Potatoes in tyres

[Muddypause]

Well, I'm in two minds about this. I don't think I'd have any problems about using tyres to grow potatoes in. It's just something that I can't raise any enthusiasm to feel concerned about.

But I do hear people talk about 'leaching'. Only talk, mind you, nothing substantiated. But I have a feeling that if you filled a tyre with clean water, left if for a couple of days, and then drank the water, it'd tast a bit peculiar, which would mean that something has left the tyre. That's only a guess, and doesn't mean it's of any consequence.

And in any case, I read recently that (European?) law has now banned the use of petrochemicals in their manufacture. I gather that this was the bit that gave a tyre durability, and a tyre made without these chemicals will only last 1/3 as long. Which is serious - it means that the average driver will now have to change tyres once a year, and we will now have 3 times the disposal problem, not to mention 3 times as much tyre dust and wash-off from the roads.

[digiveg]

On the 'tyres' debate, here's some ongoing chapter and verse. I think the jury is still out on this one for anything really definitive, but nevertheless there's some, er, interesting information going around:


http://www.theecologist.org/archive_det ... ent_id=545

Among many other things, this site gives the following information:

'To form rubber into hard-wearing vehicle tyres involves an extensive range of chemicals including xylene, benzene, petroleum naphtha, chlorinated solvents (for example 1,1,1- trichloroethane), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, anthracene, phenanthrene, benzo[a]pyrene, phenols, amines, oil, acids and alkalis (eg sodium hydroxide), polychlorinated biphenyls, halogenated cyanoalkanes, processing aids, and plasticisers. Tyre processing also involves several heavy metals including zinc, cadmium, lead, chromium and copper.'

'Since 2003 it has been illegal to dump whole tyres in landfills in the UK and by next year it will be illegal to dump chipped tyres into landfills as well.'

'Buried in the ground, their constituent chemicals leech out on the ground and water table.'


Also...

A study of the use of products made from 'granulated' tyres was recently published as Order. No. 510 834 in Sundbyberg (July 2006) by the Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate.

I quote:

'The author concludes that shredded tyres contain substances that have the potential for pollution, primarily PAHs, phenols and zinc. Leaching of most of the substances is low at neutral pH. At alkali pH, in contrast, leaching of organic compounds, zinc, copper and lead, is expected.'

'The report recommends that the use of shredded rubber is limited to non-sensitive regions until more knowledge of the environmental effects is available.'

The levels of PAHs and of zinc in the recycled rubber exceed SFT’s “guideline values for extended use in highly sensitive areasâ€Â

[Boots]

I can't disagree with any of that, as you pretty much repeated what I was saying, so no debate here.

Tyre dust is the result of wear, and results from friction against the road when the tyres are in use. I imagine it would be difficult to measure in a garden as some of the properties already exist in the soil, but it has been measured on house roofs and in water collected through gutters and storm drains.

Dunno about the softer ones Muddy is referring to, but the tyres in my garden don't 'dust'... they are dusty when they first come off the car, but after a year or so in my garden/paddocks etc you can sit on them and roll them around without getting any tyre black or carbon-like dust on you.

If the UK has banned tyre dumping, what are these experts doing with them? I remember Andy mentioning that some folks were being charged outrageous amounts to return them to pick up points... This is not a carriers fee to send them to a less sensitive country, is it? ... I remember seeing ships loaded sky high with tyres in some doco I watched once...

What do you do with your tyres Digi?

[Millymollymandy]

Ugly old things, painted them white. Still ugly!

Aaarrgghh...and did you check to see what was in the paint, that was therefore leaching into your soil? Come to that, did you check to see what was in the tyres?

I know you said this was back when you were growing flowers; but it really doesn't sound as if you put much thought into what was happening a bit further down...

C'mon, guys - you all seem to be talking very calmly indeed about growing food inside the battered rejects of something made almost entirely from petrochemical residues. I've seen what goes into tyres, because I've helped to make them. Are you sure it's a good idea? Did you check up? If you didn't, why are you doing it? Because others are? Well, I bet they didn't check up, either!

Here's a clue: I will NEVER grow anything in a tyre. Not even a weed.

It was a long time ago, about 18 or 19 years!

I was not aware that I needed to 'check' anything about paint, or tyres!

There was no internet to 'check' on! No forums, no awareness of pollution or green issues or organic gardening or all the things we are aware of today!

Nor was there any soil for the paint to leach into, the garden was tarmac! I'm sure THAT wasn't very good for the soil underneath it!

The house was also situated next to the Western Avenue in London, that wasn't good for the soil, or the air, or human beings, either!!!

[Shirley]

Is he using them as a pot then? I used to have cut open, turned inside out flower pots made from old tyres, back in the days when I was new to (flower) gardening. Ugly old things, painted them white. Still ugly!

My dad did a few of those M3 - he was right proud of them. He also used old chimney pots... they looked MUCH better than the tyres

[Millymollymandy]

I have a chimney pot too, painted blue to match some of our terracotta pots. It's off the in-laws house and has moved house with us (and country!) many times. Remember when chimney pots were the IN thing and cost a fortune to buy? Ah, gardening nostalgia!

[the.fee.fairy]

so...the car tyre leaching thing.

I have a mousemat and a pencil case made out of recycled tyres...does this mean that as i sit here with my hand on the mouse, wrist on the mouse mat, i'm in for some serious rubber leaching (your skin absorbs 'things' almost as well as your lungs do)? Every tiome i use a pen, i could be subjecting myslef to rubber damage?

I'm not convinced to be honest. I think i'm more at risk walking along the side of a busy road than i am planting potatoes in tyres.

[Sue]

I was going to use tyres next year in my small garden and they don't look too offensive for the neighbours (keep em sweet you never know when you may need them)

If I can't use them what do I use? Any ideas?

And no I can't afford chimney pots as they are still highly desirable

[Andy Hamilton]

#i would still use tyres we got 5 kilos of potatoes from ours.

[Christine]

Has anyone tried old compost bags for potatoes? I dug more King Edwards yesterday (blight, so had to remove tops two weeks ago and I think I can't leave them in the ground for much longer) and it's blooming hard work. Managed one and a half rows (only about 8 foot long) and could harldy get out of bed today. The thought of just emptying out a bag of earth and picking out the potatoes is really attractive. By the way - do you use compost or earth in your tyres?

Am I making harder work for myself than I need to? I use a fork to turn over the section of the row, then use a spade to chuck it out of the trench in order to check I've got them all - difficult to spot as they are muddy. It all seems so simple in the 'Vegetable Expert'

[Boots]

I layer up with hay and topsoil. One week hay, next week topsoil.

[Christine]

Sorry, Boots, I've lost track of whether you are growing in the ground or in tyres?

[Boots]

Tyres.

Have a stack of feed bags though... Might be worth trying your bag method. What do you do? just start with the bag scrunched down and keep filling up until the bag is full? I kinda like the portability of that idea...

[Pilsbury]

I've done potatoes in compost bags and they have been fine,
I roll down the tops of the bags to about 18 inches then put in 12 " soil the potatoes and cover with more soil, as the potatoes come up just unroll the bag and top up with soil, keep going till the bag is fully unrolled and full.
Works a treat but make sure there are plenty of drainage holes otherwise the plants will rot.
They are quite portable to start with but it soon becomes a 2 person job as the bag fills up.
By the way i started some off a couple of weeks ago in a bag and its out side at the moment but will move into the unheated lean to in the hopes of fresh dug new potatoes for xmas dinner.

[Christine]

I reckon it's worth a try, then. Did you find slugs less of a problem? I met my first eelworm on Saturday (at least, I assume the wriggly hair-thin creatures peeking out of the hole on my potato were eelworms - they didn't introduce themselves...). Perhaps using Boots' half soil, half straw would make them lighter and more portable?