Can you Grow Food in Tires? (Tyres) 

I've got three lorry tyre planters I made two years ago for growing herbs and veg. I cut off both side walls and painted the remaining tyres (the treads) with garden paint. I laid them completely level and filled them with garden waste, topped off with compost. They've been great! I'm not at all worried about leaching chemicals as the planting area is very large compared to the tiny amount of rubber edge.

I tore out a 200 sq. ft. perennial flower bed in the fall of 2017. It was horribly overgrown with weeds. In the process, I didn't try to salvage much of the top soil. I just dug everything out, soil and all, and dumped it in an adjacent, weedy field. As a result, I was left with a new growing area that was primarily clay. I collected 8 used auto tires, cut off the sidewalls, then evenly spaced them on the ground in the new area. I partially filled them with fall leaves and left them for the winter. The following spring(2018), I placed two alternating layers of rotted leaves and fresh grass clippings in the tires, then added about 4" of finished compost. I then planted several varieties of tomato seedlings in the tires. I pinch out tomato suckers, which may encourage the plants to grow taller, and all of my plants grew to 6+ ft. tall. I had enough tomatoes for fresh eating, for sharing with family & neighbors, and for dehydrating, which I used during the winter in homemade soups, and even for a tomato pesto recipe I cobbled together. And, yes, it was pretty darn good! I'll be planting tomatoes in the tires again this year. It's no trouble to dig out the previously used soil to replace it with fresh. The soil is light, loose, and is easily disbursed throughout the rest of the garden. Cheers!

Hello and yes use tires here in western Canada and the bigger the tire the better as then can plant bigger plants. They are more like raised beds then that ABSORBE the sun and warm up faster and thus increase out growing season. Also use them stacked as a way to contain evasive plants from spreading as the roots cant go down and up again as easily. With potatoes they are great as all you have to do is plant potatoe in bottom tire ring and just keep adding tires and dirt will ready to harvest then knock each layer off and harvest your spuds.

Love your honesty Hue. My father seals his tyres inside & out as we are in a hotter climate here. Cheers mate & happy sowing.

ive been doing it for years and it works great

I live in the southern California desert and have created a garden from the tires my husband collected while he was alive. I have grown food in these tires for almost 4 years now. I must erect shadecloth during the summer because the temperatures get so high (up to 120 degrees F) but the soil temps have never gone over 95 degrees F which is okay for most of the plants that I grow during the summer. I stack the tires 2 high which might help with the soil temps. I plan to stack them 3 high eventually but must collect more tires to do this. I have considered painting them but I think the shade cloth does the trick. My goal is to have fresh food year round and I am starting to actually make that goal.

Well done, Huw! Yeah, some of these questions are tough to answer because there's not enough research yet.

I grow food in tyres, and the sixth finger in each hand I've developed helps me to type this comment really quickly. Seriously though, I always get a great crop of potatoes from them.

I live on a steep property in the north of New Zealand - clay soil, hot dry summers and windy wet winters. During the autumn I used tyres to retain a steep bank, filled them with rammed clay topped with some better quality top soil and mulched with chippings. I planted them with landscaping plants, used others as holding beds for strawberries and rhubarb, and also planted buttercup squash and courgettes. Everything grew abundantly, but the surprising thing was that I never needed to water once throughout 5 months of drought!

That's a very interesting debate you have highlighted there Hugh. I think for me personally if theres a risk you know about then don't take the risk. Especially if you go to the trouble of growing organically, why add something to the mix that could potentially undo the good work. But I completely understand your way of thinking too. :) Thanks for bringing this up :)

I got two odd/specialty tires from craigslist-free items that I want to use as planters. They accommodate rims with a longer 'spoke radius', than usual and seem somewhat thinner but with a wider road surface - racing tires, perhaps. I will get specific construction-material information before planting.in them thanks to this video and the various comments. Thanks, Hew, and commenters!

I live in hot climate, growing summer squash in them ,they are stacked 2 high and painted colors and placed in partial shade,I do NOT get squash bugs,they seem to not smell the plants.i experimented with growing in raised garden beds and had a infestation of sqush bugs but had no problems with bugs grown in the tirers. New Mexico, USA.

I'm grateful for this one, because I didn't know that the studies showing the leaching showed it with partially burned tires! I'm not growing in them but am growing near walls made of tires and had worried I wasn't getting them plastered fast enough.

Thanks for the suggestion for painting them white! Make sense and I definitely want to do that since I live in FL. Also maybe once they have broken down and may be leaking harmful chemicals maybe use them for growing stuff your not gonna eat? Like flowers to keep pest away or pumpkins.

Im going to try planting just flowers and bushes in tires I'm painting white. My soil is almost entirely clay and I'm too old ( or too lazy ) to try and add a ton of top soil. I think your comments are spot on about growing food in the tires. thanks

A Doctor once told me that even when one breaths, there is a chance that he can have side effect.

I just built a planter wall with tyres. I got them free from our local garage and they are really wide and low profile so I don't need to cut the side walls out.I put a layer of broken brick, a layer of sheeps fleece, again free from our local farm and then home made compost. I have coverered the soil between the plants with flaked brick to help against evaporation. I am growing bamboo mainly but I eat bamboo shoots and one has a blackcurrant bush and I have ordered some great burdock seeds for another. Thanks for your info.I don't like growing food where my pets might pooh on it, that worries me more than chemical leaching.

You sure have grown a lot since that old video. :) It always seemed like hard work to deal with tires so i never planted in them. Moving them around and stacking them sounds like a pain and then they will be full of soil at harvest time. I would rather dump potatoes out into the wheel barrow out of a large container. The wire steel belts can really slice your hands through some gloves even. You can't move the tires easily when planted. I just put 3 pots of early potatoes into the green house because they are calling for low temps at night still. Thanks for the research. Got me thinking.

I grow my fruit trees and veggies in tyres they are fine I paint them to stop the sun cooking the roots. I'm in NZ

Wow, you really know what you're talking about and did your research. Thanks for sharing. Great job.

All the millions of tons of tyre dust that is blown and washed off our roads into the soil and water rivers, is far and away the bigger problem. I agree. I would rather have home grown in a tyre, than dubious food from the supermarkets.

if theres any doubt, there is no doubt. personally id just grow flowers in them. still helps the plot with pollination etc.

Absolutely love your videos. Very useful tips, also very nice fella to look at ☺️ keep the videos coming!

Tires in Alaska are working great salamat

Iv'e never thougt about this, but now... :) I live in Sweden and I have been growing potatoes in stacked tires for years, with good results. I wonder if it would be possilbe to avoid the toxins/bad stuff if I "insulate" the tires, and a bit down in the soil, with 'vapor barrier'/damp barrier (in Sweden we call it 'age resistant builders plastic'). Thank you Huw for this channel, I'm so glad I found you and your channel! :)

It is a bigger factor than that because different companies in different countries can make tyres in different ways. You only have to look at Formula 1 to see the different ways that different compounds can be used to create tyres for different conditions. Once you realise that the tyre itself isn't a fixed factor but variable then giving advice becomes significantly harder. Here in the UK we have rules of manufacture but they may not be the same with tyres made elsewhere. Therefore you can't ever give a definitive answer, only one based on your specific conditions and locality. Its also dangerous to cite NY state findings and expect them to apply to the UK, or anywhere outside of its own jurisdiction.

One gets a more toxic dose just eating a standard McDonalds meal...as opposed to a few radishes grown from a damn tire.

Thank you for your amazing videos! I have used a lot of your information to help my family as we start our backyard homestead. I mention you in my newest video and will be including a link to your page in the description. Thank you so much for your great help!

☺ ok,i was asked, so please no one attack me! I have always thought, serious consideration must be used when choosing any container for growing food in. MOST ARE NOT APPROPRIATE. and city soil is totally contaminated! many many years ago, thats why city folk dont grow, they buy, But u r probably right, tire or store bought, probably more crap in store bought. You didn't speak to fast for me. I am Canadian, english is my 1st & only language (sadly). So i AM biased, but you sound perfect to me. ☺ * very important note: speaking only english is NOT the norm in Canada, people can and do speak any language they want to, as it should be! i wish every day i spoke more languages. ☺

Don't worry about speaking quickly, you're fine. Good advice.

I m planning on getting bees but I have very clay soil that doesn't drain well. I will plant lilacs and other fragrant flowers in tires, but not edible food. The chances that there would be enough toxins in pollen that would get into honey isvery slim I think.

I always wondered about the rubber black chipped tires as mulch or borders. Seems like a bad idea. Often have thought I'd try a few plants and have the soil company, ( testing lab for our Ag dept) analysis them for chemical contamination

Never grew food in tires but my flowers grew great in them.

What a great video! You've taken as much into account and presented enough info as could possibly be imagined. And, although your conclusion is a bit abstract, it gives the viewer enough information to make up their own minds. Well done! If I could suggest some things for any future videos?: I had to look up your Welsh growing season info, as mine is different. It would be nice to know that, but I'm not sure if putting that in every video that you do is necessary (a link to another video or a weather channel website?). That way, those of us not blessed to live in Wales could adjust accordingly. Also, you might want to warn people NOT to just use any white paint. There are older, lead based white paints that could really make a mess of things.

I've always wondered about this. Great video. I have never grown in any tires for this reason. I also live in a milder climate so with the heat it's probably not a good idea. But, I can't see why if you live in a cooler/colder climate that it wouldn't be okay. As long as it doesn't heat up too much it should be okay. I've just been too afraid to chance it since, unfortunately, I have smelled a hot tire. UGH. Not good.

The only reason I don't grow in tires is because I don't like the way they look.

Thank you for your research.

Love your videos I subscribed! Brilliant idea thanks for showing. You know i had same concern about chemical heavy metal leaching in soil issue. So happy you clarified. One option could be shady area or just using short term before leeching could occur? Thank you!

Did you make research into the fruits to see whether they're chemicals in it?? I'd keep on growing in car tyres ..

Hi Huw, Some interesting points, Thanks

What if you line the tires? would that stop any leach?

Glad i'm a mechanic chemicals from tires are the least of my worries.

Yes I live in a hot climate Australia and tried growing tomatoes in a tyre I believe the heat of tyre killed it as plants in pots survived

Thank you for sharing..

Tires are safe up until they begin to break down. My grandparents did it and we are all still alive .. it takes years for tires to breakdown

Was thinking about an insert of perhaps stainless steel, (very expensive) to place inside the stacked tires to isolate tires from the growing soil.

i have some carolina reaper chillies, there now at 5ft tall, i have loads of pods but there falling off, none have actually grown, im growing them in my kitchen, they have plenty of light, i water them probably once a week, soil isnt bone dry just normal....not dry but not wet if u know what i mean, yet i have no actual chillies yet, i have taken several clones from my plants which have grown really good too. any advice?

There is a white typar , landscape fabric or house wrap instead of black. Put that on the tires when it’s hot. Leave them black in the spring to warm up. Best of both worlds

U r so awesome. Thank u for ur channel.

Cut the walls of the tire off on one side and then paint the tread side white. That should minimize exposure to any sunlight.

North Wales here - wonder if i should paint the tyres white... sometimes is hot, sometimes not :)

Cover the tires with piled up hay or leaves to keep the tires cool. I have 3 MONSTER zucchini experiment plants growing together in a field out of ONE tire on wetlands. A large mature zucchini fruit is laying directly on the tire sidewall unaffected because the tire is buried in hay. The upper roots get air from the tire soil and taproots go down into the wetland soil, no need to water.

excellent, thank you

Thanks answered my question painting is the answers 😊

It could be that one should only use these things for wall making etc.

You could have sent one of your potatoes to a lab to be tested if it was contaminated, or not.

Could using a completely worn tyre be safe since those chemicals are worn out too.....inquiring for a friend not me....😄

I love this guy

Very interesting Huw !

why are all these videos on youtube of kids in there 20s and younger acting like experts about things our grand parents did when we were kids and if it were dangerous, they would have poisoned themselves, our parents and us from eating the vegetables they grew in their old tire beds.

Tires are going to of dried out dramatically buy the time someone plants food in them.

Best grow flowers not veg but I'm sure it'll be ok 😉😉😉

what kind of yams were those sir?

best solution is to find free food grade plastic drums and use that for the planter. then cut a tire around the edges to fit around the barrel....

Tires have formaldehyde in it - common sense will tell you not use a petroleum based product to grow your food in it

Growing in tires: no!

If tired are seriously toxic, we should see that in men who work in tire shops. Look at them next time you’re there. Most of them are covered in black rubber residue