I'm a little puzzled, do you want to make leaf castings, spheres, etc. or hypertufa pots?
A lot of us use mortar mix to make leaf casts and other sculpted items. It leaves a smooth surface and picks up details.
For pots:
Don't use Quikrete or other mixes for tufa, mixes already contain aggregate, i.e. sand, gravel, etc. When you add more aggregate in the form of peat moss, sand or perlite you stand a very good chance of ruining the cement/aggregate ratio that's needed for concrete to hold together.
Now that I've said don't use mixes someone will get on here and say "But I've used it with no problems!", yahoo for them and may their luck continue.
Use straight Portland cement in your 'tufa mix and you should have success.Remember there is a difference between cement and concrete.
Your ingredients ratio is fine.
If you want a smooth surface on your 'tufa, smooth it while it's green. You might also try making a thin slip/slurry mixture of cement and water and lightly coating the piece after it has cured for a day or two.
Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the info. I want to make everything. Isn't that tipical? I knew what I was using for pots would not work for the other and maybe my pots won't hold up either. I decided that was the problem but wanted to ask first. But read somewhere to try the premix as a trial run before investing in all the other things. That's what you get for being cheap but didn't want alot of leftovers sitting.

The above is good advice. If you want a smoother and more dense look you can try screening your peat moss in a 1/2 or 1/4 inch mesh. Also you can use sand and vermiculite which may give a more solid appearance. I suggest you make up small batches of different recipes and make the same simple block or piece with each. The after molding treatment can make a difference too. Wire brush sides of your test pieces in varying amounts. Try working a very wet handfull of mix into the pores after the pieces set up. Wire brush some after hardening. These may all help.

Ladycraft, Your recipe is equal parts concrete mix, peat and perlite. Not "quickrete".
I'm not trying to be picky or make fun. Part of the confusion comes from people calling the products by the wrong name. "Quikrete" which is in bold letters across your bag is the manufacturers name. If what's in the packages is cement, sand and gravel, you've got concrete mix not quickrete or Quikrete.
You can use a concrete mix in your pots if you want and for very large leaves some of us use a concrete backing. It's all experiments and what works for you and in your climate. I make leaf casting out of mortar mixes and hypertufa mixes. For fountains, the hypertufa mix can give you some interesting textures for the water to shimmer and dance over the face of the leaf. A smooth leaf gives you that quiet, shiny look. My two cents! Have fun this hypertufa season. Billie

I appreciate the help. I did some more research and now know the difference between concrete and cement. Will get Portland as soon as I can get the truck and go to town. Hubby isn't the most helpful. He will stop and let me get whatever I need but doesn't shop for me. There isn't enough hours in the day to play. My job hours should be changing in the next couple weeks so I will have more daylight hours.

If you can't wait for someone to help load 90lb bag of portland cement try this.

I have neighbor that uses kitty litter. It comes in wide mouth plastic buckets with lids that snap shut. She alwyas puts out for recycle.
Get three buckets with lids then go down to Home Depot. Wear old clothes, and gloves also take a knife and small can. Have them load the bag of portland on a flat cart and wheel it out to your car. Carefully cut open the bag and scoop out the portland into the empty kitty litter buckets, close lid tight. Then clean up bag - put in their trash. It is much easier to load 3 30lb buckets into your car, and it will stay dry because the buckets have lids.

Mike

It may seem frivolous and it might look strange but I'd advise adding, at the very minimum, a pair of safety glasses and maybe a fine particle dust mask to the list. The possibility of a sudden wind gust moving the cement around while transferring it from bag to container is simply too great a risk; any human error at that time could be devastating. Even the simple task of disposing of the empty bag presents some danger. The moisture content of the human eye makes it a sponge to free floating cement.

Robert

I got Home Depot to load the portland and hubby helped me at the truck. Then I used the multi bucket system and he carried them to the shed. He doesn't get excited with my messes but will help if I act needy. The portland is what I needed. And I will remember to be more careful with the next bag.

I get the guys at either the masonry store or HD to put it in the back of the truck (Jeep, actually), then call on our old friend gravity to help plop the 98 pounder from the back of the truck onto a hand truck (practice helps in getting it to land on the hand truck, not split open or land on your foot), then wheel it to wherever. I normally use it up rather quickly so I just flop it into a plastic mortar tub on the floor (from Home Depot) and slit it open. Then, cover it with plastic to keep moisture out. I've kept it lump free for quite some time this way, and this method cuts down on the lifting. A hand truck comes in handy for moving those bales of peat moss around, too, especially if you get one in the winter and it's wet and frozen. Yikes.