Hi!

I had the same problem about a month ago with a pot that was beautiful and perfect except for its lack of drainage hole.

Short answer: Yes you can!

I didn't even have a drill so I did it manually with the tip of the blade of a scissors to start the hole and then a pen wrapped in coarse sandpaper. Then I moved on to a sharpie wrapped in sandpaper to enlarge the hole. Haha yes it did take a while, but not that long either. The ceramic is quite easy to carve out . It does leave a bit of a mess of powdered ceramic behind so preferably do it outside.

The glazing did crack and chip a little around the hole, but since it's hidden from view at the bottom of the pot I didn't mind.

I don't know what would happen with a drill though, for ceramic the store recommended a diamond drillbit but I was not about to buy a powertool just for a single pot.

Yes you csn drill a home you can also use the container as is for a plant that likes wet feet — elephant ears? Ensata iris? forced bulbs (if you control tge depth of water)?

Sure. I don’t get along well with power tools so I ask hubby to drill holes for me.

Drill from the outside inwards to avoid splintering and flaking of the glaze. Use a masonry bit.

If you think of it like this, these glazed containers are a lot like your bathroom ceramic tile. There are a bunch of tips on how to drill holes in ceramic tile to prevent the glaze from shattering. I know some recommendations include using a piece of masking tape at the site where you are going to drill. Water also helps and a good masonry drill bit. You can do it!

Alternatively you can use these pots as cachepots. Grow the plant in a nursery pot with drainage, then plop that into your nice glazed pot. When it rains, just pull the nursery pot out and dump the excess water in the ceramic pot. Put the nursery pot back. Voila!

Yes, pots without drain holes are intended to be used as cache pots and not planted into directly. And not all will accept adding drain holes equally. Some may be quite a bit more fragile than others and drilling can damage them beyond repair.

If it is a pot you especially value, maybe save for cache pot use only and plant into something that the potential for damage does not cause concern.

Thanks everyone. Now I have a new project!

I think I will change over to the cache pot method cause I like to change out the flowers in my front yard with the seasons.

I use a lot of my vintage pots that do have drain holes as cachepots too. Because I don't want to plant directly in them and risk breakage along the way somehow. Plus I like to change plants around a lot!