She Said "What is Hypertufa?"

Hypertufa is a man made substitute for Tufa rock. Hypertufa is aesthetically compatible with most building material and paving and does not look out of place in garden situations.   

Tufa pots are suitable for many sorts of plants and are particularly good for cacti, succulents and alpine plants.  How to make your Hypertufa tub: You will need the following:-  

- A sack of Portland cement. 

- A sack of Peat moss - be sure to get the kind that had NOT had fertilizer added. 

- Some sand - clean sand not beach sand.  You can buy sand at the same place you get your sack of cement 

- Get some Perilite or Vermiculite from the building supply. 

You now have enough material to get started and probably last you a full season unless you are going to build a castle. 

To use Hypertufa for sculptures pour the mixture into a carton to form a block.  Mix up the hypertufa mixture (1 part cement, 1 part sand, and 1 part peat moss and Perilite combined) by volume with enough water to get a mix of barely pours out of your pail. 

Pour this  mix into your molds and pack it in firmly by hand.  You must pack this stuff, if you don't your castings will be full of air pockets and be prone to falling apart.  They will probably look ugly as well.   

Don't worry if your first few tries don't come out perfect.  Throw them in the bush and start again.   You will be learning as you go and it won't be long before they all come out the way you want them to.