Hi 17957, lots of good advice, especially from Purpleinopp; let me just throw in a couple of things. All the pots without drainage holes that you see are meant to be used as "decorative containers," that is you keep your plant in its grow pot, and set it into a drainage saucer, then put both of those into the fancy pot. Makes life much easier, believe me. Most potted plant experts advise never to use dirt from the garden in your pots - it doesn't have the correct drainage properties, and can contain lots of bugs and things you don't want. Try calling around to the small, private plant stores in your area, if there are any, to look for "soilless mixes" - these are composed mainly of chopped fir bark and perlite, in varying proportions. If you can't find that, but desire to improve the quality of bagged potting soil, some things you can add are more perlite, orchid mix with the pieces bigger than 1/4" taken out, or crushed granite sold as chicken grit in feed stores. Sand is not so good, as it tends to fill up the spaces between the soil particles, thus obstructing the drainage you are trying to achieve. "Moisture managing" or "moisture retentive" soils are not such a good idea, because people lose more plants thru over-wet soil than any other single reason. If you use them, you'll want to always check the moisture level in the bottom of the pot, not just the surface or top couple of inches, and not water again until the soil has only a slight trace of moisture.
