Recyclable Gardening
A major source of pollution in the world is old, used car and vehicle tyres.
These tyres are made from thick rubber originally collected from the rubber tree.
Landfill sites and yards are full of them and they are not going anywhere so why not use them to grow plants?
Top image from upcycled-wonders.com
Would you like our Dan The Gardener & Friends FREE Activity Book for kids packed full of colouring-in, dot to dot, word searches, recycling tips and diary sheets plus much more?
What can you use Recycled Tyres for?
You can use them for growing whatever plants you want to but it works best for:
Growing potatoes and other root vegetables. A good time to start growing potatoes is around April.
If you are reading this in the autumn don’t worry you could plant swedes, garlic, onions, leeks or salad leaves.
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Two car tyres- ask your parents to take you to the scrapyard or a garage to find some
Bag of soil- enough to fill a hole two tyres deep
One potato with roots- leave them in a dark cupboard and roots will grow, pick a potato that you know is tasty as well
The help of a strong adult
Gardening hat and gloves
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How to start a recycled tyre project
Find a good spot for the potato plant to grow, lots of sunshine is what they like best. With the help of a strong adult stack a few tyres together, one on top of the other
Fill the hole in with soil, try to make it as loose as possible for the potatoes to grow nice and big
When the tyre is full of soil dig a hole that is big enough for the potato to fit in plus a little extra space to cover it over with more soil.
Give the soil a good watering
Just like any other plant take care of it and spend some time to make sure it is happy
Your potatoes should be finished around September but can last longer if left in the soil
This video is quite good at showing how to plant the potatoes. It is made be the Growin Project.