Cute Little Bike! Let’s Tufa It!
I am always looking for a new mold.
So when I found a cute little bike frame with baskets at a barn sale, I knew it will make a perfect hypertufa container for a tiny basket garden.
What do you think?
Little bowls made from hypertufa in each of those basket forms? That works for me! I will make them similar to the hanging planter that I had made previously. See post and video here.
I won’t need very much of the mix for these small bowls, but I will mix up a larger amount so that I can also make another trough while I am at it. It is best to do this unless you are strictly limited on the time you have and only want to make the tiny bowl.
If I were making this one by itself, I don’t think I would need more than a pint of Portland, and then 1.5 pints of peat moss and 1.5 pints of vermiculite. Update: I have recently decided to use 1:1:1 ratio when I feel I need extra strength. Since this is so tiny, I think it needs to be extra strong, so that is how I am making them going forward. FYI, these pots are still fine years later.
I always use the same proportions unless I feel that there is some reason that I need my planter to be less rustic looking. That peat moss and vermiculite give it the pitted and aged look that I want in my garden planters.
It is a nice day outside, so off we go. Here’s the video.
As I said, I am mixing a full batch of 1 gallon Portland cement, 1.5 gallon vermiculite and 1.5 gallon peat moss. I know I won’t need this full amount, but I will have other container molds ready to use up the rest of it.
Be prepared!
That’s my motto!
I have heard that you can use Kool aid or coffee in the mix to give it color. Not coffee grounds but coffee. I think some color on the containers will add to its visual interest. But I don’t have any Kool aid right now. I may try some coffee later on. But I think I want to try the grounds. Similar to peat moss, right?
I want to get all the plants inside for the winter, so not really wanting to make another planter that will have to go inside, but wouldn’t this little planter look really good with Baby tears? or Pilea glauca ‘Red Stem Tears’ . I think something tumbling out of the baskets would look nice. Guess I will worry about the plant once I get a container ready.
These small garden planters made with the hypertufa will be pretty easily cured. Since they are so small, I can soak them in a water bath with just a small amount of vinegar in it. That will leach out the alkalinity very quickly, and they should be ready to plant up in a week. ( And I did plant it up!)
With a full month of growing before the colder weather starts, the roots should be well established. I guess it depends on which plant I put into the hypertufa pots. I am really leaning toward baby tears ( for now). And I know that I didn’t want to have more to have to over-winter inside, but what’s a gardener going to do?
So what do you think of this project? Are you ready to try one of your own? Show us some of your photos on the Facebook group.
Til next time,
