Hello,
I'm considering planting a pothos cutting in a pot without drainage holes mainly because I have a ceramic pot and it is a pain to drill holes. Is this a good idea?
thanks for any suggestions

It's easy to drill a hole in a pot if you have the right tools, but a decidedly bad ide to try to grow anything long term in a pot w/o a drain hole. The reasons for that are 1) It's very difficult to manage moisture levels in the soil so the plant gets enough but not too much water. 2) All dissolved solids (salts) from tapwater and fertilizer solutions remain in the soil where they build up to levels that limit water and nutrient uptake and quickly skew nutrient ratios in the soil trio the point where an excess of one nutrient causes (antagonistic) deficiencies of one or more other nutrients.

Drilling Holes in Pots
The 2 types of drill bits most appropriate for drilling holes in pots are diamond core bits for the highly vitrified (hard material - baked at very high temps - glass, ceramic, ......) pots, and a drill with several names for drilling clay pots fired at low temps, such as terra cotta. That (carbide) drill is called a 3-point drill, spear point drill, or a spade drill, seen here:

For the hard stuff, diamond core drills are best, though the 3 point drill will drill the hard stuff, too. Both are available in many sizes, with bits sized 3/8 or 1/2" best for pots.

You can buy either type at big box stores, and they're not that expensive, but you won't find a 'set' of diamond core bits worth buying for $9. The bits last a long time, depending on quality and how you use/care for them. They are best used with a steady stream of coolant from a squeeze bottle (contact lens solution bottles work great for this) or with the work surface barely submerged. IE, put the pot upside down in a tub and fill the tub with water until it just covers the work surface. If you use a spritzer or squirt bottle, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is an excellent coolant, and soapy water is better than plain water but not as good as the antifreeze mix. The coolant keeps the tool from over-heating, and in doing so, increases the life of the tool substantially - like triple or quadruple the number of holes you can drill. While drilling, apply very little pressure, just the weight of the drill motor with you providing only guidance is sufficient. Drill at medium speed – somewhere around 1,600 rpm. NEVER use either type of drill mentioned above without a lubricated coolant. The heat will cause thermal shock and fracture in glass and ceramics and heat build-up will destroy the tool.
Regular masonry bits

are "ok" for drilling terra cotta or cement (you can make them work), but inappropriate for anything harder. The right tool makes everything easier.

Al

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and the details about the drilling.

Pothos can live indefinitely in water.

You can keep it as an aquatic but it's better to drill a hole

Or consider using as a cache pot, my much preferred way.
I've had a few of those 'pretty' ceramic pots with attached tray,, or other pots with just one hole in the bottom, and they can clog and be a death sentance anyway.

I have just decided to drill all those no hole pots I ever had, so much easier and you get a lot of usable stuff then

Pothos can live indefinitely in water, but they cannot life indefinitely in saturated soil that alternates between water-logged and adequately aerated.

Al

tapla said: Pothos can live indefinitely in water, but they cannot life indefinitely in saturated soil that alternates between water-logged and adequately aerated.

Al

Yep, I said water.

sallyg said: Or consider using as a cache pot, my much preferred way.

My great ceramic 'no holes' pots I always use as a 'cache pot,' or 'overpot.'

Plant in anything sturdy that fits inside the ceramic cache pot. Then, it's taken out easily, watered (and drained) then dropped back in. And those plastic 'drop in' pots can be anything from real plastic pots to any ♻️ recycled sturdy & clean tub (ice cream/ fast food/ yogurt, margarine, etc) that you've poked drainage holes in, and filled with your soil.

This cache pot I use (and reuse) for Christmas-themed plants, and just dropped a new adoption in it.

Terrestrial plants grown in water have markedly different root systems than the same plant grown in a solid grow medium. Roots of terrestrial plants are filled with a tissue called parenchyma. When the plant is introduced to an aquatic environment, the roots morph into a different type of tissue called aerenchyma, which allows air within plant parts above the water line to diffuse into roots, thereby providing the oxygen essential to drive roots' metabolic processes. At issue is the inability of roots to morph back and forth between the two types of tissue to accommodate conditions in the rhizosphere that transition back and forth between inundation and appropriately aerated.

If the grower is committed to one or the other, water or a solid medium, the plant can do well in either; but it cannot do well in a solid medium which is habitually over-watered. That some plants are found in situ in riparian settings is no signal that the plant wants or needs a soggy soil.

Al

I think the OP knows that.

Given the OP's first question, I don't think (s)he understood the structure of roots must change radically if the plant is to adapt to inundation; or, that a plant can do well grown in water or a solid grow medium, but odds of failure are overwhelmingly high if it is grown in a pot with no drain hole, full of saturated soil.

.... much better to make something clear at the risk of being redundant than leave standing something ambiguous enough that it can detract from the growing experience of others.

Al

Gina1960 said: I think the OP knows that.

But in case they don't, I'll say it one more time.

I think they understand perfectly well. And if they didn't before, you've talked it to absolute death, so I'm certain they do now. If they've been able to glean any meaning out of your 1000 word essays

I don't understand taking umbrage at the sharing of info.

Al, thanks for the information on roots & the drill bits.
Having been heavily involved with plants for over 50 years, I appreciate the educative aspects as well as concise but thorough explanations: there's always more to learn.
I must have missed the aforementioned 1000 word essay…

I'm for the holes.

Thanks, Tiffany and Maukahound. It's hard to understand why someone would so regularly take such umbrage at the efforts of someone who is willing to consistently put their credibility on the line by going into detail when it comes to explaining the cause and effect relationships which are central to becoming reliably proficient at rearing healthy plant material. I admit freely that I'm a wordy guy, but can't see why that should bother someone truly interested in seeing others get the most out of their growing experiences.

Al