I'm not an expert. Having said that, 2 things come to mind. Placement of the pots, as far as direct sun on the pots, as soil temperature might be having an effect. Take the temp using a digital thermometer, like the kind you use for cooking. The other is moisture which you talked about...Where I live (Fresno) I have been experimenting with container gardening and hydroponics for several years. Too much sun in a rewood container and the plants might as well be set on fire because they dry out so fast and get so hot. I got this idea from earthboxes and hydroponics so it is not original - I buy plastic drip pans, the kind you set under pots, cut a hole in them and a sliver from the hole to the edge . I set the drip pans over the container the plant is in (the plant grows through the hole; the slit allows you to remove the pan without disturbing the plant). I buy extra large pans and they provide shade to the pot, like an umbrella. They also seem to reduce the watering. I generally don't use redwood containers in full sun because the heat of the sun causes the container to suck all the moisture out of the soil; I'm doing more hydroponic oriented stuff using soil ( I know using soil with hydroponics violates the definition of hydroponics; what is the correct term?)and plastic is better for this use. I learned to always line redwood with something. After a few years of using redwood containers I began fitting them with cheap plastic pots. That helped to reduce watering. It also helped the redwood last an incredibly long time. I have geraniums on my full sun patio, planted in plastic containers inside redwood window boxes. They are watered twice a day by timed drip irrigation. The setup is 14 years old now, the geraniums are beautiful, the boxes are in good shape and I couldn't be happier with how they look. Hope this helps - Hal

For thick styrofoam sheets you want a supplier that supplies commercial builders. Home Depot has it up to 1.5 inches thick. Blue styro is very strong. You can bury the bottom edge and then make a few big 'U' clamps out of rebar or plywood. If your wall is 3 inches thick and your styrofoam 1.5 inches your big U clamps will be 6 inches on the inside of the U this will hold the top of the styrofoam sheets 3 inches apart. You can actually use wire right through the sheets tied to bits of wood on the outside holding the sheets 3 inches apart. this wire would run through your wall and be snipped off after curing. If you buy the 2.5 inch sheets it is very stiff and won't need very many Us across the top to hold it straight. Styrofoam is great. All you need is a sharp knife and imagination to form up any project with the stuff. And because it is water proof it helps cure your concrete as well if you leave it in place for a few days.

Thanks, Billie I didn't cover it for the first night. I didn't want the piece to get the same texture as the bag. The next morning I covered it up first thing. As for the bird baths and the like, when knocking on them, I think the peat moss gives them a more muffled sound. This is why I thought it wasn't made of concrete (straight mortar). I'm feeling pretty confident about what my next piece will be. As for the manhandling, my next piece will require me to flip it over at some point, before it's too late to carve. So far, both of my molds have been outter molds. I've noticed that the rim, which is up against the plastic, which in turn is up against the floor, always has a plastic glue-like finish. I want to make sure I can manipulate this before the tufa is dry, and that will require flipping over. Also, I am going for a rock-like look, which means thicker walls, which means heavier piece, which means, handling it will require precise timing. You'd think I'm crazy going for something more difficult when this simple thing failed, but I think I learned some valuable lessons here. I'm going to start creating the mold. One of the lessons I learned, is you can make a mold out of anything. This new approach is going to be really interesting and I am surely going to post it here, hopefully with successful results this time :-) As for working outside, now is a good time here in FL, because it's not raining, although I did have a stroke of bad luck the next day, because it did rain. Luckily, my tufa had been covered by then ;-)

These instructions were kindly submitted by members. Thanks to all who contributed! INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO MAKE HYPERTUFA To begin, you will need the following: 1. A hypertufa recipe (There are many recipes! See the FAQ for some of the most popular ones.) 2. Fine Particle dust mask 3. Dishwashing gloves 4. Disposable latex or plastic gloves 5. A measuring (parts) container The "parts" container you use is the container you fill with the different ingredients. It can be a cup or a bucket, or anything in between. It is a volume container. 6. A plastic mixing container (a flat plastic pan or tub is preferable to a tall, deep one) 7. A bucket of clear water and a small container to dip the water 8. A prepared mold, form or idea for free form 9. Mold release product, if using a mold 10. Plastic wrap, or old dry cleaner bag or garbage bag to cover your work 11. The time to come back to your project and mist with water when needed 12. A shady place to keep it out of direct heat or sun 13. A barbeque brush, wire brush or other bristle to rough up the surface 14. Carving tools - chisels, files, nails, etc. to carve into the project if you wish 15. Patience for, at the VERY least, several hours to a couple of days, prior to removing your project from the form or mold and finishing the surface 16. Optional: a small tub or wading pool to set your project in to cure after it has dried for a couple days (drying is different from curing). This step allows the hypertufa to gain strength during the curing process. To any of the recipes, you will need to add water - a little bit at a time until the mix is just wet enough to hold a fist size without much water squeezing out or the mix slumping through your fingers. Let the mix sit a short time so that the additives (peat, perlite, vermiculite, sand, etc.) can soak up a bit of the liquid. Add a little more water, if needed. If you want to add colorant to any of the mixes, remember that dry colorant is added when all the dry ingredients are mixed. If adding liquid color, add it to your first addition of water. If you want the mix to be a bit stronger you can add either a small portion of liquid fortifier with the first addition of water or a pinch or two of fiber mesh to the first addition of water, being sure to swirl it around to distribute the fibers (the amount is subject to the size of the project). With fibers, you may end up with a hairy/stubby surface on your finished project. If you do not want a chia pet, burn the fibers off with a small torch. Be sure to use a release agent in your mold for hypertufa. Another way is to cover your mold with a thin layer of plastic before putting the hypertufa in. Plastic forms can be sparingly coated with concrete mold release, cooking spray, Vaseline, WD40, cooking oil, motor oil, etc. You can purchase large bags of perlite and vermiculite at a garden warehouse, co-op, concrete spply company, and farming supply stores. The cost savings is very good. Peat, perlite and vermiculite all come in various grades. Choose the grade you like best. Wear rubber dish gloves when thoroughly mixing your dry ingredients and the wet mix. Use the thinner disposable gloves for finer work. Use a mask made for fine dust and WEAR IT while measuring and mixing dry ingredients, and whenever you create dust during the finishing process. The mask can be reused several times. Remember that cement is a bonding agent and once in contact with moisture, begins to harden. As you are breathing, in and out, minute amounts of moisture in your lungs mix with the air all the time. ************************************************************************ I mix concrete and hypertufa with my hands, encased in (generic brand) Playtex Living Gloves. Take off your rings, bracelets, watches and necklaces. Put on your FINE particle dust mask and secure it. Keep it on until your mix is finished. You can use tools to mix if you wish, but I have found that there is nothing that mixes better than your hands. You can feel lumps, scrape out corners, turn over the mix, etc. much better with your hands than any other tool. Mix in a flat, rather than tall pan (dishpans, mortar mixing tubs available at HD or Lowe's, old kiddie wading pools, etc.). It's MUCH easier to move the heavy mix in a flat pan and it is also easier to get into all those nooks and crannies where unmixed stuff hides. Forget 5 gallon pails - they are awkward, my back can't take reaching down into the bottom of those things and if you are mixing a lot of stuff, your gloves won't be long enough. Whenever possible, mix on a worktable, plywood on sawhorses - anything that brings the mixing up to waist height rather than YOU bending over it. Measure the portland cement first. If it has hard lumps in it, stop and go buy a fresh bag. It has most likely absorbed moisture and gone bad. Use it at your own risk. Same with the UGH bagged stuff. Always store cement or UGH bagged mix in SEALED plastic containers like rubbermaid or 5 gallon pails (MUCH easier to move). I store mine in doubled plastic bags INSIDE of the SEALED 5 gallon plastic pails. It's humid here... When mixing concrete or hypertufa, first, thoroughly mix your dry ingredients (even if you use the UGH bagged stuff - it settles). Keep mixing for several minutes until EVERYTHING is mixed through and through. Get into the corners and all over the bottom of your mixing container because the unmixed stuff is hiding there, I assure you! When the dry stuff is thoroughly mixed, MEASURE your liquid (I REALLY hope you're using an acrylic admix instead of just water...HONEST - it makes a BIG difference) and add HALF of it to the dry stuff. Start mixing. It will be very lumpy and difficult to mix, but do it anyway - squish and squeeze. After all the stuff is EVENLY moistened, add a QUARTER of the REMAINING liquid. Work it in until the mix is evenly moistened. Check those corners and hiding places again, feeling for lumps and moosh them into the mixture. Continue adding liquid in SMALL amounts, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until the mix is the consistancy desired for your project. When in doubt, err on the dry side. If you are pouring your mix into a mold, as with concrete, the consistancy should be like THICK pancake batter. Brownie mix is too thick and cake batter is too thin. It should be JUST pourable. You should be able to scoop up the mix in your cupped hands and not have any running through your fingers. If you are making hypertufa for application to a mold, the mix should be thicker than brownie mix - more like soft cookie dough so you can pack it into or onto the mold you are using. If you are making hypertufa for freeform sculpting or handmolding, the mix should be like REALLY stiff cookie dough. It is much easier to ADD liquid to a mix that is too thick, than to scramble for dry ingredients to "tighten up" a mix that's too wet. This is PARTICULARLY true with concrete. Just because you used a certain amout of liquid today does not mean that you will use the exact same amount the next time. Relative humidity of the air and ingredients as well as the temperature have a LOT to do with this. Always measure and ALWAYS start with only HALF the liquid, then gradually add, mixing and mixing after each addition. Allow the mix to rest for about 10 minutes after it looks "right." Concrete (hypertufa, too) has to go through a stage called hydration, where all the dry stuff is getting wet and beginning to react chemically. With concrete, this is the stage when the mix begins to bubble. This is a good thing. Don't be in such a hurry that you rush this process, or you'll be sorry with hypertufa and REALLY sorry with concrete. "Thump" your mixing container sharply on the ground or worktable (if you're being kind to your back) several times to release air bubbles and settle the mix. The mix should begin getting warmer - this is good - it's chemistry in action. ************************************************************************