A few days back, while sitting in my backyard I was looking at some old car tyres that were kept aside in the corner. Suddenly an idea came to my mind why not use them? Then, I decide to use them as a container for gardening and write this post on how to grow vegetables in tyre?
Tyre Gardening can be easily done in the garden. In Tyre Gardening, the used tyre is used as a container that is further filled with soil and ready for sowing seeds or cuttings of vegetables that you want. Make sure to put a cardboard sheet to make the base of the tyre container.
Now, as the plant in the tyre grows, stack another tyre on it. It can be further used as small garden beds for flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Growing Vegetables In Tyre
In today’s cursed world, it is not the cup of tea for everyone to find something positive & good in negativity. But if one is able to do so, nothing can be more appreciating than that. Having the mindset to transform what is considered as waste into something useful, adds to nature’s attracting beauty.
Tyre gardening is one of those techniques. Generally, tyres used in vehicles are considered as waste. No one had imagined that they can be used for growing vegetables and flowers inside them.
It may sound a little weird but is very effective in its own. This technique first came into effect in the year 2008. It’s not followed that much due to some harmful effects of rubber that is used in tyres. But still, it’s one of the most inexpensive ways of gardening.
Are Car tyres good for growing vegetables?
As it is known that car tyres being made up of toxic material that can cause pollution & may lead to an irresponsible & non-eco friendly environment .The degraded rubber used in tyres can also reach the plant after degradation & may cause harm. Tyres contain a host of chemicals & toxic metals that should not be in the human body. They crode slowly & then gets break down & leach those chemicals in the environment.
Why to grow vegetables in tyres?
With so many side-effects of growing vegetables in tyres as discussed above, the question arises then, why should the vegetables be grown in tyres?Here comes a very old saying “Every problem is born with a solution”. The simple reason behind growing vegetables in tyres is “hassle free gardening”. The vegetables can be grown in tyres by putting them in containers. The process is started by placing some hard sheet under the tyres to be used, then the vegetables to be sown are added and then the whole area is covered with mud. The soil should be of good-quality and well-drained. There is one more advantage behind using tyres for gardening, i.e., tyres provide warmth to the plants which helps them to grow well.
Steps to Grow Vegetable in Tyres
A step-by-step approach is essential for tyre gardening in a proper way which is as follows :
1) Find & cut the tire.
First of all, tyre with proper shape and size with filled air has to be chosen and cut properly. Generally, large-sized tyres are recommended. The interior rim of the tyre can be cut which would provide more area for vegetable planting without leaving any extra lip.
2) Prepare the soil.
After finding and cutting the tyre properly, it should be kept in a sunny location and be filled with loose and fertile soil. The soil can be purified also by placing a layer of plastic over it when well-drained and leaving it in the same condition for sometime.
3) Plant & harvest as usual.
The last step after draining the soil properly is to plant and harvest. The vegetables should be planted properly with all the essential requirements.
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Vegetables that grow well in tyres
Many vegetables can be grown in tyres. Some of them are tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, onions, peppers, spinach and even potatoes. Tomatoes grow so fast that we can almost watch their growing process. Carrots don’t require much space to grow and their harvesting takes about 70 days. Potatoes also can be grown very easily by planting them in an old-compost tyre, covering the leaves with well-drained soil and then harvesting. Peppers being able to be grown in small limited space can be used for flavouring. Spinach, being iron-packed powerhouse leafy green can also be grown in tyres in loosely-covered loamy soil. Onions have a fairly short growing time and have a very strong flavour.
Benefits of growing vegetables in tyres
Tyre gardening is having a lot of benefits. Some of them are as follows :
1) Recycles old materials.
As science also says “reduce, reuse & recycle”, during the tyre gardening process, the old tyres are being recycled. Oversized tyres are generally decomposed by people and in many cases, they are burnt which in turn lead to the release of dangerous pollutants in the environment. So, it’s better to recycle the old tyres by using them for gardening.
2) Simple and easy to do.
Tyre gardening isn’t any complicated thing to do. It’s too easy and simple as it doesn’t require any kind of construction. Simply, the things needed are: veggies to be grown & well-drained soil and then, the planting can be done effectively.
3) Warms & fries soil quickly.
As mostly clayey soil is used in tyre gardening which is generally wet, so, the advantage of using tyres for gardening is that the tyres can warm up the soil quickly which would provide the ideal environment for growing veggies.
4) Less maintenance.
Being very simple, tyre gardening does not need that much maintenance like other complicated plants. Keeping firm and proper watering and fertilizing requirements in its initial stage and preventing the plant from weeds would result in effective tyre gardening.