I used to work with concrete on a professional basis, though I'm no expert with it. I once tried a project (unrelated to hypertufa) that was a mix of Portland cement, sand, and pearlite. I had gotten the perlite from the big blue box store's gardening section. When I made the mix, I noticed an ammonia smell to it. Shouldn't have had that. When I pulled the project out of the mold, it just crumbled! Something I had forgotten from my days of pouring concrete is that, because cement is a very alkaline substance (which is why it is an irritant to your skin), anything of an acid ph will neutralize it and stop the cement from curing. {Folks who work with concrete a lot will wash their hands with vinegar to stop the alkaline burn.} What I suspect happened in my case was that the perlite had ammonium nitrate mixed into it (to help feed the plants, since it's intended use was to be mixed into potting soil) and that this was enough acid to 'kill' the cement. This might be what caused your planters to be so brittle. It is important to only use perlite (or vermiculite) that is NOT treated with ammonium nitrate. I believe you can get these products labelled "pure" or 'virgin'. Otherwise, you would have to figure out how to neutralize the acidic nature of the ammonium nitrate.
Great comment. Lots worth considering there. And you're exactly right; acidity _can_ prevent concrete curing, and it's even used as a (spray-on) surface retardant for exposed-aggregate finishes. Note that Portland cement is alkaline. Because there is a (relatively) large ratio of cement to aggregate in the 3:4:5 Tufa recipe, there is plenty of room for it to absorb (neutralize) some of the acidity from an aggregate and still be able to mostly cure. I'd like for us to discover the reality here, but I'm not really in the mood for stoichiometry problems this morning; suffice it to say that these pots were not really brittle, because they had already survived a decade of use & weather. It was a sheet of heavy ice that did them in. Oh, and I worked as a concrete guy for a time, too. Cement is rough on the hands. Not as bad as being a bricklayer, though. That job's hand hell.
Ammonium nitrate is very flammable and costly, it seems unlikely it was included. Ammonium sulphate is not an oxidizer and is acidic, also easily available. Perhaps it was added.
I love seeing your other projects appear in your videos like the kettle that you cleaned up. It shows you really do everything for a purpose and your own use not just to generate some money and forget about it. It makes you very down to earth
My go to formula for Hypertufa is Portland, Peat moss and Sand....1/3 parts of each. Here in Maine I have made 12x12x12 cubes with the center cavity 8x8, all walls being 2 inches thick. Before pouring the mixture I also include chicken wire for the base and walls. Some have cracked, but they still hold their shape after a dozen winters of neglect. I used 8x8x10 cardboard boxes for the center, but a plywood center would be better, and poured base up. The outer plywood forms are screwed together so that I can reuse them, and I have hot glued shapes (multi-layered 1/4 inch plywood) to the interior walls for decorative results. This mixture is solid after 36 hours, and I remove the form and go over any imperfections with sand paper or fine rasp to round off the edges or imperfections. Lots of fun! After all these years I have not lost any of my cubes from frost cracking the base away. I enjoy your videos!!!!!!!
@@vaderladyl sand and portland cement is your basic mortar mix. of course its strong. just buy a bag of mortar if that's what you're going to do. then mix in the perlite and whatever else. they used animal hair in the middle ages.
"Tufa" is a particular kind of rock - limestone, if I recall correctly. It's got holes through it like pumice does. While I've never heard the name "hypertufa" before, I would presume it just means "artificial tufa", since if you made a planter out of actual tufa it would also let water out. My partner is Italian and told me once of a monastery somewhere in southern Italy that had been damaged in WWII, and the Americans came and offered to repair it. Supposedly the monks stopped them and demanded to be left alone to do it themselves when the Americans started mixing up cement instead of using tufa, which the monastery had originally been constructed in. She recounted it as a "stupid Americans don't have any respect" kind of story, but now I wonder whether - assuming the story has any basis in fact - the Americans just assumed that when the monks said "tufa", this is what they meant.
It seems like they sat in a puddle that froze. It wasn't so much the weight of the ice as the fact that they absorbed the puddle creating a shear line when the water solidified.
exactly. He was probably right about the time: the water would have sat in the lower layer of the snow when it refroze. The expanding ice in the saturated part just ripped the bonds apart. The surviving ones may have been on top of something, and the one that was sideways, may lose a wall still...
it may also refer to the tufa at Mono Lake (east of Yosemite, a very salty volcanic lake where pilons of sediment are formed when jets of hot water exit the cold lake floor. The water streams up, and as it mixes with the salt water, a calcious sediment drops on the sides, forming a very porous rock. A park ranger there once told me it was unique in the world (both the process and the composition), so it's no wonder that nobody should know where the name came from. (notice the "should" as conditional clausing because I'm not a peer reviewed source for this knowledge)
Hi, in order to salvage your pots you may place them end to end with additional cement & decorative tile work for added stability, resembling an hourglass shape. I'm sure you can come up with a method rebuild the collapsed bottoms. Please let me know how you make out
I feel your pain. I've lived around woods like that. Suffered from poison ivy for most of my life (even went delirious and was taken to the ER over it once). But you can get in those woods and work them, a piece at a time. Pull the nasty plants and select/encourage better tree growth. It will be rewarding work. We call it 'reclaiming real estate.'
Interesting substance. I might have to suggest this to my mom, she loves gardening. Glad to hear the minnows are doing well. Our front porch is home to some house martins. They make an incredible mess, but they make a noticeable impact on the mosquito population.
That looks likt the kind of plant that would create a peat bog, Maybe you should plant some in the areas with all that good soil. It might help keep the land moist and continue building that soil up. I know that having a peat bog, no matter how small would be an incredibly great resource to have especially if you learn how to properly manage it and keep notes that you can pass onto the next owner of the property be it your children or another family.
Pocket, I think that moss is one of the Polytrichum genus, or haircap moss. Characterised by the splash cup, which looks like a flower, but isn't. It's a structure containing the moss's male organs. I'm tempted to say your moss might be Polytrichum strictum, but I couldn't find a really good still frame on the video with enough detail.
And I'm sure that you would have provided the correction for me, right? Which is why I'm now a miserable captive here in this weird bubble of useless scrutiny. It was an almost irrelevant detail, as are most all definitional discussions. And I waste away my productive hours foot-noting each and every one, to the incessant tune of each and every viewer's idiosyncratic preoccupation. And just to return the favor: it bothers me when someone uses a comma to separate independent clauses without a conjunction.
@@pocket83squared i didn't know you were so insecure, and i was genuinely thanking you. It bothers me when people don't know the difference but mistakes don't bother me.
Yeah, but we _can't_ know the differences about everything. I don't mean to sound insecure. It's just that there's always something, and it gets tedious. Sorry if I'm being nasty.
The point is kinda how earthy these pots are. Adding fiberglass would be a circumvention of that. They don't really need reinforcement. Just don't allow them to sit under 4" of ice and a foot of snow.
Great video and lovely property. It looks like you are in Washington state possibly. What type of moss is that around the 18 minute mark ? And why would you cover it with sand ?
if you want to grow moss in them you could use the bottomless planters fill them with dirt where you want them and put mosses in them and leave them out side…
that moss is absolutely stunning, i collect mosses and i can tell you i've never seen anything quite like it, although if i had to take a guess it looks like some kind of relation to thread moss that adapted to have a more tube like appearance, although i do like the implication another commenter made on calling it pocket moss
you have such an amazingly beautiful property, with so many possibilities! And I love the quiet too! My place is considered rural and quiet over here, but as I write this, I could hear a bus, two trucks and an handful of cars drive past on the next street... I have only one creek on my 2/3 acre tiny land, and I'm not allowed to do anything with it :(( Don't mistake this for jealousy, though. It's admiration, and it makes me dream up bright futures... :))
You can also neutralize the alkalinity of the hypertufa pots by soaking them with a water/vinegar mixture 20-30 minutes at a time for a few days. It's much faster than letting them sit just on their own to develop a neutral pH.
That's probably a bit drastic. Water alone could speed up the neutralization with a good, long soak. Just be sure that the (cement) cure process has fully finished first.
@@pocket83squared Yes, water alone can do it also, but it is much faster using water with some vinegar. I don't quite understand what is so drastic about that. lol
@@johnna-l7t Because Tufas are enormous, so it'll take not only a huge vessel, but also lots of vinegar to alter the pH of so much solution, which will then be a minor pain to dispose of. Soaking them in the creek for a day or two is as far as I'd reasonably go. If you're in a hurry, Tufa is probably not for you; it takes days to de-mold, and then over a month to fully cure. When I _do_ have to dispose of vinegar solution, I dump it in the (limestone) gravel behind my garage. What doesn't neutralize will help keep the weeds down.
@@pocket83squared Hypertufa pots are enormous? Funny blanket statement to make. One can make them whatever size ones wants, from 4 inch pots to very large ones. Anyway, you seem rather argumentative, so I'll leave you to it. I was just pointing out another method that I have used to neutralize hat was quite successful. But you do you. I wish you peace.
The unsolicited advisor accuses, "argumentative." Okay. Thanks for stopping by to give me permission to do myself, but we're all stocked up on sanctimony.
That is the basic formula. You can use other substitutes like coconut coir and sand. Sand will make it last longer, 20 or so years, if you use it instead of perlite.
*pokedex voice* Tufa.. The potted plant Pokemon Tofas are a rock type Pokemon with various plants growing off of its back. Tho, generally these plants are moss. Tufa can be found lounging around in groups and prefer to be left out in the elements. Even though Tufa is a rock/plant Pokemon, it has a weakness to ice. Tufa TUFA!
If you've ever played a _Final Fantasy,_ there's a giant creature "Goobbue," that has plants growing on its back. Thing terrified me. Of course, I was a noob. Never got too far into a FF game.
@@pocket83squared Nah, I can't stand Final Fantasy. Even the older sprite ones aren't particularly interesting despite me loveing RPGs. But while we're mentioning creatures I do love the Carbuncle creature they have. The carbuncle is a rather interesting unknown aspect of unicorn lore and heraldry.
@@pocket83squared I should probably warn you since you Google things. If you Google "carbuncle" don't search the word alone. It's a rather gross medical condition. Add the words gemstone, monster, or heraldry.
@@VagabondTE though I did use to have a recurring dream (nightmare?) involving digging a gemstone out of an equine forehead, and images of unicorns still trigger traumas, so maybe I did know at one time of the unicorn lore.
First, there _are_ smaller bags out there, if you can find them. Call around. -or- Go to your local supplier, and they'll have pallets full of the stuff. Plenty of bags get broken, so there's usually some loose powder on the ground. Explain to the kid working there that you just want to try out a cupful of the stuff, and chances are they'll just let you have it. Or ask them for a discounted smaller quantity (a broken bag).
Yes, Tufa dries quite quickly. Water runs right through it, almost the way it will through a screen or mesh. As for the porosity of cement, that depends on what you mean. "Cement" usually refers to the binding agent (sticky part) of a concrete, for example, _Portland Cement._ It's unlikely that you'd use a cement alone to make pots. If you did, the pot would likely be very hard, dense, and brittle. If you're asking about concrete pots, then yes, those would also dry out fairly quickly, but probably not as fast as terracotta does, simply because they'd be more massive. You can imagine a concrete pot as also behaving like a screen or a mesh-though a much tighter one than Tufa. It would take some time for a concrete pot to totally dry out. Concrete can also be sealed with oils, waxes, or sealing compounds designed for the purpose. Sealing it would _really_ slow the pot's evaporation. Note that if you do make concrete pots, they have a leach period; this means that before certain plants can flourish in them, some of the chemicals may have to be rinsed away. pH may also be a consideration. The process can take _lots_ of time.
Ive read that you never stand them on soil or grass... or anywhere that moisture sits. Needs to placed on gravel, stones or brick. Im in UK though with wetter colder weather. The advice here is any moisture needs to be able to drain out of the actual mixture (although you can use them to hold water if sealed inside).
Yes, that is good advice. Though these would've been broken even _with_ a drainage bed, since they were sort of encapsulated in a block of ice. The weight crushed them as the ice's expansion ripped them apart underneath.
for the moss/plant. We have an app for smart phones where you snap a picture of any plant and it'll tell you what it is. I'm sure there will be one just like it in English. Thought that you may find that useful...
Any Pocket Moss sightings in the vicinity or only in that sandpit? If it's not indigenous to the area, how do you imagine it got there? Personally, I suspect a triffids scenario.
This comment has nothing to do with this video it's about the flawless deck and how flawless it was and I was wondering if you posted the video after you fixed it? I'm redoing my deck and been going over other people's videos of deck building I'm just curious in how yours turned out. Thank you
Hmm. It won't make a difference. +/-5% is less than the error you should expect because of how compressible peat-moss is. The 3-4-5 mnemonic is a rather simple & valuable trick, so you might be asking for a ratio screw-up. ... Consider that mine lasted the better part of a decade, and those that weren't under 6" of ice all winter are still functioning as they were on year #8. My opinion (since you are here, I will assume you want it) is that the recipe should not be modified; it's not really reasonable to expect a better result. ... Besides, even if additional cement did give the result "more strength," the opportunity cost would be a heavier pot that drains slightly less well and takes longer to leach. At 25%, moss still doesn't show up until around year 6. The recipe is trust-able. Wikipedia usually knows what it's saying. Either way, good luck.
In general, yes, but it depends on the plant. We've had the best luck with succulent-type plants using these pots. You _could_ alter the recipe for different properties: for example, using more Portland (or even the addition of sand) would make a pot that holds moisture for longer. Of course, there will also be trade-offs for doing so--like the higher weight of the vessel and the increased cement that will now leach out. As with all gardening, it'll take you some experimentation to 'get' the stuff.
Good question. I'm reasonably confident that it could be trusted. You might want to increase the Portland cement of the mix, though. Also note that it would be tough on the fish until the structure has finished leaching, which will take at least a year or two.
This probably sounds pathetic, but it's too hard! Lots of work for a game. The distance is just too extreme. Father-in-law was over, and I'd figured we'd play, but we just ended up hatchet throwing instead.
I haven't made this, but from other videos I've seen, they use equal parts of the 3 ingredients by volume (plus water). So you can use any random container as your measuring device.
A liverwort started growing in a pot I was trying to grow a bay laurel - it's such a strange plant. Looks like an alien passed through the digestive system of a seagull.
You get some interesting stuff over there. From a naturalistic point of view, it would be like a new world for me to explore. As someone who has not left his continent, it's a bit magical to watch outside interviews with Attenborough or Dawkins, or to see the grounds of Darwin's house. There's something almost fantasy-like about where you live. You might feel a similar way if you were to visit here?
@@pocket83squared The plants are the best and most under-rated part about here. I mean yes we have the Chelsea flower show and kew gardens - but they're a circus to nature. The real beauty is the wilderness growing on roundabouts. Those are the real islands.
Tufa can form naturally as dissolved limestone precipitates out of water as it does at Janet's Foss, a waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales. This beautiful little falls has a curtain of tufa formed behind it, making a little cave behind the cascade. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet's_Foss I guess it's the portland cement that makes the version in this video "hyper".
We have a kind of moss around here called björnmossa ("bear moss") that looks very similar. Maybe a relative? I believe its Latin name is Polytrichum commune.
Very cool, I've never heard of tufa but I'd like to give it a go! Congratulations on the new property it looks beautiful, you give us a video tour! What area and state are you in... it certainly looks nicer than the oven of Texas I'm stuck in🤣! Hope everything goes well, take care and God Bless!
That's not entirely accurate. Water absorbed will not be enough to break Tufa apart. These have survived many winters outside. They were finally broken by becoming enmeshed within a thick layer of ice during a freak storm. Tufa properly made is loosely packed; it has spaces between it, which will provide ample room for internal water to expand during a freeze. Excess water simply runs through, because it is designed to drain. This pile was under a foot of snow which then melted and re-froze. The stresses were enough to break plastic.
I'm not sure a Star Trek reference about one of the more iconic critters in the show is 'obscure'? And yes, it's an awesome plant in some nice pots. Not one I've encountered before however I've made furnace refractory using a similar mix(fireclay instead of moss) so I can imagine the idea and as I keep my furnace outside and the moss likes to grow on it during the wet season the idea does seem sound. :) I'm going to guess that most of what need to leach out is related to the cement and more alkaline/basic loving plants will need less time?
That pile of semi-broken Tufas was left outside all winter. They had already survived several winters outside, but this time, a sheet of thick ice formed in and on top of them, causing them to crush and split. The remedy would've been to have prevented them from being encased in ice in the first place. In order to make a pot that's truly ice-proof, you would have to add sand/gravel for body. That means you'll need to thicken the walls to keep the mass together. Problem is, now you've made concrete. As a material, Tufa has limitations. All things considered, 3-4-5 was/is a great recipe.
Hey Pocket, ever consider doing a Mouse Maze 2.0 w/ the design changes that you mentioned? (Players start on opposite sides, cheese in the middle). Love your videos, keep up the great commentary :)
The word tufa reminds me of tulpa. From Wikipedia: "Tulpa is a concept in mysticism and the paranormal of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers."
And then you realize there's a Tulpa community on the internet of people purposely trying to inflict mental illness on themselves just so they can see their anime waifu IRL
And there's also Tuvok, the Vulcan who helped that guy from _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ overcome his mental illness. *EDIT:* Don't google 'waifu.' At least now I know. Cartoon wife. Got it.
Let's say one of your viewers would like a cut of that interesting plant. One he could grow bigger in a community garden he runs. How would that viewer go about talking you into sending him some? haha
Thought about this considerably, and I must say no. 1) Shipping it is just too expensive for a usable sample. 2) Introduction of any organism into a new environment is irresponsible without first making lots of considerations. 3) It might be illegal. Sorry about this. My impulse was to send you one, since I remember you being around here for a pretty long-time, but I think it's a pretty bad idea. As a general rule, in our gardens on this site, we try to encourage the local flora and fauna to the best of our abilities. Even though we are often selecting for species that we prefer by removing those we find undesirable, we still try not to introduce new things except where we will not compromise for reasons of utility. For example, addition of a new variety of fruit tree to enrich fertilization, or the use of goldfish (in a closed system) to control mosquito larvae. I'm becoming a bit of an ecological curmudgeon, so sending around a native plant is just plain against my better judgment. I've noticed back in my hometown that the use of decorative pear trees has now displaced much of the indigenous tree varieties. For example, contemporary garden pop-culture considers Black Locust groves to be scraggly looking, so people prefer lollipop-shaped novelty trees in their suburban landscaping. Shame, too; the Black Locust blossom has an unequaled springtime scent. Not to mention that it grows a strong wood that fluoresces, or that it has a hot-burning, fast-growing fuel. Sigh. Short-sight for appearances! Further, trees also have a sound; each species' is distinct. Locust leaves flutter quickly in the wind, which causes a certain 'fffffff' tone and appearance that is characteristic of only that. Its removal and replacement by something foreign is a small, quiet tragedy. Such is to replace an old orchard with a strip-mall. Perhaps relocating one little moss variety does not have such huge ecological reverberations, but I nevertheless refuse to adopt the pattern.
I feel like there is a joke to be found somewhere between the tufa striations and the stream stratification between topsoil and clay, but the margins of this youtube comment are insufficient to explore it.
@@pocket83squared I've been forbidden from using puns by my children ever since the cereal homophone debacle of 2013, in which my constant reinterpretation of the back of a cheerios box was not well received.
In England "tufa" means By one get on free (A nice way to say BOGOF) as in "Two For one", shorted to tufa, plural is tufas. As in "went shopping today, got lots of tufas"
Like all porous limestone-aggregate or ceramic vessels exposed water, they will break when exposed to freezing temperatures because of the micro-frost heaving ice that occurs in their micropores. Never leave such vessels waterlogged in freezing temperatures. The shaky video was annoying and a distraction.
Thanks for the lecture. You sound really smart. Especially at the part about the "micro-frost." But I think you may've missed the point about how these actually broke. Part of Tufa's shtick is that it will withstand freezing temperatures _without_ being any worse for wear. Many of these had already endured a decade's worth of winters before finally biting the dust from a fluke, glacier-like ice storm. Now go and never leave your own where you prefer. Absolute words are like nails on a chalkboard; they're always characteristic of a preachy twit. Also, your comment was an annoying distraction.
I used to work with concrete on a professional basis, though I'm no expert with it. I once tried a project (unrelated to hypertufa) that was a mix of Portland cement, sand, and pearlite. I had gotten the perlite from the big blue box store's gardening section. When I made the mix, I noticed an ammonia smell to it. Shouldn't have had that. When I pulled the project out of the mold, it just crumbled!
Something I had forgotten from my days of pouring concrete is that, because cement is a very alkaline substance (which is why it is an irritant to your skin), anything of an acid ph will neutralize it and stop the cement from curing. {Folks who work with concrete a lot will wash their hands with vinegar to stop the alkaline burn.}
What I suspect happened in my case was that the perlite had ammonium nitrate mixed into it (to help feed the plants, since it's intended use was to be mixed into potting soil) and that this was enough acid to 'kill' the cement. This might be what caused your planters to be so brittle. It is important to only use perlite (or vermiculite) that is NOT treated with ammonium nitrate. I believe you can get these products labelled "pure" or 'virgin'. Otherwise, you would have to figure out how to neutralize the acidic nature of the ammonium nitrate.
Great comment. Lots worth considering there. And you're exactly right; acidity _can_ prevent concrete curing, and it's even used as a (spray-on) surface retardant for exposed-aggregate finishes.
Note that Portland cement is alkaline. Because there is a (relatively) large ratio of cement to aggregate in the 3:4:5 Tufa recipe, there is plenty of room for it to absorb (neutralize) some of the acidity from an aggregate and still be able to mostly cure.
I'd like for us to discover the reality here, but I'm not really in the mood for stoichiometry problems this morning; suffice it to say that these pots were not really brittle, because they had already survived a decade of use & weather. It was a sheet of heavy ice that did them in.
Oh, and I worked as a concrete guy for a time, too. Cement is rough on the hands. Not as bad as being a bricklayer, though. That job's hand hell.
Ammonium nitrate is very flammable and costly, it seems unlikely it was included.
Ammonium sulphate is not an oxidizer and is acidic, also easily available.
Perhaps it was added.
I love seeing your other projects appear in your videos like the kettle that you cleaned up. It shows you really do everything for a purpose and your own use not just to generate some money and forget about it. It makes you very down to earth
My go to formula for Hypertufa is Portland, Peat moss and Sand....1/3 parts of each. Here in Maine I have made 12x12x12 cubes with the center cavity 8x8, all walls being 2 inches thick. Before pouring the mixture I also include chicken wire for the base and walls. Some have cracked, but they still hold their shape after a dozen winters of neglect. I used 8x8x10 cardboard boxes for the center, but a plywood center would be better, and poured base up. The outer plywood forms are screwed together so that I can reuse them, and I have hot glued shapes (multi-layered 1/4 inch plywood) to the interior walls for decorative results. This mixture is solid after 36 hours, and I remove the form and go over any imperfections with sand paper or fine rasp to round off the edges or imperfections. Lots of fun! After all these years I have not lost any of my cubes from frost cracking the base away. I enjoy your videos!!!!!!!
Right, just don't throw them outside for 7-8 with water/ice wrecking them, turn them over at Least!
@@patriciacole8773 zone 5
Sand works better for strength and durability.
@@vaderladyl sand and portland cement is your basic mortar mix. of course its strong. just buy a bag of mortar if that's what you're going to do. then mix in the perlite and whatever else. they used animal hair in the middle ages.
"oh no..."
Famous words of any maker
Seems like an excellent material for bonsai pots
"Tufa" is a particular kind of rock - limestone, if I recall correctly. It's got holes through it like pumice does. While I've never heard the name "hypertufa" before, I would presume it just means "artificial tufa", since if you made a planter out of actual tufa it would also let water out.
My partner is Italian and told me once of a monastery somewhere in southern Italy that had been damaged in WWII, and the Americans came and offered to repair it. Supposedly the monks stopped them and demanded to be left alone to do it themselves when the Americans started mixing up cement instead of using tufa, which the monastery had originally been constructed in. She recounted it as a "stupid Americans don't have any respect" kind of story, but now I wonder whether - assuming the story has any basis in fact - the Americans just assumed that when the monks said "tufa", this is what they meant.
I'm partial to "Big trouble in little tufa"
I just looked at when you posted this, 4 years ago😮. I'm sure they are long gone😂
It seems like they sat in a puddle that froze. It wasn't so much the weight of the ice as the fact that they absorbed the puddle creating a shear line when the water solidified.
exactly. He was probably right about the time: the water would have sat in the lower layer of the snow when it refroze. The expanding ice in the saturated part just ripped the bonds apart. The surviving ones may have been on top of something, and the one that was sideways, may lose a wall still...
Pocket moss?
Very nice thank u. I'm ignorant of tufa but I'm learning. Very cool property too!
it may also refer to the tufa at Mono Lake (east of Yosemite, a very salty volcanic lake where pilons of sediment are formed when jets of hot water exit the cold lake floor. The water streams up, and as it mixes with the salt water, a calcious sediment drops on the sides, forming a very porous rock. A park ranger there once told me it was unique in the world (both the process and the composition), so it's no wonder that nobody should know where the name came from. (notice the "should" as conditional clausing because I'm not a peer reviewed source for this knowledge)
Hi, in order to salvage your pots you may place them end to end with additional cement & decorative tile work for added stability, resembling an hourglass shape. I'm sure you can come up with a method rebuild the collapsed bottoms. Please let me know how you make out
This video has proved one thing to me, I need to move. My forest is nothing but undergrowth with poison ivy and briars.
Excellent video as always.
I feel your pain. I've lived around woods like that. Suffered from poison ivy for most of my life (even went delirious and was taken to the ER over it once). But you can get in those woods and work them, a piece at a time. Pull the nasty plants and select/encourage better tree growth. It will be rewarding work. We call it 'reclaiming real estate.'
Interesting substance. I might have to suggest this to my mom, she loves gardening.
Glad to hear the minnows are doing well. Our front porch is home to some house martins. They make an incredible mess, but they make a noticeable impact on the mosquito population.
Concrete - Cement, I get those mixed up all the time as well. I know the difference, but often get them backwards.
That can happen to allot of pottery just need to bring them in from winter😐
That looks likt the kind of plant that would create a peat bog, Maybe you should plant some in the areas with all that good soil. It might help keep the land moist and continue building that soil up. I know that having a peat bog, no matter how small would be an incredibly great resource to have especially if you learn how to properly manage it and keep notes that you can pass onto the next owner of the property be it your children or another family.
Pocket, I think that moss is one of the Polytrichum genus, or haircap moss. Characterised by the splash cup, which looks like a flower, but isn't. It's a structure containing the moss's male organs.
I'm tempted to say your moss might be Polytrichum strictum, but I couldn't find a really good still frame on the video with enough detail.
Thank you so much for correcting yourself on the concrete/cement thing because it always bothers me when someone says cement when they mean concrete
And I'm sure that you would have provided the correction for me, right? Which is why I'm now a miserable captive here in this weird bubble of useless scrutiny.
It was an almost irrelevant detail, as are most all definitional discussions. And I waste away my productive hours foot-noting each and every one, to the incessant tune of each and every viewer's idiosyncratic preoccupation.
And just to return the favor: it bothers me when someone uses a comma to separate independent clauses without a conjunction.
@@pocket83squared i didn't know you were so insecure, and i was genuinely thanking you. It bothers me when people don't know the difference but mistakes don't bother me.
Yeah, but we _can't_ know the differences about everything. I don't mean to sound insecure. It's just that there's always something, and it gets tedious. Sorry if I'm being nasty.
@@pocket83squared Yes people, I know that I am replying to an old comment, but this made me laugh! Nicely played
I really enjoyed this video.
Thanks.
Regardless of how the one you placed in water and broke …
It’s still good for a sapling or any other plant on the ground as a border .
Would it have been detrimental to add some kind of fiber reinforcement to a new one?
The point is kinda how earthy these pots are. Adding fiberglass would be a circumvention of that. They don't really need reinforcement. Just don't allow them to sit under 4" of ice and a foot of snow.
does the moss have a smell?
At 6:53 you can hear Pocket's jaw hit the ground if you listen close.
Great video and lovely property. It looks like you are in Washington state possibly. What type of moss is that around the 18 minute mark ? And why would you cover it with sand ?
and also I am way jealous of how easily that soil shovels. Here in New England I have to go after even the very smallest projects with a pick/mattock.
if you want to grow moss in them you could use the bottomless planters fill them with dirt where you want them and put mosses in them and leave them out side…
Tribbles were then only thing I Remember from star trek as a child
but how are the tribbles doing?
They ate all the quadrotriticale. Bastards!
that moss is absolutely stunning, i collect mosses and i can tell you i've never seen anything quite like it, although if i had to take a guess it looks like some kind of relation to thread moss that adapted to have a more tube like appearance, although i do like the implication another commenter made on calling it pocket moss
you have such an amazingly beautiful property, with so many possibilities! And I love the quiet too! My place is considered rural and quiet over here, but as I write this, I could hear a bus, two trucks and an handful of cars drive past on the next street... I have only one creek on my 2/3 acre tiny land, and I'm not allowed to do anything with it :((
Don't mistake this for jealousy, though. It's admiration, and it makes me dream up bright futures... :))
You can also neutralize the alkalinity of the hypertufa pots by soaking them with a water/vinegar mixture 20-30 minutes at a time for a few days. It's much faster than letting them sit just on their own to develop a neutral pH.
That's probably a bit drastic. Water alone could speed up the neutralization with a good, long soak. Just be sure that the (cement) cure process has fully finished first.
@@pocket83squared Yes, water alone can do it also, but it is much faster using water with some vinegar. I don't quite understand what is so drastic about that. lol
@@johnna-l7t Because Tufas are enormous, so it'll take not only a huge vessel, but also lots of vinegar to alter the pH of so much solution, which will then be a minor pain to dispose of. Soaking them in the creek for a day or two is as far as I'd reasonably go. If you're in a hurry, Tufa is probably not for you; it takes days to de-mold, and then over a month to fully cure.
When I _do_ have to dispose of vinegar solution, I dump it in the (limestone) gravel behind my garage. What doesn't neutralize will help keep the weeds down.
@@pocket83squared Hypertufa pots are enormous? Funny blanket statement to make. One can make them whatever size ones wants, from 4 inch pots to very large ones. Anyway, you seem rather argumentative, so I'll leave you to it. I was just pointing out another method that I have used to neutralize hat was quite successful. But you do you. I wish you peace.
The unsolicited advisor accuses, "argumentative." Okay. Thanks for stopping by to give me permission to do myself, but we're all stocked up on sanctimony.
That is the basic formula. You can use other substitutes like coconut coir and sand. Sand will make it last longer, 20 or so years, if you use it instead of perlite.
*pokedex voice*
Tufa.. The potted plant Pokemon
Tofas are a rock type Pokemon with various plants growing off of its back. Tho, generally these plants are moss. Tufa can be found lounging around in groups and prefer to be left out in the elements. Even though Tufa is a rock/plant Pokemon, it has a weakness to ice.
Tufa TUFA!
If you've ever played a _Final Fantasy,_ there's a giant creature "Goobbue," that has plants growing on its back. Thing terrified me. Of course, I was a noob. Never got too far into a FF game.
@@pocket83squared Nah, I can't stand Final Fantasy. Even the older sprite ones aren't particularly interesting despite me loveing RPGs. But while we're mentioning creatures I do love the Carbuncle creature they have. The carbuncle is a rather interesting unknown aspect of unicorn lore and heraldry.
@@pocket83squared I should probably warn you since you Google things. If you Google "carbuncle" don't search the word alone. It's a rather gross medical condition. Add the words gemstone, monster, or heraldry.
@@VagabondTE aren't carbuncles just garnets? I wasn't even aware there is a medical condition by that name...
@@VagabondTE though I did use to have a recurring dream (nightmare?) involving digging a gemstone out of an equine forehead, and images of unicorns still trigger traumas, so maybe I did know at one time of the unicorn lore.
Did you ever find out the name of that moss?
I want to try a SMALL project, so I don't want to buy a 94-lb. bag of Portland Cement. How can I get a small quantity?
First, there _are_ smaller bags out there, if you can find them. Call around.
-or-
Go to your local supplier, and they'll have pallets full of the stuff. Plenty of bags get broken, so there's usually some loose powder on the ground. Explain to the kid working there that you just want to try out a cupful of the stuff, and chances are they'll just let you have it. Or ask them for a discounted smaller quantity (a broken bag).
Do these pots dry out in hot weather as fast as terra cotta? Do you think cement would be less porous? Thank you?
Yes, Tufa dries quite quickly. Water runs right through it, almost the way it will through a screen or mesh.
As for the porosity of cement, that depends on what you mean. "Cement" usually refers to the binding agent (sticky part) of a concrete, for example, _Portland Cement._ It's unlikely that you'd use a cement alone to make pots. If you did, the pot would likely be very hard, dense, and brittle.
If you're asking about concrete pots, then yes, those would also dry out fairly quickly, but probably not as fast as terracotta does, simply because they'd be more massive. You can imagine a concrete pot as also behaving like a screen or a mesh-though a much tighter one than Tufa. It would take some time for a concrete pot to totally dry out. Concrete can also be sealed with oils, waxes, or sealing compounds designed for the purpose. Sealing it would _really_ slow the pot's evaporation.
Note that if you do make concrete pots, they have a leach period; this means that before certain plants can flourish in them, some of the chemicals may have to be rinsed away. pH may also be a consideration. The process can take _lots_ of time.
Ive read that you never stand them on soil or grass... or anywhere that moisture sits. Needs to placed on gravel, stones or brick. Im in UK though with wetter colder weather.
The advice here is any moisture needs to be able to drain out of the actual mixture (although you can use them to hold water if sealed inside).
Yes, that is good advice. Though these would've been broken even _with_ a drainage bed, since they were sort of encapsulated in a block of ice. The weight crushed them as the ice's expansion ripped them apart underneath.
for the moss/plant. We have an app for smart phones where you snap a picture of any plant and it'll tell you what it is. I'm sure there will be one just like it in English. Thought that you may find that useful...
Any Pocket Moss sightings in the vicinity or only in that sandpit? If it's not indigenous to the area, how do you imagine it got there? Personally, I suspect a triffids scenario.
This comment has nothing to do with this video it's about the flawless deck and how flawless it was and I was wondering if you posted the video after you fixed it? I'm redoing my deck and been going over other people's videos of deck building I'm just curious in how yours turned out. Thank you
Your recipe calls for 25% Portland cement. Mine is around 30% for a little more strength.
Hmm. It won't make a difference. +/-5% is less than the error you should expect because of how compressible peat-moss is. The 3-4-5 mnemonic is a rather simple & valuable trick, so you might be asking for a ratio screw-up.
...
Consider that mine lasted the better part of a decade, and those that weren't under 6" of ice all winter are still functioning as they were on year #8. My opinion (since you are here, I will assume you want it) is that the recipe should not be modified; it's not really reasonable to expect a better result.
...
Besides, even if additional cement did give the result "more strength," the opportunity cost would be a heavier pot that drains slightly less well and takes longer to leach. At 25%, moss still doesn't show up until around year 6. The recipe is trust-able. Wikipedia usually knows what it's saying. Either way, good luck.
@@pocket83squared it's more how I like to look. I use 1 part peat moss, 1.5 parts vermiculite perlite blend and 1 part Portland.
"If you're ever in the area, stop by for a game of horse shoes" - How are we supposed to know what area or where to stop by?
So it won’t hold moisture? You’d have to water every day in a climate with no rain?
In general, yes, but it depends on the plant. We've had the best luck with succulent-type plants using these pots. You _could_ alter the recipe for different properties: for example, using more Portland (or even the addition of sand) would make a pot that holds moisture for longer. Of course, there will also be trade-offs for doing so--like the higher weight of the vessel and the increased cement that will now leach out. As with all gardening, it'll take you some experimentation to 'get' the stuff.
Where do you live (of course generally speaking)?
Western Central PA, right on the tip-top of the Laurel highlands.
Increased activity from pocket... Great
Hypertufa - how does it perform with constant moisture like your stream. Can I make a waterfall with it?
Good question. I'm reasonably confident that it could be trusted. You might want to increase the Portland cement of the mix, though. Also note that it would be tough on the fish until the structure has finished leaching, which will take at least a year or two.
@@pocket83squared could I use polystyrene (styrofoam) ?
Hmmm. Maybe I'll take you up on the horseshoes offer some day. I used to play. Haven't in years.
This probably sounds pathetic, but it's too hard! Lots of work for a game. The distance is just too extreme. Father-in-law was over, and I'd figured we'd play, but we just ended up hatchet throwing instead.
@@pocket83squared Hatchet throwing is a great alternative!
Is the 1 part cement, 1 part perlite, 1 part peat moss weight or volume parts? If weight isn't a issue can I use small gravel/sand instead?
I haven't made this, but from other videos I've seen, they use equal parts of the 3 ingredients by volume (plus water). So you can use any random container as your measuring device.
A liverwort started growing in a pot I was trying to grow a bay laurel - it's such a strange plant. Looks like an alien passed through the digestive system of a seagull.
You get some interesting stuff over there. From a naturalistic point of view, it would be like a new world for me to explore. As someone who has not left his continent, it's a bit magical to watch outside interviews with Attenborough or Dawkins, or to see the grounds of Darwin's house. There's something almost fantasy-like about where you live. You might feel a similar way if you were to visit here?
@@pocket83squared The plants are the best and most under-rated part about here. I mean yes we have the Chelsea flower show and kew gardens - but they're a circus to nature. The real beauty is the wilderness growing on roundabouts. Those are the real islands.
Tufa can form naturally as dissolved limestone precipitates out of water as it does at Janet's Foss, a waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales. This beautiful little falls has a curtain of tufa formed behind it, making a little cave behind the cascade.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet's_Foss
I guess it's the portland cement that makes the version in this video "hyper".
We have a kind of moss around here called björnmossa ("bear moss") that looks very similar. Maybe a relative? I believe its Latin name is Polytrichum commune.
That plant is really interesting, I wonder just what it is.
It looks to me like some sort of sedum (stonecrop). That's certainly the sort of environment they like to grow in.
yea show that other stream too, im interested. Also I noticed orange-colored fish in the first one? Were those creek chubs or a new fish you added?
The sand made the moss grow that color it is a very nice breed of moss tho. Did you know you can sell moss in some states by the pound or yard.
Very cool, I've never heard of tufa but I'd like to give it a go! Congratulations on the new property it looks beautiful, you give us a video tour! What area and state are you in... it certainly looks nicer than the oven of Texas I'm stuck in🤣! Hope everything goes well, take care and God Bless!
By design, hypertufa is porous so if it's out during the winter it can absorb water and freeze.
This will break it apart.
That's not entirely accurate. Water absorbed will not be enough to break Tufa apart. These have survived many winters outside. They were finally broken by becoming enmeshed within a thick layer of ice during a freak storm.
Tufa properly made is loosely packed; it has spaces between it, which will provide ample room for internal water to expand during a freeze. Excess water simply runs through, because it is designed to drain.
This pile was under a foot of snow which then melted and re-froze. The stresses were enough to break plastic.
I'm not sure a Star Trek reference about one of the more iconic critters in the show is 'obscure'?
And yes, it's an awesome plant in some nice pots. Not one I've encountered before however I've made furnace refractory using a similar mix(fireclay instead of moss) so I can imagine the idea and as I keep my furnace outside and the moss likes to grow on it during the wet season the idea does seem sound. :)
I'm going to guess that most of what need to leach out is related to the cement and more alkaline/basic loving plants will need less time?
Aye, beam them to the Klingon engine room where they'll be no tufa at all
Sooo - what's the remedy?
That pile of semi-broken Tufas was left outside all winter. They had already survived several winters outside, but this time, a sheet of thick ice formed in and on top of them, causing them to crush and split. The remedy would've been to have prevented them from being encased in ice in the first place.
In order to make a pot that's truly ice-proof, you would have to add sand/gravel for body. That means you'll need to thicken the walls to keep the mass together. Problem is, now you've made concrete. As a material, Tufa has limitations. All things considered, 3-4-5 was/is a great recipe.
Thanks@@pocket83squared - I needed to know so I can figure out what to avoid when creating my own.
Hey Pocket, ever consider doing a Mouse Maze 2.0 w/ the design changes that you mentioned? (Players start on opposite sides, cheese in the middle). Love your videos, keep up the great commentary :)
You have a nice watering can.
Tuva, island in South Pacific?
You might be thinking of Tonga or Tuvalu. Tuva is over by Mongolia. It's famous for its throat singers. That's why Feynman wanted to visit.
Thank you Tuvalu was it.
Tufa, or not Tufa?
What no throat singing? ;)
That moss is neat!
Never heard of tufas before. Great idea and a little game work! Keep on keeping on Pocket!
The word tufa reminds me of tulpa. From Wikipedia: "Tulpa is a concept in mysticism and the paranormal of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers."
Never forget Tulpa from Ronin Warriors
And then you realize there's a Tulpa community on the internet of people purposely trying to inflict mental illness on themselves just so they can see their anime waifu IRL
And there's also Tuvok, the Vulcan who helped that guy from _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ overcome his mental illness.
*EDIT:* Don't google 'waifu.' At least now I know. Cartoon wife. Got it.
@@pocket83squared ahaha.. poor innocent Pocket. He has lifeu, not waifu.
Let's say one of your viewers would like a cut of that interesting plant. One he could grow bigger in a community garden he runs.
How would that viewer go about talking you into sending him some? haha
Where are you located?
@@pocket83squared In Chicago, north side of town. We're currently using some unused Loyola property for our community garden.
Thought about this considerably, and I must say no. 1) Shipping it is just too expensive for a usable sample. 2) Introduction of any organism into a new environment is irresponsible without first making lots of considerations. 3) It might be illegal. Sorry about this. My impulse was to send you one, since I remember you being around here for a pretty long-time, but I think it's a pretty bad idea.
As a general rule, in our gardens on this site, we try to encourage the local flora and fauna to the best of our abilities. Even though we are often selecting for species that we prefer by removing those we find undesirable, we still try not to introduce new things except where we will not compromise for reasons of utility. For example, addition of a new variety of fruit tree to enrich fertilization, or the use of goldfish (in a closed system) to control mosquito larvae. I'm becoming a bit of an ecological curmudgeon, so sending around a native plant is just plain against my better judgment.
I've noticed back in my hometown that the use of decorative pear trees has now displaced much of the indigenous tree varieties. For example, contemporary garden pop-culture considers Black Locust groves to be scraggly looking, so people prefer lollipop-shaped novelty trees in their suburban landscaping. Shame, too; the Black Locust blossom has an unequaled springtime scent. Not to mention that it grows a strong wood that fluoresces, or that it has a hot-burning, fast-growing fuel. Sigh. Short-sight for appearances! Further, trees also have a sound; each species' is distinct. Locust leaves flutter quickly in the wind, which causes a certain 'fffffff' tone and appearance that is characteristic of only that. Its removal and replacement by something foreign is a small, quiet tragedy. Such is to replace an old orchard with a strip-mall. Perhaps relocating one little moss variety does not have such huge ecological reverberations, but I nevertheless refuse to adopt the pattern.
I've always wanted to try making hyper-tribbles... er, uhm... hyper-tufa! Sorry for your catastrophe!
tufaq?
I feel like there is a joke to be found somewhere between the tufa striations and the stream stratification between topsoil and clay, but the margins of this youtube comment are insufficient to explore it.
A layered joke like that might end up being a washout. Maybe you should consider digging up a dirty pun instead.
@@pocket83squared I've been forbidden from using puns by my children ever since the cereal homophone debacle of 2013, in which my constant reinterpretation of the back of a cheerios box was not well received.
glad to see the silver can from the other video :)
In England "tufa" means By one get on free (A nice way to say BOGOF) as in "Two For one", shorted to tufa, plural is tufas. As in "went shopping today, got lots of tufas"
Like all porous limestone-aggregate or ceramic vessels exposed water, they will break when exposed to freezing temperatures because of the micro-frost heaving ice that occurs in their micropores. Never leave such vessels waterlogged in freezing temperatures. The shaky video was annoying and a distraction.
Thanks for the lecture. You sound really smart. Especially at the part about the "micro-frost."
But I think you may've missed the point about how these actually broke. Part of Tufa's shtick is that it will withstand freezing temperatures _without_ being any worse for wear. Many of these had already endured a decade's worth of winters before finally biting the dust from a fluke, glacier-like ice storm. Now go and never leave your own where you prefer.
Absolute words are like nails on a chalkboard; they're always characteristic of a preachy twit.
Also, your comment was an annoying distraction.
star trek, that's the reference
Tufa: the price of one.
you know, those sand pits would be pretty okay places to experiment with some backyard metalcasting so you don't wreck any pavement... just sayin' :D
These are great deal items, tufa1!
After that catastrophe why should we make them.😄
Very Tribbling
👍
I'd rather have trouble with tufas than Tribbles
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuva
I have never had that trouble😳😳😳 maybe you’re not using the correct portion ratios???
Maybe its Polytrichum moss: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytrichum