A nice assortment of Hypertufa garden pots

How To Mix Hypertufa Properly

I will try to explain in this short article how to mix Hypetufa. I have found this to be the best an easiest way. You may want to make some changes to suit the area you live in and various materials you decide to use.

My first step is to estimate how much Hypertufa the project I have planned will use. Once I I have this in mind I take the Peat moss portion and set it into some water, and stir it up. I have found that when I use it dry I sometimes get crumbly Tufa. I set this aside overnight if I can.

Next morning I get my Perilte and cement and mix them together dry. Then I add some water to get the mix to the consistency I want.

Once that is done I add the wet peat. It generally requires a bit more water so I add water until I get my consistency back to where I want it.

I mix in a wheelbarrow with a hoe that I cut the sharp corners off and tapered the edges to match the dies of the barrow. This makes it easy to scrape the edges and get a thorough mix.

If I am doing a real big project like a large trough I sometimes used a small cement mixer. Most time s a concrete mixer is OK if you are making a kind of thin mix, if you want a heavy mix it does not seem to work out right. The Hypertufa just rolls around in there like a ball of dirty laundry and does not get mixed well.

By heavy I mean a mix that you can form into a ball in your hands and not have it crumble. This is best for sculpting and making freehand types of projects. If you want to be able to dump your tufa into a mold and pat it into place to get a nice casting or something like that then the cement mixer is OK. The good thing is if you are casting or pouring stepping stones you do not have to stop and mix as often. Even a small Harbor Freight mixer is 1/2 yard so you can work fairly fast and it also mixes in fibers a way better than doing it in a wheelbarrow. You want those fibers if you need a strong mix.

Be sure to fallow the standard safety rules, wear a dust mask when mixing dry portions and wear rubber gloves - the cement portion is hell on your skin. You will not notice it at first and the you will all of a sudden see your skin is dry and scratchy. Now you see why you should have worn gloves!

Good luck and send me a picture or something if you use this advise.  Thanks, Del