How To Make A Concrete Flower Pot – Step by Step
My husband is quite the handyman at times. During the recent lockdown, he knocked up a new bathroom cabinet, a garden table that we gifted to my parents and several concrete flower pots. The idea to make a concrete flower pot came about because I have quite a selection of cactus and succulents and my favourite way of displaying them is in concrete or clay pots… But have you seen the price of them?… Scandalous!
Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
It really isn’t that difficult to make a concrete flower pot. The ‘ingredients’ are basic, easy to find and a fraction of the cost of buying one. In fact, for the same price, you can make several pots (depending on the size of the pot you are planning to make).
To Make A Concrete Flower Pot You Will Need…
The amount of concrete you need to make a concrete flower pot will vary depending on the size pot you want to make, so for that reason, I’m giving ratios rather than weight/amount. Be sure to make up more mix than you need though, you don’t want to end up short!
- River sand and marble dust
- White cement powder
- Red or yellow concrete dye powder
- Water
- Two plastic tubs one bigger than the other. We used two old washing up bowls with the bigger one being roughly two inches (or more) larger than the smaller one… Alternatively, you can buy ready to use moulds.
- A large sieve – recommended to sieve any bits from the river sand, but not having one won’t be detrimental to the finished pot.
- Short plank of wood. Large enough to go across the bowls.
- Something heavy. We used a weight, but you could use some bricks or a bag of sand even.
- The mix my husband used was roughly 2 parts marble dust, 2 parts river sand and 1 part white cement.
He used a wheel barrow to mix the concrete in, but you could do it on a hard floor. Not a nice floor though! An outdoor one that doesn’t matter would be best.
Two parts marble dust.
Sieve.
Two parts river sand.
Sieve.
One part white cement.
A sprinkle of concrete dye powder – to taste.
Add enough water to make a thick sludge.
Mix together well.
Put a good inch of concrete into the bottom of the large bowl.
Place the smaller bowl carefully on top of the concrete being sure to leave a good inch or more clearance around the edge.
Place the plank of wood across the bowls and weigh it down to keep the tops of the bowls flush. Fill in the gap with concrete, when full gently poke around with the trowel and tap the edges to make sure the cement is distributed evenly and with no air pockets.
Now For The Exciting Bit…
Leave until it is dry, but not too dry. How long exactly depends on the temperature where you are. My husband left this pot for about an hour and a half in around the mid 20C. I can’t be exact but that is a rough guide.
Do be careful though as if the concrete is too dry it is harder to remove and is prone to breaking. There were a few trial-runs before he got it right.
Once you think it is dry enough, remove the weight and inner bowl, then run a trowel around the outer edge in a similar way you would to remove a cake from a tin. Carefully and slowly twist and loosen the pot from the bowl.
Now is the time to add a drainage hole to the bottom. We used a thick metal pole and carefully skewered it through the base.
Once the pot is loosened place the inner bowl back. This will help support the pot as it is turned out.
Place a plank of wood wide enough to cover the whole of the bowl.
Then carefully invert the bowl in a similar fashion to removing a cake from its tin.
Lift the outer bowl off of the pot.
Carefully lift the concrete flower pot off the small bowl used to support the middle.
Your homemade concrete flower pot will be a little rough around the edges, but that will smooth out with a little rubbing. Leave the pot to dry out properly for a few days.
Ta-Da…
A couple of the pots my husband made. The stands were made out of the legs of old metal stools he had collected ‘just in case’. The yellowy one has an uneven rim caused by being a little heavy-handed removal from the moulds. It’s still perfectly usable and seemed a shame to waste it.
You can be creative. For one of the pots, Husband used two identical fancy pots as moulds which turned out nicely. I can’t share a photo as that one is on a wall and is far too heavy for me to lift down. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much luck creating a square pot yet, the shape makes it difficult to remove from the mould, but I’m sure he’ll get there.
Ta-da! A concrete flower pot to be proud of – a step by step tutorial Click To TweetNow I just have to find more plants to fill the other five sitting on our wall! Hopefully by next year there should be a few cactus and succulents needing pots as I have a few propagating.
What was your lockdown project?
© 2020, Debbie. All rights reserved.
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