of you, do you still feel that way? Or would you like me to continue?

If you try to use ordinary speed bits or masonry bits, they are very likely to break. You need a 'spear-point' or 'spade' drill. From another post: I have some considerable experience in drilling hard materials, with 30 yrs in the glazing contracting business (glass company). We regularly drill all sizes of holes in glass/mirrors, granite (shower door installations) and other vitrified materials (the objects people bring to us to drill holes in). Ease of drilling varies with the hardness of the material, of course, but terra-cotta containers are not hard at all. Most containers you'll encounter can best be drilled with a "spear-point" drill. I'll link you to a picture from one of our suppliers. The drill is also called a '3-point' or 'spade' drill. Highly vitreous containers (glass, or glass-like - ceramic - clay fired at high temperatures) may even require a diamond impregnated "core drill", but it's uncommon to find containers like this. These drills can be found at big box home improvement stores. They should be cooled with water or a 50/50 mix of water/antifreeze as you drill. An excellent strategy is to immerse the container upside down in a tub and add enough water to just cover the drilling surface as you drill. Rotating the drill clockwise at a slight angle while drilling will greatly increase ease of operation. Alternately (I use this method), fill a squeeze container (contact lens solution bottle is stellar) with water or 50/50 water/antifreeze & squirt it at the drill/material interface as you drill. If you can't find the drill you need, you can contact me off forum & I'll be glad to help you. See a picture of what the drill looks like below. They are made of carbide and designed to drill very hard materials. Here is a link that might be useful: Click me and I'll show you one of the drills Al's talking about.

Nancy, I don't put holes on the bottom for a few reasons. Holes on the bottom are obstructed from free flow simply because of where they are. They can be exposed to tiny critters as well, I found a slug in one container a few years ago. Holes we make with a drill tend to be rather small, so we have to keep going at it 5, 6, 7 times to get the same amount of drainage as one well placed slit. I make four of these. Most of us who have house plants use some sort of "riser" between the planter and the saucer it sits on so it can drain better. My corner slits are my "riser". You'll find cutting these slits doesn't even require electric scissors. The plastic on the corners is very thin, much thinner than the rest of the jug. If you use a drill, and you have trouble removing it once you make that hole, leave the drill running as you remove it!! It will slide right out!

Since I own a glass company (33 years) and we also install shower doors, I'm very familiar with methods of drilling all sorts of vitrified or hard material, including glass, ceramic, granite, and pots. I too use tableware for pots. For drilling semi-hard material, the 3-point/spear point bits are far superior to and faster than masonry bits. If the material I'm drilling is relatively soft, like terra cotta or glazed clay, I generally use water as the coolant. I either submerge the pot I'm drilling in a larger plastic tub so the drilling surface is just beneath the water (no need to stop drilling periodically, the object/tool interface won't heat up using this method). Alternately, I'll fill a contact lens solution bottle with water and apply a slow, continuous stream of water to the cutting tool interface area. For harder material, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water, or just turpentine, are among the best coolants likely to be handy and will add life to your cutting tool. For extremely hard and/or thick material, I'll use a with water as the lubricant - glass, granite, highly vitrified pottery. Though I have a drill press at home, and several at work, we/I usually prefer a battery operated 18V drill such as that made by Milwaukee, DeWalt ...... for drilling. Pressure isn't important as you should be letting the tool do the work. I also make sure the hammer function is out of play as it increases the odds of fracture significantly. BTW - there is no advantage in having more than 1 drain hole insofar as the end result is concerned. Good 'drainage' is a function of soil choice, not the number or size of drain holes. 1 unclogged drain hole at the lowest part of the pot is as effective as 100, The only advantage in having more drain holes would be if we got some degree of satisfaction from seeing the pot drain in 30 seconds instead of 45; the plant won't care. Al