Regarding the matter of putting various substances or objects in the bottom of pots to reduce the weight of the container: The controversy about whether or not to "crock" pots, which Mary Sue noted, has been discussed in alpine-growing circles for decades. Although some still recommend it, the broad consensus at this time, as I perceive it, is that most plants do best when their entire root run consists of a homogeneous medium, so that moisture remains optimally consistent (though naturally the upper portion will dry out faster than the lower, and this is desirable for almost any plant that hasn't evolved in a really wet habitat). When moisture-sensitive plants are grown in very small pots, such as 2-inch/5-cm square, nursery growers (e.g., Rick Lupp) often fill the bottom quarter or even more with fine pumice, which does hold water and air. It is important, however, that the plant does not extend its roots into an air pocket, and I see no reason why bulbous plants should be any different from alpines in this regard. There is a big difference between oxygen capacity in the soil and actual "pockets." A root entering the latter kind of space will suffer and stop growing. Result: poor performance and probably eventual loss of the plant. SInce the addition of styrofoam chunks, soda bottles, and other inert objects would create just such air pockets, I definitely would not recommend doing it. Judy's suggestion of an upside-down empty pot in the bottom would create a huge air pocket for any roots that came through the drain holes. Maintaining the right level of moisture for potted bulbs is much easier when the pots are plunged or, at least, set slightly into some moisture-pervious medium such as sand. If you use clay pots, there is some passage of moisture through the pot itself; in solid plastic pots, very little, and in plastic mesh pots, a great deal. However, moisture can't be taken up through the drain holes unless the growing compost inside the pot is in contact with the drain holes; if there is a lot of inert crocking at the bottom of the pot, it may as well be up on a table as far as capillary moisture is concerned (though you still get the benefit of consistent temperature). Plunging pots is accepted by most skilled growers of alpines, and I can attest that it works for bulbs, too. It is true that some bulbs need deep pots, and such a pot filled with soil mix is likely to be heavy. They are: and I heave hundreds of them, weighing up to 20 pounds/8 kg, out of my bulb frames every summer, carry them to the potting bench, dump and refill them, and carry them back to their plunge beds. Not to mention mixing all the soil, wheelbarrowing the used soil to the garden, and topping off the coarse sand in which the pots are plunged. It's worth it, especially this time of year, when the only heavy thing I have to lift is the fertilizer tank. Admittedly, I don't grow the tropical amaryllids favored by many PBS members, which tend to have huge bulbs, but I do grow many Calochortus, which pull themselves so deep into their pots that they would soon have no root run at all in a crocked pot. Tulips will do this, too (with droppers), and many other bulbs like to go deep. Plastic mesh pots through which the roots can run into the plunge are a good solution, provided you fertilize with a soluble product so that there are nutrients in the plunge (also good for the inevitable self-sown bulbs that pop up there). For very detailed discussion of this and related matters, particularly soil mixtures, see chapters in the new NARGS volume "Rock Garden Design and Construction," which also has my chapter on frame cultivation. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA