Just messing around.

Probably Sansevieria or a large Begonia Ckat...

I was thinking one of those snail begonias would look good.

Was gifted some old towels so now need to buy a bag of cement & give this a try.

I feel privileged to have been part of this. I went a bit out of my comfort zone, playing with cement. It took me a while to get used to getting dirty in the garden, now I could care less how dirty I get. The germaphobia has diminished enough that I don't spend half a day scrubbing dirt from under my nails. If I didn't have allergies and sensitive skin, I doubt I would have missed so many opportunities to create something interesting - something that is also useful is definitely a plus.

I even worked on my cement planters one day before changing clothes. My one pair of yellow pants are a favorite, but I couldn't resist mixing up some cement before getting changed. Then I didn't want to go back in the house, so I got a few spots of cement on my pants. May be time to get another pair - I always have to have one pair of yellow pants or a yellow dress. I was even thinking I'd like a yellow cement planter. Gold yellow.

This weekend, I need to figure out how to get one of my nursery pots extracted from one of my experimental planters. I don't think I gave it a good coat of oil before the draping. This planter already has a tenant ready to move in, so I don't want to give up. Might have to get the roommate to go Xacto knife on that nursery pot.

I need to pick up at least one more can of paint for some ideas I have. Might even get a small can of gold paint. And more paintbrushes.

David, are you using any kind of sealer/sealant before you paint?

@qwilter, I am not sure your answer about the amount of dry cement needed for your planters. I use a small coffee can to scoop dry cement out of a HD bucket. When I am starting a new planter, I have to use 4 full to overflowing cans of cement for soaking the cloth in my dishpan bucket. I like to have enough cement to play with the cloth until all sides and crevices look and feel so saturated that I can't see any hint of the cloth color. Then I let it sit a while in the cement mixing bucket - maybe ten minutes. I play with it a minute just before I drape. When that cloth is draped, I use what is left over in the cement mixing bucket to paint layers of cement on other planters. It hasn't been enough to make another planter, not when the cloth is terrycloth.

I don't know what other people use to measure their cement, but I thought that most people know approximately the size of the small coffee cans - although I can definitely make a point to look, because I haven't memorized it. And it's probably not nice to assume that all small coffee cans are the same size. I don't pay much attention to coffee cans and when I bought coffee regularly, it was in bags, from Starbucks or Boyers. The roommate is an everyday coffee drinker, so he gets the small cans. I don't enjoy everyday coffee, and since I'm not working, I only drink it now when I am out somewhere and it is available. Still crave a strong cup of Starbucks at least once a week, but it becomes reality only every few months.

The bags of cement I use are 60 or 80lb bags. With all my mistakes and being sloppy (Because I can and it hasn't killed me.), I am half way through the second bag of cement. It looks like I make my planters thicker than others do, so I have not yet approximated how many planters I can use per bag, if that was what you wanted to know. David would probably have a better idea.

Your measurement ideas are perfect Ckat.

Use 3 coops of Portland Cement in any container chosen as a gauge to 1 part of any material of your choice out of graded Peat Moss, Vermiculite, Perlite or even course sand and blend to that thick cake batter and success is assured;.......................unless you don't spend enough time saturating the fabric with multiple tosses and turns, let it set and do it one more time then you think is necessary for good measure......................

Create!

Where are my acorns?......................................................

If I had Acorns, David, I'd gladly share!!!!! Spent mine trying to win a plant......................I should know better. I never win anything.

Had hoped to get my cement today but it was raining before I got ready to head to the store. I do have a stack of old towels & 4 X 4 posts ready.

I got my nursery pot extracted. Most people probably would just forget about salvaging nursery pots, but this was my biggest nursery pot. I personally never buy plants that big, so I don't get very many huge pots unless someone gives them away. It was not easy. I didn't want to crack my pot, so I added a few more layers of cement. Then I had to use a wooden shim a bit around the top edge. And then I had to get the roommate to help - just to hold the planter. He kept having ideas because he wanted to hurry up the process, but I wouldn't let him. I worked much too hard on this pot to let it get broken, so I just kept wiggling, and spraying water, and wiggling, and using that shim until I felt the pot start to give quite a bit. I've pried enough pots out of the cement to recognize that, unfortunately. Then I told the roommate that I was going to prison for murder if he didn't hold the planter firmly, without letting it hit the ground as I pulled that pot out. Turns out that the roommate does a good job of doing some stuff if I threaten him.

I didn't get finished with the inside coating on my last two pots, so that means I'll be trying to get back to work on them Tuesday. I'll give them a good spritz as I head out the door for the hospital in the morning so they won't be too dry. If insomnia takes over, I can always go out in the middle of the night tomorrow night to spritz them again. It doesn't take much strength to lift the plastic garbage bags and my spray bottle. I'll try to have everything set up and ready to go tonight though, because I won't be able to bend for a few days either.

Just finished my last supper - more chiles rellenos. I opted to fuss making chile rellenos tonight instead of working on my cement planters because I just ran out of time trying to get things done before tomorrow. But at least I managed to get my hair cut and laundry caught up, so I can really relax while recuperating. And that also means that I may have more time to work on my planters as I am feeling my energy return. The roommate has to water for a week, because that counts as lifting more than ten pounds. Although I can't lift at all the first three days.

@DavidofDeLand, are you using any kind of sealant on your planters before you begin painting them? The very next two acorns I get are going to be for you David! I promise. I'm just not a very prolific contributor, so I don't get many acorns either. I give them away almost as fast as I get them. Wow! I just noticed that you get acorns every time you post pictures in this thread. Sorry I haven't been following suit - but I will get right on it. And I better take some better pictures so I can get more acorns myself.

Sorry no pictures tonight. Not enough time to take them with all the last minute stuff I've been doing the last couple days. But I hope to by next weekend.

OK Guys and Gals!

I really was kidding about the acorn thing.........seriously! I do appreciate the ones I do get when I do, but believe me when I say I was kidding in that last post............

When some folk write articles and tell us say,...how to stick a stick in the ground; I'm amazed at all the acorns they get!!! :rofl:
Not being mean and kidding here again.....I love the many great articles and have learned much from them and from the others who take the time to write them.
********************
I don't use any sealers in my pots other then paint or stain Ckat. I have planted many plants in plain hypertufa pots and they love them!

The natural pots do age nicely on their own too...

One thing to remember about sealers on concrete, if you paint the pot in a color you want to preserve, say you paint it red and you want it to stay a bright red, then a sealer will help preserve the bright red color. But if you want it to become more aged looking, then don't seal it and the paint will take on an aged look.

The other thing to remember about sealers on concrete or terra cotta (clay) pots is that sealers block the natural dehydration process of porous pots. Sealers keep the concrete or clay from breathing and the soil will stay wet or damp longer because of the sealer. Paint alone doesn't seem to have that same affect unless you've covered it in multiple coats of paints.

Just my 2 cents worth this morning . . . says she who hasn't yet had time to make a cloth and concrete pot. Yet. But I do know about paints and sealers.

I now own a 50 lb bag of cement!!!! And I got buckets & lids to store what I don't use right away.

Is it Portland?

Hopefully. That is what I told them I wanted. The kind that is smooth not lumpy.

Make sure its pure portland even so Jean. Sandmix has a not lumpy look and will leave you in crumbles! I know from experience!

So do I want portland with stones (like I would use to fill in a hole) instead of the portland with sand?

All mixes are made with Portland. Concrete is Portland with gravel. Sand Mix is sometimes called concrete also and is Portland with sand. Portland Cement is labeled. Ask for 100% Portland Cement Jean.

100% Portland is what makes hypertufa and these pots work in the mix. I;... as I have said thought I was wise way back in the beginnings and thought I knew better and proved MYSELF flatly wrong........................................"Can you imagine I would do that to myself!!!!!"

Well, I guess I'll make my way back to the store today to get 100% Portland. I'm sure I can find a use for what I have - like stabilizing my mailbox post or setting my rebar so I can make a pot pole.

David - sure am glad you are there to keep me in line!!!!!

OK....................I now own a 85ld bag of Portland Cement!!!!! They keep it in a different spot. Since the bag was slit open they gave it to me for 1/2 price, taped the hole up, & loaded it in the SUV for me. The 2 buckets I got will be perfect for emptying the bag.

Maybe I can give this a try tmrw!!!!

Jean!

I'll be wishing you fun and success tomorrow. Just take your time and have fun. Be sure and dry blend your Portland and Vermiculite or Perlite before adding water and break up any lumps with you fingers....

Did you do it Jean?

Hopefully tmrw. Today I got my little Hydroponics "bed" set up.

I did it!!!! Well, at least i did something. Getting ready was the hard part. That 95lb bag was in the back of the SUV so I put a bucket under it & slit the corner open. Bucket 1/2 full was about all I could easily carry so 3 trips getting it all moved back to the GH.

So I made my slurry. Was too thick; added more water, still too thick; added the rest of the container & it may have been a bit too much. Since I don't bake, the concept of cake batter is not well known. Mushed the towel around in the slurry. Let it sit a bit. Mushed more. Draped. Then had enough left to do a hand towel.

Glad I used the mid-forearm length heavy duty rubber gloves. Still got the goop up over that length, but I am a slob!!!!!

They are hanging over the 4X4s & drying. I do need to get longer 4X4s. And I need to cut pieces of wood to put btwn 4X4 & pot to keep the pot from bending w weight of towel.

Guess tmrw I'll know if my mixture was the tight consistency. Fingers are crossed.