quickcrete is a brand name.......what did you buy?
Marcia

Portland cement is the stuff you mix with sand, perlite and peat moss. Portland cement comes in the 94lb bag. I did find a hardware store that sell it in 50 lb bags.

One bag is mortar mix and one is sand/topping mix.

according to the mix recipes here at the forum

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/hypertufa/2003030744004525.html

Recipe For Hypertufa Using A Pre-Mixed Sand Mix

The use of a pre-mix allows the beginner an opportunity to try hypertufa without a large investment in materials. Portland cement comes in 94 lb bags. Quikrete, a concrete product manufacturer, does sell a smaller bag of Portland cement, but few stores carry it. Some home improvement stores do, however, carry small bags of pre-mixed concrete mixes, such as sand mix, mortar mix, high-strength concrete mix, etc.

I encourage anyone who is STRUCK by the hypertufa bug and unsure if this is for them, to seek out the pre-mixed sand mix. LoweÂs (in my area) carries the Quikrete sand mix in the smaller 10# bags; they also carry a 60# and 80# bag. If you get the smaller size, you can try it without a huge investment in supplies. Dependent on the size of the bag, you may actually be able to carry it!

Once home with the bag, put the mix (still inside the bag) into a heavy hefty bag and push it around a bit. Mixes do tend to settle and you want the ingredients evenly distributed. Then take the pre-mix bag out of the hefty, and follow the directions below.

Recipe #5

1 part pre-mixed sand mix
1 part peat moss
1 part perlite or vermiculite

Mix the dry ingredients first, then slowly add water so that you can gently squish the mush with little water coming out. Now add a little bit more water and walk away for about 10 minutes. Check your mold set up or think about your next project. Then, back to the mix. Check it with your hands (of course they are gloved!) and add a bit more water, if needed.

They're right I made the same mistake. I bought Quikrete without thinking about it because it's what we buy to put in fence posts. Quikrete is already mixed concrete. It is like Portland plus sand. Most stonemasons use Portland and mix Portland and 2 parts sand. Quikrete is already mixed, so yours truly here used Quikrete and added more sand and wondered why the thing fell apart. Duh. lesson learned

Return both and ask for Portland cement. Note I am not sure how cold it is in your location, but if the temps are dropping below 50 f the portland ( hypertufa mix) will not cure proberly.

It gets confusing when you go to buy this stuff because of the names of the products.

Quikrete is the name of the brand and it comes in different mixes. Such as: Quikrete "Concrete Mix" and Quikrete "Countertop Mix" and Quikrete "Fast Set Concrete Mix" etc......These are all mixes with an aggregate such as gravel or sand already mixed into a measure of cement.

When you are making hypertufa, you want a portion of cement to mix with your aggregate ( which is the perlite and peat moss). So what you ask for is cement , Portland cement, which will be bagged with its brand labels like Quikrete "Portland Cement." ( and your area may have another brand name, but Quikrete is one of the biggest manufacturers. )

Portland cement will be a fine powder like talcum powder or baby powder. I don't know if that is any explanation or just is more confusing. Just my two cents.

I use only Portland cement, peat moss, and either vermiculite or perlite as the aggregate for most of my pieces. Sometimes I add a little good quality sand if I want that kind of look and don't mind extra weight. I would not use a pre-mixed sand and cement. I don't think that will work well and would be heavier. I've recently read about some people using cocoa nut shells in place of peat moss. It's an interesting sounding idea, but I have not tried that.