Large concrete planter value $$$

[Lisak1]

But what about long-term durability compared to just concrete?

Here's what I found: http://www.greensgrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/nursery_whatishypertufa.pdf

Why is Hypertufa better than other planting containers?
• Lighter than concrete
• Won’t crack like plastic, clay and ceramic
• Can withstand harsh weather conditions (No need to bring them in for the winter)
• Last for many years
• Retains moisture, so plants thrive even with less frequent watering
• Drains well
• Create mini landscapes in them that can be left outside all year
• Looks great
• Plants love them
• You can make it at home
Hypertufa can be cast into a variety of shapes which, when dry, can resemble ancient stone or aged concrete. There are a number of different recipes to produce hypertufa. Which will you choose depends on what end result you are desiring - Lightweight? More durable? Want to carve it?...and so on. Hypertufa offers almost limitless possibilities of garden ornaments that can be made. You are
limited only by your imagination.

 

[haver79]

Nice pot. Bet it looks great in your courtyard!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Great form. I'm happy to be low since it's better for you!
Found these planters made from lighter weight fiber cement. Maybe this type of cement is available.

http://www.innergardens.com/product/new_collections/Fiber_Cement/FC-AP

Well I'd be happy to get $150 plus delivery. Actually I'm not too worried about the weight, once I figure out a easier method of moving them around. It may turn out to be an advantage because it might mean there will be some extra money in there for delivering them since the customers probably won't be able to move them themselves.

So I pulled the inner mold out of the form today.

But I'll leave the outer form on for another day or so to let the concrete cure a little longer.

I am familiar with Hypertufa, and some of the other ingredients for mixing with cement to make them lighter, all of them will inevitably make the finished concrete weaker, which likely wouldn't be a problem for many things, but there would be the added materials expense as well. And one of the qualities of Hypertufa is that it will grow moss on it pretty readily.
Of course if somebody wants a Hypertufa planter, Id be veryhappy to mix one up,

 

[j.w]

If you sell them for that cheap Mucky you will be able to sell them as quick as you can make them I bet.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

If you sell them for that cheap Mucky you will be able to sell them as quick as you can make them I bet.

Even if I charge $300 for delivery???

 

[j.w]

Then my friend you might have a problem but then hey they are pretty pricey on that website. Start local w/ friends and family and then work your way up.

 

[dieselplower]

300 pounds good grief! Not being much of an indoor plant person, since I manage to kill them all... can you tell me... do you fill the entire thing with dirt?

 

[Big Lou]

$450 Canadian is $399.44 US so that may work. We may want to invert the prices so your customer feels the pot is to be treasured.

 

[HARO]

I've seen planters that size at specialty garden-type places, priced anywhere from $1,000 to more than double that! (Canadian dollars, Big Lou. You can do the conversion.) Keep in mind that these places were near the metropolis of Toronto; around my neck of the woods you might get half of that. Location, location, location!!!
John

 

[Big Lou]

Fell victim to spell check replace. Lol

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I do not think that is the North side Nice work. I can see a market for them.

Your right, the North face was actually facing East. lol
What is even funnier was I marked the sides to keep track of which sides fit together, but I built it upside down, so when I flipped it right side up the East and West sides ended up getting reversed which caused a bit of confusion.

Nice work, BTW. How long does a piece like that have to cure?

Thanks. Actually they say concrete continues to cure and harden for 10 years or more, but for practical purposes I could probably remove it from the form in 24 hours, but I don't want to push my luck and giving it a couple days.

300 pounds good grief! Not being much of an indoor plant person, since I manage to kill them all... can you tell me... do you fill the entire thing with dirt?

The advice I've been given regarding big planters is to fill the bottom potion with pop bottles with the caps left on, the put some landscape fabric or something other type of barrier to hold how ever much dirt you feel you need in the top. And yeah, these things are heavy, I think 300 lbs may be a conservative estimate. I plan on weighing the individual material to get a better idea of the real weight.

Location, location, location!!!
John

Yeah, Location around here most people who want a big planter are happy to just use an old galvanized garbage can.

 

[tbendl]

Soda bottles? What a great idea!! I just bought large planters and have used gravel in the bottom before but they get sooo heavy. That is a great idea, thanks MW.

 

[Troutredds]

That looks great, @Mucky_Waters! We have a large concrete pad our heat pump sits on that's about four inches thick but only weighs about 50 pounds. The thing is, it actually consists of a compressed styrofoam core, coated in concrete - probably sprayed on gunite/shotcrete.

I was thinking that maybe a foam core placed in a form with concrete poured around it would be a way to cut a lot of weight off one of your creations. Not sure how durable it would turn out though...

 

[addy1]

I love big planters, but way to far from you to pick one up

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Poured another planter today, and did some weighing and calculating. I was a little off on my initial guess.

8 pails of crushed gravel - 80 lbs each = 640 lbs
1 bag of portland cement- 94 lbs each = 94 lbs
2 part 5 gal pails water - 40 lbs each = 80 lb
We don't quite use all the concrete mix in the planter form, but enough to know it must weight over 700 lbs