Any size inflatable ball, Make sure the ball is fully inflated so there is no give Flower Pot big enough that when you set the ball in it that only about a quarter of the ball sets in the flower pot. You want to be able to set the ball in the pot and the ball does not fall out of the pot. This is important and so very helpful when working with a large ball You will need the following Couple of large Trash Bags Concrete Bonding agent.......Lowes, HD next to concrete dyes looks like Elmers glue. Bonding agent helps new mixture to stick to dried project. Use half water half bonding agent when you need extra hard hold or for really large projects Fiberglass drywall tape you can get this at lowes, home depo one roll last forever 1 sturdy plastic Flower Pot Do Not use Terra Cotta pot. I use a light mix works well 1 Part Portland Not concrete mix that you buy this has to be PORTLAND CEMENT 1 part peat moss 1 parts perlite 1 Part water This makes a lightweight but very strong project Vaseline Caution Do use gloves, Do use a mask when mixing as the dust is very fine and will get in your nose and mouth, use goggle over glasses trust me the dust will scratch your glasses 1 Make your hypertufa mix well and let it set 2 Place one opened trash bag in the flower pot so that the bottom of the bag is inside the pot let the rest fold over the sides. You will use the part of the bag that is hanging over to cover your Speer once done. 3 . Totally cover your ball with Vaseline be generous. Then rub what is on your hands into your hands really well. Your hands will thank you later 4 Locate the Air Valve on your ball, Place your ball in the flowerpot making sure that the air valve is at the bottom when ball is setting in the flower pot Getting started is the hardest part many people find it helpful to take a hand full of mixture and rub it all over the ball its helps the rest stick better Start applying your tuff to your ball. There are many different ways to start everyone has their own style. I usually start at the bottom and go all the way around the ball turning the flowerpot as needed and working my way up the ball. Trying covering your ball in equal amounts all the way around. The ball can get very heavy and will flip on you really quickly.. The bigger the ball the easier it will flip on you ******** It can be hard to get started DonÂt Give up Once your ball is totally covered and your feel itÂs held well then takes the part of the trash bag that is hanging over and brings it up over the project and cover. I then take the second trash bag open and cover the entire project again. Place in a safe place and let it set Now try really hard not to open the bags and look at your project for a week. Amount of time depends on weather After a week I then open the ball and depending on the size of my ball or what effects I want I will apply a second coat of mixture in a different color This is also where you pick up the project out of the flower pot and if the opening is larger then you want then you use the mixture with the bonding agent to fill in as much of this area as you want. Remember you will have to leave a large enough opening to deflate the ball and pull it out or not some people just cover the opening and leave the ball in. I always deflate the ball and pull it out. If you do not want an opening at this point you deflate the ball and pull out, take some very thin chicken wire and the tape, cover the opening and apply mixture on top and blend in with rest of hypertufa and you will have a hollow Speer. Depending on the size of your project closing the opening up you may want to take a two step approach. Patch in as much as possible leaving just enough room to deflate ball and pull it out let project dry for a couple of days in same fashion as above then deflate ball pull out then use chicken wire and tape cover remaining hole which should be no more then 3-4 inches across and cover with hypertufa Applying mixture really thick is not necessary I have many Speers that are no more then 1/2 in thick and they are very strong *******This part is important on the second coat or for closing openings instead of water in your mixture use half water and half concrete bonding agent. If project is really large also apply some of the fiberglass drywall tape to the Speer several strips from top of Speer to the bottom helps.. Do not apply a heavy second coat and DO NOT PRESS IT HARD OR YOU WILL CRACK FIRST COAT. The second coat is really just for special effects or to cover small areas you didnÂt apply enough of first time and is not necessary for Soccer ball, BB ball sized projects. . **** Remember the inside of your project will be very smooth you can always cut this Speer in half and use itÂs for future mold by simply lining it with a plastic bag. Once project has cured 2-3 weeks in a safe spot I then just unwrap them set them in the garden for several weeks and let nature take care of things 2 or 3 good rain storms and you can plant in them . If project is more than 1 inch thick some drill holes in the bottom will be needed for drainage If your mixture is to dry add a little bit of water and mix well continue to do this until you can squeeze a little water out of a handful If your mixture is to wet try laying your mixture on some newspaper for a few min and newspaper will absorb excess water or add more ingredites just remember to add equal parts of each . If your mixture continues to slide off your ball then it has to much water Happy Tuffing Ladies itÂs like being a little kid again and getting to play in the mud as long as you want. WARNING Tuffing is fun and will draw neighborhood kids by the dozen, so work in a secure place or be willing to answer lots of questions. This whole process is very confusing to children they just canÂt understand an adult playing in the mud like that and having a good time.

Thanks Mike! Yes, I didn't have reinforcement and plus I covered 3/4 with the first layer. I didn't know how much to cover, so I went with the mix as much as I could. Today I started all over again. First I covered the ball with lots of adhesive drywall mesh, and applied the first layer. I used admix with the water. I put some more mesh and I put another layer. I covered again 3/4 of the ball. I know, I shouldn't have rushed before I got an answer here.....Well, I hope it's going to be OK this time, with so much reinforcement. The other ball made 2 days ago was still strong with no cracks, so I decided to go ahead with the second layer. I didn't turn it over to cover the entire ball. I put another layer on top of the existing one, after I brushed it with admix and covered with fiber glass mat strips. This time I used for both balls 1 part Portland cement, 1 part sand, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite and admix. That mix with paint was so easy to work with, didn't harden it while working, no need to rush, soft and smooth. Now, that you told me that the paint is in place of bonding agent, and my failure was not because of the mix, I will try it again. Thanks again! Mariana

Hi andreae, The link above that tamahlee has posted for you has some very good instruction. Here's how I did mine: My DH and I have been working on three (3 coat)Spheres, so far so good although we did have a problem with the last one getting some cracks with the first coat - well lets start from the beginning. Blow up you ball(don't under or over inflate to much) place the ball on/in a very large (weighted) bowl/bucket, we used a 14"-16" plastic wallyworld beach ball. DH didn't think the crete would stick on this shiny of a surface so we put strips of fiber mesh tape on first this has a some what sticky surface (the proper way is to put your mud on first then press in the fiber mesh). I then added layer of "Fortified Thin-set Mortar"-this stuff is very sticky so if you plan to use this stuff use an old metal spatula to smooth it on. Then while still very tacky take your gloved hand and smooth the surface, a small foam paint brush works great also. Cover the ball with plastic wrap so it don't dry to quickly, as this will cause cracks. When it starts to look/feel dry lightly mist. Important keep damp. After 1-or 2 days you can carefully turn the ball over then do the other end. My DH thought for strength for the 2nd. coat to use a coat of Portland so this is what we did. Third coat the Thin-Set Mortar. We did plan to make only one, but the beach ball still in good shape, we made 3 lol. One for a fountain on bird-bath stand, one a mister/light on a short stand and the third one will be just a Sphere on a short post or basin. Still have some wet sanding to do on all three then must decide to paint, stain or leave as is. Even though the last one cracked some on the first upper half I was able to save by adding a light coat of the Thin-Set mix before this first (damaged)coat was completely dry. Wendy

Oh no, the pressure washing zealot is back?! So unfair that you can't feel your plants are safe where they are. Wind can be annoying, but, it don't gotta brain. Humans, on the other hand, don't have an excuse for laziness or blatant inconsideration or worse destructiveness. It makes me mad, when one is conscientious and worry about not imposing on the neighbor and then some miscreant (or a mental cretin) bulldozes over our property. Big BIG sore point with me. So, please! Feel free to vent. I totally understand not risking a loss of something you've taken the time to acquire. Living babies that you plan to nurture and grow to nice specimens! Totally understand that. hhmmm, well, you get visitation rights 'til you get a private piece of property to space out a nice garden. Girl, believe me, I take major issue with stupid, irresponsible people…. especially after being the only one towed home from this recent collision. His Explorer was drivable, and the 2 cars in from of me in the pile up drove home. Yes, 3rd time some idiot plowed into me. 1st time my front end was rammed from the right when the idiot women ran a red light 4-5 seconds after it set (and everyone opposite me had stopped) red and broke my front axel in two. She was going 60 miles per hour while I was barely moving left. 2nd time (in 2010) my car went head on into the fool that cut me off. Both going at 40 miles and hour. This helped wiggle 3 discs out just a little further than good and later caused a really bad sciatica event that took out my right leg for more than a month. The current slam has set me back in the muscle spasm dept. Whiplash, crumped shoulders and neck. Right leg thigh twitching like mad sometimes, but no sciatica, thank God. And with a knot in my stomach (anger), I begin the trial in researching and looking at ads for a similar condition car all over again. What I had, and was quite happy with-not going to ever sell, was a 2nd generation Lexus sedan, 15 years old but they were made with bulletproof engines. Took 2 years to find my car in excellent condition with 62,000 on the odometer and I want the exact same 15 year old model. Sigh. But, yes. I am getting treated, but can walk and wasn't hospitalized. Thank you, Planto, I really appreciate your words. I look forward to communicating with my cactus buddy, too. I need the connection to the prickly fat leafed admiration club. It's a welcome relief from the current hassles. I wish that was the only problem I face, tho. Where I live, it used to be a pleasant safe neighborhood. Just in the last 5 years, we are being drawn into a battle over securing our block from transients that park their Rv's and campers for weeks and leave their trash in the street in front of out homes. This being underwear, smelly clothes, broken furniture even condoms, bottles of beer and lurid looks. The ones without vehicles decide to hole up behind our alley and smoke and drink and urinate back there. They overturn the dumpsters and litter the alley with garbage. I hate seeing them there when I take my trash out for trash day. I hate for my Mom to be exposed to them and worry when I'm not home. Last year, I've found people using our front hose to take a bath, I've found trash, smelly blankets thrown into my yard. It means a call to local non-emergency, sometimes, twice a week. My, whose ranting, now. :[ I sometimes lose interest in organizing the yard when I think about what I see happening to my block. I worry. What I like about cactus and succulents is that they are quite forgiving and stay green even without a growing medium. I still have the remnants of the mealy triage, I did a month ago, putting out roots waiting for me to give them a pot. I admire their resilience. Maybe, I like this type of plants because they've shown me that you can go on despite less than ideal situations. I can't give up. Some days wear on me more than others. I forgot to post this bloom. It's a tricho named Lavender. Quite a deep deep magenta with edges of purple. It's my moms favorite ( every new bloom becomes the current favorite). It lasted 3 1/2 days This post was edited by aztcqn on Fri, Jul 4, 14 at 2:59