ann, I'm going to assume that the "5/6" near your name in your first post is your zone. Hypertufa can remain outdoors in your zone....if it's potted up with a tree or shrub (I've got sedums in some that stay out all Winter) or you tie a piece of plastic over the top so moisture can't get in and if it's on soil, place a board underneath to break contact with the ground or if it's empty, roll it over so the bottoms facing up and place under a deck or cover with plastic. That's the same way that you would treat a concrete planter. Did you do a search on this forum or look at the FAQ page? 1) whatever you did to the concrete to make it crumble could happen to your hypertufa. I would guess too much dye and too much liquid. 2) strong hypertufa recipe===equal parts portland cement, sand and peat moss. Bash the peat moss around to smooth out the lumps and remove any sticks. I sift mine. 3) if the sides of the mold are smooth and you pack the hypertufa mix tight, the sides should be smooth. 4) I don't add colorant to the mix. I paint or stain or leave natural. 5) The size planter you are making should cure in 24 hours. 6) You'd have to check with your mould manufacturer but the hypertufa can stay outdoors in your zone. 7) You don't want to see perlite granules, then don't use perlite. The only way you won't see perlite or peat moss or vermiculite is not to use them because all of them will show through. You'd have to make the planters out of mortar or get a vibrator to vibrate the molds to bring out the cream and that doesn't always work. 8) It's a planter, why would you want it waterproof? 9) Too much colorant! You did right, coat with vegetable oil. I use the spray cans of oil to coat my molds. Elkski, Concrete will cure 90% in 7 days but it never completely cures. You can plant in week. Most plants aren't that sensitive to the lime and from watering the plant the lime will leach out. I do use a water bath (just water) to leach out the lime because until it's leached out, someone that's sensitive to the lime can get a nasty burn. "the dry powders I got said 1 # to aa bag of cement maximum" Most common bag of cement weights 94 lbs. You do NOT need fibers for these little planters! Billie

Could it be a pot design issue? The least likely design to have freezing problems is one that is smaller at the bottom than the top, with outward-sloping sides. When the contents freezes, it tends to expand upward and outward, following the design of the pot. The most likely one to break is the one that is built like a cauldron, with a smaller bottom widening outward in the middle, then shrinking down again toward the top. The freezing contents become trapped and expand beyond what the pot shape can tolerate. The other problem is tufa itself. Organic materials rot away (peat, coir, sawdust, etc), leaving channels that water can move through and into. Some of it gets trapped when a freeze hits, and all those little bits of swelling ice weaken the tufa overall. A little bump the next year, and here you've got several pieces of one pot. If you've got a pot you're really proud of, plant into a removable cache pot, and put the tufa pot in the garage or shed for winter, after drying it out as well as possible. You can fight the laws of physics all you want, but you will lose. Just plain water carves canyons, rain wears down mountains, and tiny little bits of ice breaks pots. It's the Law. Sue

Flagtruck, Thanks for the tips, that helps a lot. I'm sorry, I didn't keep the instructions or write them down. Really, there's not a lot to it. Just make some odd-shaped armatures, cover them with tufa, and carve like crazy 24-36 hours later. Then coat it with a cement + water slurry (like thin pancake batter). If you exaggerate the cracks it will look just about right after the slurry. I think the recipe I used was 1:1:1:1 cement:vermiculite:perlite:peat. The stain was just normal artist's acrylic paint diluted with tons of water. I applied layer after layer of different colored washes. I hope that all makes sense. The hardest part is just carving random shapes. I looked at a picture of a rock and just tried to copy it the best I could. Or, maybe we could swap tufa for plants :) Please contact me if you need more info. Justin

A sand dollar stepping stone would be great. You could easily paint it a pale iridescent lavender, add some shimmer and then even a layer of glow paint for a cool effect at night. This year will be the first time our stones will be outside for the winter, hopefully they make it. The photo is of the path im trying to recreate. The first two didnt turn out so good, so it may not be happening. Thank you for your recipe. As far as making millions and having a production line, nothing like that. Of course that would take the fun out of it. When I mentioned that, had more in mind people sending you leaves from their favorite plant and then you creating something. No production line or monthly quotas, no kepping stock and trying to sell it. Just as simple as a couple a month to help fund a hosta addiction. Could even create something for someone and trade for a hosta as payment. But thats just what came to mind first. Keeping as a hobby is just as fine as well. With me having so many kids and now being a stay at home mom, im constantly having to look for ways to fund my hobbies. Suppose you could say funding hobbies is a hobby as well. Always changing, never boring and fun. I come from a family of crafters so making, trading and selling naturally come to mind first when I create something.