my clay pot ignorance (and importance)

[VickiC]

Hi everyone,
I plan to repot some orchids in the Spring and I want to use clay pots (for catts) with aeration holes in the sides as well as one on the bottom, of course. I have several 4" pots that I have bought locally and 2 6 1/2" pots from the same bigbox store. Other than that, there are no sources nearby. I would like some 5" (or so) pots. In the past when I have had to break a pot to remove an orchid, I have sometimes noticed that the inside layer is another material rather than clay....what, I don't know!?! Does anyone know if the fact that the entire pot is not clay make any difference in air flow? Is this actually important or am I making something out of nothing? I found a vendor online that I called to ask this question to and he didn't know.....same as me. By the way, he said that his clay pots have 3 side holes.

I would appreciate it if someone will advise me and comment if I'm being too picky or not. If you know of more sources that I can order from, I will appreciate knowing that, as well.
Vicki