Thanks again to everyone for all the advice. You guys are great!! Since most of the pots had just been replanted yesterday or over the last couple of days from last weekend's show purchases, I went ahead and repotted again today before they settled in. To say the least, I'm getting lots of practice with repotting, and probably stressing the plants in the process, but hopefully this will help in the long run.

Now I'm all potted up in the lava/charcoal/bark mix, this time with peanuts in the bottom. Hardest part was finding styrofoam peanuts on a Sunday. I won't go into much detail about my obsessive hunting trip but it untimately involved visiting a local recycle bin for a freshly dropped box of peanuts. Seems all the local big box stores and shipping centers in my neighborhood no longer carry them.... only the biodegradable ones! The one place I could find was, of course, closed on Sunday! I saw them inthe window... so close, yet so far... LOL

Betty, my paphs and one of my B nodosas are in clear plastic pots. You are absolutely right in the fact that it is easy to see what goes on in there. Can you IM me where you get yours? I like them but am not sure where to get more. One good thing about the one's I do have is they fit exactly into a terra cotta pot but can be easily removed for inspection. These came with some big box store purchased plants but I've not seen this pot-in-a-pot setup available to the general public, at least not in the local stores here.

Remo, what you described have been my last few days... drilling, trying different hole locations and different sized masonry bits. I did not use a masonry blade on the skil saw (good thing for me, and my neighbors, the skil saw is at my Mom's place 3 hours away!) If this current system doesn't work I think my next step will involve going more into the hydro-type medias like hydroton and stalite. My upstairs window, even with the AC running, maintains a fairly constant 55% rh.

Bruce, after your comments I started looking at all the pots and one thing I now notice on the standard clay pots is the walls appear thicker, at least to me, compared to say an azalea or chid pot of the same diameter. Maybe its just the specific manufacturer whose pots I'm looking at, but there is a difference. This is especially noticable when trying to drill through them. (Again, lots of practice over the last few days) This coupled with the height, as you mentioned, could definatley aid in not allowing the media to dry evenly. I left my smaller plants in their standard (now with drilled bases) clay pots, but they're thin walled. However, I elected to not repot a couple of the medium sized plants as the wall thickness, even with additional vent holes, may not allow the media to dry properly through the center. Its not worth the risk. I'll find some other way as these plants get bigger and require larger pots. Maybe by then I'll be out of this apartment and into a home where a small greenhouse can be established.

Pavel, I love wine and should start saving the corks! Does the residue from the wine cause problems when used as a medium?