Tires and Coconuts...and voila TOMATOS and Pepper!

[Rainforest Tom]

Tires to Coconuts...and voila TOMATOS and Pepper!

Forget containers, recycle old tires!

We are experimenting using old tires filled with coconut coir, vermiculite, compost, clay and aged manure. The tires are layed over rich clay beds so roots may continue past the depth of the tire in the event more nutrition is demanded from the rich clay beneath a product of our geothermal diggings.

The coir absorbs mosture in the rainy season and the roots of the veggies seek the moisture retained in the coir in the dry spells. Aquarium water is pumped with small sun panels into holding 5 gallon buckets suspended higher than the tires on a timer to apply just enough water to keep the plants heathy in the long dry season. It is acclaimes that peppers can outlive a human if properly cared for so it would be a shame to let them suffer a death of water starvation. During the rainy season the vermiculite enriched soil allows the rains to drain quickly through into the clay beneath and not to wet the feet of your Toms to badly.

Any other suggestions appreciated!

RF Tom

[jdmfish]

That's very creative! Do you have any photo's of any plants in them?

[organichris]

Sweet Amazon photos, Tom. I know I said this before, but keep 'em comin'.

[Rainforest Tom]

Update, 3 - 2kg Russian Tomaotos, 2 yellow habanero peppers and 2 Adjuma peppers now germinated in the first trial tire garden. Started from seed and so far without a weed!

[tjg911]

seems to me i have read that you should not ever grow food in a tire as the chemical compounds leech into the soil the plant is growing in. was that disproved? iirc this was a definitely discouraged.

[dice]

You might be able to coat the tires inside and out with uncured rubber
to prevent any leaching of chemicals. You would have to watch it to see
if any local fungi or bacteria are eating the coating.

Do harmful chemicals really leach from old tires? Opinions vary:
http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/200...n-your-garden/

Apparently no lab has done a study yet where vegetables were grown
in used tire planters for one year, 5 years, 10 years and then tested to
see if chemicals from the tires are in the vegetables or in the soil. All
that we have are varying theoretical opinions.

[Rainforest Tom]

Plussesow Costs-

-Tires raise soil above ground, which means it warms faster. This gives northern climates an earlier start to a flower or vegetable garden than traditional soil planting. By planting seeds early in a stack of tires and then draping plastic over it, you can create a mini “greenhouse” and get an early start on your garden. In warmer climates such as here we spray paint them white.

If you want a raised bed in your garden, normally you’d have to build it out of wood. As you can imagine, this costs much more than using old, free tires. Plus, unless you’re using reclaimed wood, you’re using a tree to build your bed. Old tires are more eco-friendly.

- Stacking tires one on top of another can allow you to grow root crops in a small space. Potatoes do especially well in tire stacks. Also, I read herbs do great in tire planters as well.

Negatives:


Leaching? If you’re planting a vegetable, like potatoes or tomatoes, then you might have to worry about chemicals leaching into the soil from the tires.


-Because tires are black rubber, they’re going to absorb heat from the sun. Regular raised beds are usually 8-13 degrees warmer than ground soil, and tires will be even warmer than this. So, you’ve got to be careful not to kill your plants with too much sun and heat.


According to Charles Sanders, a gardening expert and writer for Backwoods Home Magazine (where you can find an excellent article on using recycled tired in your garden here), that answer is no. According to Charles:

There is no appreciable risk in using recycled tires in the vegetable garden. While it is a fact that rubber tires do contain minute amounts of certain heavy metals, the compounds are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound and do not leach into the soil. One of the ingredients in the rubber recipe is zinc. Zinc, in fact, is an essential plant element. I also expect that rubber is safer to use than treated lumber that contains copper and arsenic.

Now, let’s look at a differing opinion. According to the Editor-In-Chief at Mother Earth News, the answer is yes, tires do pose a long-term health risk.

Short-term, yes, tire planters are OK, although the soil in black tire planters will probably get hotter than most plants would prefer. Long-term, no, because the tire rubber will slowly biodegrade and release zinc, carcinogenic PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and other toxic compounds into your soil.

The final answer? Well, I looked all over the ‘Net and found differing opinions on this. I went to several gardening forums, read articles, the whole nine yards. And, I don’t have an answer.
50+% of the things I read say yes, old tires are safe because they’re “old”, so most if not all of the chemicals and “off-gassing” is gone.

Do your DD!

[Rainforest Tom]

I think I will chance the tires with essencial zinc rather than arsenic thank you...

[mrdoitall]

Got to die from something! Mite as well be fresh vegetables! LOL

[riceke]

Tom...very inovative...but isn't that crowding your tire a little with that many plants? Have you tried this before? Would really like to see or hear your results.

[Rainforest Tom]

Yes Ken you are correct.

Normally in tire gardening one would cut the upper side tire section out increasing the space dramatically. In this experiment the upper sidewall remains full of coir and ingredients that retain water that the roots will seek out in the 2 month dry season to reduce the amount of water that will be required to keep the plants healthy.

With the extra large, encapsulated moist root spread available the crowding ought to be less of an issue. Here it is so hot the tomatoes grow very fast and high as not to bush out as in the more northerly regions. The problem is keeping them alive in the dry hot season mid July to end August when vegetables become very expensive here.

[Rainforest Tom]

COD; Fresh vegetables...Oh My Thanks for that Mr. Doitall!

[Rainforest Tom]

Hope this first video test is helpful and it works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-34MCpZvqI

[Rainforest Tom]

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[Rainforest Tom]

I think embedding failed so I will try the other part of the Tire garden movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxnIB05-Oqg