Make Your Own Hypertufa Containers

You may have heard of hypertufa pots for the outdoors. It turns out that houseplants thrive in these rustic-looking containers, which are easy to make yourself and can be fashioned into just about any shape you desire.    Developed in the 1930s to replicate the stone troughs popular among English gardeners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lightweight hypertufa are porous and ideal for houseplants, which generally require excellent drainage.   (Photo, NativeCast) It used to be that making your own hypertufa pots was a little complicated, says Ricky Giacco of NativeCast, who since 2010 has crafted a wide variety of handmade sustainable garden containers in his Pennsylvania studio. His new “Cast Your Own” Hypertufa Hex DIY Kit allows you to quickly and easily make your own containers for your indoor garden. “At NativeCast, we’ve simplified the process,” says Giacco. “No more fiddling with ratios of ingredients. Everything needed to create your own tabletop hypertufa planter is included.”   (Photo, NativeCast) The kit, which features a custom eco-concrete mix and a shaped mold, requires that you simply wet the mold box, place the mix in a disposable container; add water and mix. Then you apply the wet concrete to the interior of the mold box and let it dry for 24 hours before tearing or cutting away the box. Once it’s dry, you can plant your houseplant. Choose from a variety of shapes and sizes, including stars, hearts, cupcakes, hexagons, ovals, circles, squares and rectangles.