While I'm no authority on 'Tufa, (I only work in concrete & cement)...my personal guideline when mixing concrete is one designed to fit my small mixer. One fairly small handfull for roughly every 50#'s of 1:2 (cement:sand) concrete mix. It actually works out to 17#'s of cement to 34#'s of sand, so I guess you could state it that way...one hand for each 17#'s of cement. Good news is, it doesn't take much to get the benefit (which, by the way is to aid in preventing early onset or shrinkage cracks...not for added stregth later)...and it's really not that critical. Just play with something in that range and then see if what you put in gets in the way of sculpting, because that's about the only downside. The fuzzy fibers can pull out large chunks of damp medium when you are working the surface. Best of Luck

LOL - I guess i could have been a little more specific. My bad - It was a little late when I was posting last night and I spaced the whole dimensions thing! After much over thinking last night I decided I just wasn't ready for experimenting with mixed media on the tower - it took too darn long to make it to mess it up now... BUT here's what I'm up to... This is for a fairy garden that is about 8'x10'underneath a contorted willow tree. Besides some poking and prodding around the flowers and maybe some rearranging of the houses (or opening doors and peeking in windows to try to see the tiny inhabitants) the whole thing is just for "pretty" and sparking the already wild imaginations of my 4 small peaople (two fairy and unicorn and magic obsessed girls and 2 little boys, one of which has a thing for birds and dragons). This tower and the four other houses I am making are just ornaments to tuck among the plants and I plan on using the little battery operated "tealights" to place under them in the evenings so the girls see the windows glowing and think someone is living inside.... The houses will be about 10Lx10Wx12H and a big one thats 27Lx15Wx19H The tower is 12" in diameter and with the roof should be about 27" tall it has 3 little 3" round acrylic windows (that I lined with the fake stained glass stuff you can get at Home depot) and an arched wooden door that I mortared into the tower as I built it. I actually redid it - using small river rock and mortar and build it the old fashioned brick house way, layer by layer... Took FOREVER. The aquarium gravel just didn't seem to hold very well. Now I'm stuck again. My husband is a carpenter so I'm going to have him show me how to frame a round roof - maybe hexagonal roof for ease of construction - with little pieces of craft wood. Then maybe use balsa wood (in the place of plywood used for our scale buildings) and see if I can figure out some way to make little shingles to attach to it. Lord knows I have enough roofing stuff from our new place to make the things water tight.... The hypertufa just seemed like a good way to be able to sculpt the odd angle and curve I originally envisioned for the roof but balsa wood bends a little so I think I can still do it... But now that I'm looking at the hypertufa stuff I added a new house plan to the fairy village - a little dome house made to look like a rock - again with windows and an arched door - so now I need to figure out how to make a half sphere with a little wooden door and 2 small round windows placed into it... As for forts - heh heh - my boys have ivy covered teepees each of their own in our woodland garden that they call their "park" because we designed it to look like their favorite park by the lake... They each have tackle boxes full of toys stored in their teepee huts and like to pretend to be army guys and shoot each other from between the ivy, I lose them for hours at a time in those things. Helps that we made sand pits in the bottom of them so they can dig around and play trucks and bury "dead" army guys. We have plans to build a real play house with a little loft for sleeping out and staring at the stars (yah for skylights!!!) but thats next summers project and up to my construction guy husband and his buddies.

I have no idea what the ratio of vinyl resin, sand and Portland cement is in Quikrete's "Vinyl Concrete Patcher". I would assume it's a propriortary recipe. "something that is somewhat smooth AND somewhat light". If you use peat moss, sift it to remove large particles. This will give you a smooth mix. To lighten the mix use 1 1/2 parts sifted peat moss and 1/2 part sand with 1 part portland cement. What are you trying to make? That can make a difference in the recipe you use. Have you looked at the FAQ on this forum? "I was considering using the Quikrete" Which Quikrete product? They make quite a few. "Quikrete mortar mix (cement/sand/vinyl)" Their mortar mix doesn't have vinyl resin in it. It's usually a mix of portland cement, sand and lime. Regarding the bonding agent and concrete vinyl patcher, the manufacturer states "Mix only with water. Do not use with Concrete Acrylic Fortifier, Concrete Bonding Adhesive or other bonding agents." You are correct that you can remove the leaf in 24 hours but you only have to leave them in the water bath for 3 to 5 days days. What you are trying to make has a bearing on what recipe you use. Many people only use mortar mix for leaf castings, no added ingredients. You can use almost any recipe for stepping stones BUT heavy traffic area should be made from concrete. Most of us use portland cement in our recipes and add our own ingredients like peat moss or sifted peat moss or vermiculite or perlite or sand or coir. Then you know what's in the mix and can customize to your project. If you can give us more details on what you are making maybe we can help with your recipe. You mention 2 different products mortar mix and vinyl patcher so I'm not sure which product your talking about either. Hope this helps a little and questions are welcome.

Maggie/Kakkinada red( strongest ), my nose got too close to the bloom, although delightful, scent was so strong that it stayed there for a while. lesson learned- don't get too close to sniff) Felicia- hybrid musk (can't describe but it is SO SO good. It's hard to pick a favorite, but this one would be at tippy top) Francis Meilland(soft pure rose) Earth Angel(love it) Lady Ashe(different, strong and perfumy) La Reinne(strong damask type) Madame Isaac Pierre, Jubilee Celebration Poet's wife- continuous flowering and lemony scent Dee-Lish Beverly, sugar Moon, Zaide, First Crush(good scent, soft and rosy but its a thorny beast) Abraham Darby(so good, raspberries) PJPII Princess Charleen de monaco(vanilla rose) fragrant Plum(very strong and perfumy), Madame Anisette(I can't smell her much, smells of soft anise which is not my favorite scent on a flower. maybe in a cookie. don't like flowers smelling like cookies) But this plant is amazing for vigor and flower power. Rugosa alba roses, are a pain as they spread everywhere...but that scent is unforgettable