How To Make Lightweight Concrete Planters
Create lightweight planters with the look of antique stone sinks and troughs with little more than lightweight hypertufa concrete mix and built or improvised molds.
How to make lightweight concrete planters. You will be able to see the shape of the finished plant pot as you complete it. How to make concrete planters. Cure in a plastic bag carefully lift box or container into a plastic trash bag mist with water and seal loosely. Following manufacturers directions mix concrete until it s the consistency of cookie dough.
Wearing plastic or rubber gloves cover all sides of the container completely with concrete. Slowly add approximately 2 1 2 quarts of water as if you were making dough being sure to add the last part of water slowly. If the sides of the container are too flimsy they will warp and you will get some weirdly shaped planters although they may also turn out kind of fabulous. Using less sand can make the product lighter but it can also make the concrete weaker structurally.
Make the walls 1 2 inches 2 5 to 5cm thick. Put on a pair of gloves and pour the concrete mix into the wheelbarrow or bucket. For one day leave the trough in the bag and mist a couple times so it dries slowly. Wear mask to avoid breathing dust and use gloves when mixing as concrete can burn hands.
Read all of the instructions on the package of concrete so you know the ratio of concrete to water. Do not move or they will crumble. Steps make the cement mixture in bin using one gallon peat one gallon portland cement and one gallon perlite. Specialty products like shapecrete are formulated to work more like clay so they can be molded and shaped to create more interesting designs.
There are different recipes to make lightweight concrete depending on the coarse aggregate used and the required strength of the end product. Plastic containers to use as concrete molds choose all sorts of shapes for the molds but make sure that the plastic is strong enough to hold the shape of heavy concrete. Mix concrete and water in a wheelbarrow or bucket. Press the mixture against the sides of the form leaving a thick wall with an opening for a plant.
Quick setting concrete mix already has the perfect balance of cement and fine sand you need to make a concrete planter.