A mould, A Vessel

To start I made a 8x6x8 inch block mould out of pink sytrofoam

To make a void for soil in a block's core I designed a foam insert to make a plant-able opening out of one of the corners

Once the mould was formed I continued to support it with duct-tape to hold the wet concrete weight 

To fill the mould I mixed up my first batch of concrete ever. I used a ratio of 2 parts fine sand, and 1 part rough sand to 1 part of Portland Cement adding water until the right consistency was reached 

When filling the mould the sides began to bulge and the foam center floated to the top creating this projects two biggest hurdles to overcome

Over 12 hours later I ripped  the foam mould to pieces and a cinder block with a corner grow site emerged

The main idea is that the plants will grow out of the corner and wrap up the stack-able square bricks

Using the same concrete mixture and a new simple mould I made another concrete block planter

The 6x6x8 block uses a small air pump and air stone to constantly aerate the hydroponic nutrients and plants roots with thousands of moving bubbles.

Planted with one big leaf basil plant the hydroponic precast-concrete block creates a totally universal grow site. My goal with these two projects is to see which concrete block best supports horticultural development. -Matt Perkins