Hypertufa is a Man
Made Substitute for Tufa Rock
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Bobby
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 1 and 1
parts peat and Perlite combined) by volume with enough water to
give a sloppy homogenous mix.
Pour this 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 try's 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.
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