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.

Our well has visible sediment and the water is dingy, unfiltered. So I have two large filter canisters in series, 1" piping. The first has a 50 micron element and the second has a 5 micron element. My idea, whether it is correct or not, is that the first filter will catch some of the sediment and thus prolong the life of the second element, increasing the time between filter changes. The cartridge manufacturers specify a replacement schedule-- but they have a vested interest in selling lots of cartridges! The first filter also supplies the outside faucets so that the coarser sediment does not clog nozzles and sprinklers. Water for the clothes washer and for other in-house uses also goes through the 5 micron filter. So I replace mine when the drop in pressure becomes too great. And that has proved to be about every 10-12 months. I see no reason to change that plan.

Once again, Funky has cost me money, now that I have just ordered the Tayeka iced tea maker. I love fruity/herbal iced tea -- it is sweet enough without adding sugar but far more interesting than plain water! I do drink lots of water during the day -- I have my two cups of coffee, then switch to plain old water and usually have a glass (actually a plastic Tervis cup) near me for most of the way, refilling as needed. (I stop after dinner, though, so I'm not up all night!) I don't like ice in my water. DH does, so when he's filling water glasses at dinner time, he will put ice in mine...it's an ongoing (silly) beef between us. How hard is it to remember that I don't want ice? My kids are all in the habit of drinking mostly water too, which I am happy about. I don't buy soda but I do buy juice... I haven't thought of adding a splash in my water but might just try that! I never drink juice myself, it's just too sweet for me. Um, unless it's in a cocktail. Then it's fine. I also love Diet Coke but almost never have it in the house, because I know I'd have at least one can a day (only cans...don't like it as much in a bottle). So I only get it as a "treat" when I'm out somewhere. Oddly enough, I love the fizz of soda but I am not a fan of seltzer. I'm a member of the anti-champagne club, too. I do love Prosecco, though. Isn't that weird? Champagne sometimes gives me a headache but Prosecco doesn't. Lots of good ideas here!

It could also be the soil you used to repot it! Last year I bought some Miracle Grow Moisture guard potting soil (which I had used successfully many times before) but this time EVERYTHING I repotted with it died within a week or two. EVERYTHING!!! I've been gardening, indoors and out, for over 40 years and can't remember the last time I lost a plant when repotting! When I went to Scott's/Miracle Gro website to complain I saw SO MANY experienced gardeners with the exact same complaints I had and some insolent, smart aleck customer no-service dweeb would always "reply" saying there was nothing wrong with their product so it had to be "user error". Many of the folks complaining had as much - or more - experience as I had! It was absolutely insulting! I used to believe in their products but won't chance it again. Who knows when there might be another contaminated batch?!? Only good thing is that the patch of invasive English ivy I dumped all the bad soil out onto DIED! (And we all know how hard that stuff is to kill!). Scott's/Miracle Gro lost a good LOOOONG TIME customer because they couldn't admit they might have sent out a bad batch! I know I'm not the only experienced gardener who won't be using them again!