Green beans and corn do not like to be planted in old rubber tires or watered with soaker hoses made from recycled rubber tires. We have experimented with planting in tires and also using soaker hoses made from recycled rubber tires. Plants do not thrive when compared to plants grown or watered by other methods. Young bean runners will actually "turn" or pull away (and grow away from the hose). When we planted in the tires, we shaded the tires themselves with straw to keep the temperatures nearer normal.

There is a lot of evidence out there for outgassing of toxic substances from rubber tires (including benzene). Just remember that for most things found to be toxic there is a period of time during the during validation and dissemination of information when people are likely to dismiss the problem as alarmist. I have lived long enough to remember when thalidomide was thought to be a great way new way to control "morning sickness" and then found to definitely cause terrible birth defects (babies born without arms, etc). In the past, people have used white lead compounds as facial cosmetics. We learn more all the time. It's definitely worth being cautious about.

I am chemically sensitive and just breathing the air from a pile of rubber tires makes me feel very unwell.

So my quesiton would be. If it were that hazardous to our health to grow food in tires then wouldn't the affects be known by now? I mean people for decades have been planting in tires and they are all just fine and healthy. Does it occur that all of these doom and gloom people assume that these must be well unkept planters? Any garderner I know would pull the soil out and mix in compost and possibly ad in new soil as well.

Most of the anti tire planting reasearch I've seen pertains to rubber mulch not actual food planted in tires. Those that quoted some random magazine were not backed up.

I'm an organic gardener, so I only use tires made from natural rubber from fair trade rubber plantations. Sure, it costs a little more for these tires to be custom made for my garden, but the smugness it affords me is well worth it.

Just came across this discussion. I was an author of one of the papers about tire crumbs mentioned above. We did find zinc toxicity in chrysanthemum. It lasted for about a week after planting in the crumbs, then no further injury occurred. Presumably it was soluble zinc that was quickly leached away. There was no mineral soil present, which probably would have decrease Zn solubility. Tire crumbs have a much greater surface to volume ratio than whole tires, so Zn toxicity would be much less likely in tires than in crumbs.

Tires make excellent planters and if you are worried about the
"black" tire bringing "too much" heat the roots, then white wash
the buggers. Try other colors they make great decor for the large
yard and they are cheap, easy to install, long life, saves buying
wood for raised gardening. We do watermellons, pumpkins since they
make great hills that will now not erode. The list goes on and on
and when your tired of them in the yard cut them up and do what
they did in Vietnam, make sandals out of em....

I've submitted a question able using old tires as planters. How
many growing seasons would be considered safe?

This is a response from soil scientist, Garn Wallace, who
specializes in metals in soils. Daniel E. Bowman, Richard Y. Evans
and Linda L. Dodge (HortScience, 1994, volume 29, pages 774 - 776)
found that automotive tire crumb rubber was toxic to Chrysanthemum
and demonstrated that the toxicity was due to the accumulation of
zinc. Subsequently, Edward Bush, Kris Leader and Allen Owings found
that automobile tire crumbs were toxic to river birch, lacebark elm
and pecan. (Journal of Plant Nutrition, volume 24, 2001, pages 503-
510 and Journal of Plant Nutrition, volume 26, 2003, pages
1413-1425) have confirmed the toxicity of zinc in crumb rubber. The
toxicity of zinc in crumb rubber has been conveyed to growers,
Media Notes for North Carolina Growers, April 1997. Zinc is
essential both for plant and animals. Zinc functions at the active
sites of some enzymes. However excessive levels of zinc are toxic
as are all nutrients. Zinc is used as a biocide in skin creams and
in some paint formulations. The chemistry of zinc contains a full
shell of electrons called the "D" shell. Two other elements with
similar chemistry as zinc which are in the some grouping since all
of the them have a full "D" shell of electrons are cadmium and
mercury. Modest levels of zinc are essential nevertheless high
levels of zinc inhibit growth. Some species are more tolerant than
others. Grasses are the most tolerant. The symptoms that I have
noted in tomatoes included early senescence before the fruit ripens
and discoloration of the older leaves with yellow/orange and
scorching of the leaf margins. The addition of zinc containing
materials is desirable for media and soil low in zinc. Zinc is not
generally low in urban soils since zinc is a commonly present. It
is in tire dust, galvanized steel including chain link fencing,
rain gutters, downspouts, plumbing, etc., exterior paints, some
fertilizers and some organic amendments.

This is just another knee-jerk reaction, folks. There has been a
lot of extensive, INDEPENDENT (non-industry funded) testing
conducted on the environmental aspects of using recycled tires
(whole or shredded), with NO substantial problems found. I have
made hundreds of tire planters over many years, and I DEVOUR
research on the topic, yet have not been able to find any SERIOUS
research that shows a problem with using them. By the way, the
long-term leaching of the metals is so slow as to be negligible,
and at any rate, those metals are neither absorbed nor translocated
in plant tissue.

l have used tires to plant in for 12 years. Yesterday after l
read your comment about the tires l pulled up one of my tires an it
looks the same as it did when l started planting more than 12 years
ago. Could you please give more info on using tires full time is no
good. Plus I live in an Earthship that l built with tires. Thank
You, Fuzz

You're kidding, right? For an authority on this subject you are
quoting a blog written by a fiction writer? Give me a break.
Besides, there is a world of difference between shredded tires and
whole tires used as planters.