Growing in tin cans

[Boots]

I found the following in relation to planting walnuts, but am thinking of trying the following with a few different things... to provide that extra protection against birds in the orchard.

It is suggested that you burn the tin cans to faciliatate break down, and they suggest the cans will then rust and disintegrate within a year or two...

You cut one end off the tin and then cut the other in an x and bend as shown in figure 3.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... l#Figure3a

[Muddypause]

I guess the idea is that the tin will stop rodents digging up the nut.

Assuming that the tin is made of tin plated steel, rather than aluminium, then burning it should remove the protective layer of tinplate, which has a low melting point, and just leave the steel exposed.

Walnuts are quite slow growing, aren't they (I was always told that you palnt walnuts for your grandchildren)? So there probably won't be much tincan left by the time it matters. But you could always split the tin into two as a backup.

[Wombat]

What Stew said.....................

And there is always the old poem

The more you beat them the better they be - a steak, a woman and a walnut tree.................... (boy, are the ladies going to chew my bum for that one! )

Nev

[Boots]

mmm. Ok, so aluminium cans don't rust? This is no good with todays cans?.... That what you guys are saying?

Bugger. Wish I'd read this before I prepared and seeded about 50 of them....

[Wombat]

G'Day Boots,

You can used soup or baked bean cans etc, just not aluminium drink cans!

Nev

[Boots]

Ah..ok. I'm with ya. No worries, used BB cans, and was planning on cutting the bottoms off and planting directly in the tins. Do you foresee any probs with that, Nev?

...am planting leuceana.

[Wombat]

Don't know Boots, I don't have experience with leuceana so i am unsure. It depends on the growth rate. As Stew said, the walnut is a slow grower and so the tin will be broken down before it causes problems, but the leuceana may be faster growing and suffer from restriction of the roots.

QED!

Nev

[woolcraft]

Hiya, Have just come across this post. Have just replied with something similar to a query about Square Foot Tyre Gardening. Old cooking oil cans are used in Turkey to grow a variety of crops. Not buried in the ground as most people have terraces/balconies as opposed to soil, and they tend to just stand them close together to form microclimate to conserve water, wind protection etc. Sue