This is probably a worn-out subject, but I'm new and couldn't find a thread discussing it. I want to drill a hole in bottom of some ceramic/glass pots. I bought a "glass and tile" bit for a drill that will make a 3/8" hole. Is that all there is to it?
Drilling Holes
A diamond bit is going to do a lot better than a carbide bit. Check the Handyman forum.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/600284/
Thanks :)
Also, theres something about running water over it as you drill...so you won't do something else disastrous to the pot or the drill bit...
Some sites want to sell you a lubricant but I'd go with the ones that say water works with their drills.
try it on one,but I'd start with a much smaller bit for a pilot hole.3/8 is rather big for going into glass without it being diamond and the material being glass.You'd have to apply to much pressure to get through it,and the pot will crack.
I bought a 1/2 inch diamond hole saw and I found it easy to use for ceramic pots (never tried glass). To start a hole, I started at an angle which seemed easier going than straight into the material. Keep it lubricated since dust will be produced. This will keep the bit cooler and the dust down. Once you have gotten the tip in past the hard glazed portion, then start bringing it up to the vertical position. For larger pots you may have to drill 3 holes with this size bit for adequate drainage. I had used carbide tips before but they take a lot longer to drill through glazed pots (often times the hole is ragged and partially cracked and your arm is worn out pressing the bit down) and wear out a lot faster (in the long run you won't save money unless you are just doing a few holes - maybe less than ten because you will have to buy another carbide drill bit after this many holes).
Search online for diamond drills. Hobby stores might carry these special bits since they are used in some stained glass projects. I bought mine online from a business that sold a lot of stained glass tools and materials.
Wow, thank you for all your advice! I will definitely take it! ... well, I should say that I'll show it to my DH so he can take your advice :)
Hey I am new and I have never one time had a container here in the desert that I new how to water. What is the mixture used for, lets say a whisky barrel and how many hole do I need at the bottom and how big? How do I water it and how often? Keep in mind I am in a hot dry area, that also freezes often in the winter. I know nothing and have killed ever container plant that I ever had, drought tollerant and xeriscape plants too. SOS
Hi hellnzn! Drought tolerant and xeriscape plants can often be challenging to keep in containers--they like things on the dry side, but in containers they need more water than they would if they were in the ground so it's a very fine line between watering them enough that they don't die and overwatering them and making their roots rot. I've actually had much worse luck with this kind of plants in containers than I have with more thirsty varieties. I just use regular Miracle Gro potting soil in all my containers (except for cactus, I use cactus mix for them) and I've had good luck with it for just about everything. I water them either with the hose or from a watering can depending on whether they're in a place where I can reach them with the hose. As far as how often to water, that's going to vary depending on the plants, the exact temperatures, etc. The best way to tell is stick your finger down a few inches into the soil, if it feels moist then leave it alone but if it feels dry then water it. If you don't trust your finger, they sell moisture meters that will tell you how wet the soil is (although I tend to trust my finger more than the meter!)
A bigger problem for you might be sun/temperatures...how much sun were your containers getting? You mention desert so I'm assuming your temps regularly get 100+, in climates like that, a plant tag that says "full sun" really means afternoon shade, so if you're keeping stuff where it's getting sun for most of the day that could be too much for all but the most sun-loving plants. Also, soil in containers (especially dark colored ones) will tend to heat up if the container's sitting in the sun, and it can basically cook the plants roots.
And how much freezing do you get? Here where I am we get occasional light frost but nothing cold enough to freeze the soil in the pot, but if you have lots of freezing temps then you may need to worry about that but I doubt you get cold enough, as long as you choose plants that are hardy in your zone you should be fine. But since you say you're in zone 11, I'm very surprised to hear that you ever get freezing temperatures. If you see them more often than once every hundred years or so, then I don't think you can be in zone 11. I'm in 9b and we rarely get below 30-35 with some light frost, and I think the normal lows for zone 11 are 45 degrees or so. The only places I know of that are zone 11 in CA (and they may even be 10b, not 11) would be in Southern CA right at the coast. I don't know where Rosamond is exactly but I think all the desert areas are too far inland to be anything warmer than 9a at best.
Hey girl, well I don`t want to totally shock you but here we get snow every 2 to 4 years and we have bad wind chill factor as well, we have probably a total of no less than 45 nights with freezing or below, more like 3 months, in the night usually but sometimes in the day too. We are High Desert. In the SUNSET Western Gardening book, look up the zone map and the distinctions between zone 10 and 11. We are at 2700feet above sea level, I think. Rosamond is near Lancaster-Palmdale, if you ever heard of it. Your tips were informative as to why a lot of my potted plants died, which makes me realize that even that may not be a good option unless under a shaded structure. Thanks though, the fun continues.
Sorry...I've gotten so used to everyone else around here using USDA climate zones, I didn't even think that you might have used the Sunset zone in your tag instead! I'll believe that you're Sunset zone 11, just not USDA zone 11! Personally I like the Sunset zones much better, but I generally only refer to the USDA ones here on DG because most people outside of the west coast don't know the Sunset ones.
I think if you have a covered patio or something that would shield the strongest rays in the heat of the day you should be able to do some containers. Or is there an area on the north side of your house? That's likely to be less hot than others. Large, light colored containers would be your best bet--the light ones will reflect the sun more, and large size means the soil won't heat up as much. I still don't think too many plants will like having sun all day even in that sort of container, but if you can rig up a little shade for the hottest part of the PM you've got a chance!
thanks, I do have a side that we haven`t started on yet and it is on the north side, also the east side is much shadier during much of the day. The area seemed to be more compatable with the sunset zone 11, because they are more specific to my weird obstacles. If I plant according to the USDA zone on the seed packets, a lot of the plants won`t survive my specific area. A lot of the nursuries here use the Sunset zones for hardiness and sell that book as almost a BIBLE of gardening. I should have figured it out when I saw that Zone 11 members of DG were in real tropical climates like Hawaii and FLA but some others in other desert countries like Afghanastan or something said zone 11, so they may use the western one too. Oh well. I am confused. Some guy sent me a d-mail and said I am using the Sunset climate zone yesterday and I didn`t get why he mentioned it. HMMMM
I'm with you--I try to follow the Sunset zones vs the USDA ones when planting stuff since it takes into account the lack of rain, summer high temps, etc as well as winter lows. It's a much better system and they actually did create zones for the rest of the country outside the west coast too, but nobody seems to use them except out here. But I find it's less confusing to people that I list my USDA zone in my profile here because that way people outside the west coast have an idea of the climate I have when I give advice. But I don't think you're the only one who uses Sunset zones in their profile--I checked who all's in zone 11 and found some people from Arizona and Las Vegas, and those certainly aren't USDA zone 11 either but could easily be Sunset 11. So I say stick with what makes you happy, just make sure when you're asking for advice on things to grow, for example, that people know you mean Sunset zone 11 not USDA, otherwise they'll be telling you to plant pineapples and mangoes!
lol. lol lol How was your holiday weekend? Mine was good until the last hr, when my DH started being an idiot. Now I`m in a bad mood.
Sorry your DH was being an idiot! But don't let him ruin a perfectly good weekend! My weekend has been good but tiring--I'm relandscaping my entire yard this fall (or getting as far as I can before I run out of time, money, or energy (I'm still trying to figure out which one will run out first) so I decided to tackle a couple of DIY projects this weekend (it being Labor Day and all, I figured it was a good time for some good old fashioned manual labor!) So now my back is killing me and I can't move my arms anymore! But I'm rewarding myself for my hard work by taking tomorrow off and going down to Carmel for the day to hang out on the beach.
OH YA THATS WHAT I~M TALKING ABOUT! In fact your holiday plans were what we were fighting about because I am having surgury on my right arm, elboe, wrist and hand in Oct. and I wanted to get as far as we could tilling etc.and having trucks of crushed gravel and sand brought in and re dividing the property so it`s not so overwhelming to work on or look at. He could procrastinate till the cows come home and he won`t do any of it probably anyway so we were getting into it because I said I want a bunch of money to be put into this house or I want to move to something that is not so overwhelming for one person. Hope your beach thing went good and you didn`t get burned.
Well, I ended up not going to the beach--I have a nice headache today from spending too much time working in the sun, so I'm relaxing at home instead! Not quite as fun, but it's foggy at the beach anyway so I would have froze my butt off! Hope you won the argument with DH...it sounds like it's the right thing to do, as fun as gardening is it's no fun if your space is too big to maintain properly and if you're having surgery soon it makes sense to get stuff done first! Fortunately I don't have a DH to argue landscaping plans with, I can do whatever I want--the down side is though that I have to do it all myself or else pay someone to do it!
Ya that sucks but atleast your doing it alone for good reason. I just am because he doesn`t really care enough about it to help on his time off from work. I really don`t like the gardening work much of the time especially when your starting from scratch, again. I love the fruits of my labor though and apparently so do the gophers here. lol/ cry out loud. Glad you relaxed anyway. I always wanted to drive to carmel because there a lot of bed and breakfasts there that are highly rated in a book I have.