So I have been working with a Tire recycler… We now can produce a powdered rubber product that my buddy says. if introduced to soil will assist in maintaining soil temperatures, retain moisture and he says you will see diff in growth program… anyone want some samples to try?? Mick i can be reached at mick@ohioland4u.com i will send…
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Sounds interesting…Like a different version of…Soil Moist Crystals. 
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That’s awesome! Way to create a sustainable product! Have you conducted any studies yet? Have you got any white papers?
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Great initiative I must say!
Have you guys separated the natural rubber from the petroleum rubber, carbon black and binders to prevent those toxins from going into the plant?
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I applaud your efforts, would be great to find a use for old tires but traditionally recycled tire products off gas carcinogens indefinitely. Has anything been done to address the highly toxic nature of tire rubber? I’d like to hear more but knowing what I currently know it’d honestly the last thing I would mix into soil.
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Great questions @bryan.eden and @graham1! Although this is a fantastic idea based on a sustainable initiative, this input will ultimately end up in the finished flower and ultimately enter human bodies, we absolutely need to know there are no harmful effects.
Even if this proves to be not suitable for human consumption, this product could be great for cultivation of ornamental plants.
…we just want to see some white papers.
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I could definitely see this running into some bad press given the attention that microplastics have been getting lately. If there’s a way to do it with something natural/biodegradable it sounds like a great idea!
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Agreed.
I was thinking about where this technology could be used commercially over the weekend. My first startup at 23 years old was a mobile tire company based in Calgary that is still running strong independent of me. I was in that industry for over 6 years and absolutely loved it.
I’ve seen a lot of initiative in the last couple of years for recycled tires and rubber. One of my favourite ones is rubber pavement.
My thought for this specific concept kept leaning towards landfills and parks. Landfills are always looking at materials to cover the garbage. I’ve heard a lot about rockwood being used as a layer. Perhaps this rubber powder could be used in the top soil to promote new growth?
What about using it in parks to create a low maintenance grass turf? Maybe the rubber will make the grass more resilient towards foot traffic?
Purely just some friendly ideas to help this idea gain some traction.
Any other ideas from the GNet community?
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From what I know and read in the literature this idea has been around for some times, there are papers on it from at least 1994, the conclusion of most of them is that tires contains significant amounts of zinc and in many cases the plants experience zinc toxicity, some shown that acid washed tire rubber can be a good substrate as the acid washes away the zinc, other options mentioned are using non washed tires in low % of the total growing substrate or coarse particles of tires to decrease the surface area and interaction with the crop.
For a plant like Cannabis with a known ability to accumulate heavy metals I don’t think growing in tires substrate is good idea…
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That’s what I’m afraid of. High levels of zinc can be highly toxic. I’m reminded of many playgrounds around America that used similar ground rubber products as the base under the playground equipment. Many kids were sickened by the rubber. I think these products warrant serious study before we expose our kids or plants to them…
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Lots of information out there.
one example:
RUBBER MULCH - Beware
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Thanks for all the input… I work mostly on the sales ends of our products as well as research and development… AND… thanks for the information… we make a rubber chips, crumbles and powder with a dry grind process. We are avail to supply any needs for such products. NOW with the plants in mind. We also can take rubber down to its most basic elements to include carbon, oil, gases etc… this carbon is free of sulphur , zincs and other heavy metals. at this point it becomes a viable carbon source for plants. we will be conducting tests through the year and hope to provide more information… i can be reached at mick@ohioland4u.com Mick
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our group invented the tire shredder in 1968 and our eidal brand, garbalizer brand as well as our original saturn and ssi shredder brands are pioneers in this field let alone our shredpax brand of shredders and the toxicity of rubber has been contested for years and caution needs to be taken using crumb rubber or rubber granules regardless of its origin…
like global warming there are many reports pro and con for the use of crumb rubber and for soil additive it may not be suited until really scientific tests are conducted …let alone is the crumb clean of all dirt contamination that may contain something else that is not desired in the growing production process
my comment is that more real scientific tests need to be done
we promote recycling of all waste materials and our shredders and shredder designs give us pretty good status for making comments of this nature
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If you look at a company like BANDAG you can get the MSDS on tires.
It has been tried before with shredded tires.
They use a lot of things I don’t want to consume.
Tires also after shredding for the tire reprocessing market, off-gas some strange things, a large number are phyto toxic. I know they list a human LD 50 on the gas from tires.
Also do you really want to add one more highly flammable thing to your operation.
This is a small fire from Wisconsin. I think it took several weeks to put out.
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Interesting concept. Here’s a study I found that lists some of the benefits people are mentioning and also addresses nutrient toxicity that can result from adding crumb rubber
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I worry about storage of the product until use.
I just can’t imagine another product that I have to have correct fire department handling instructions. Tires fall into a funny category. I had enough trouble with storage of chlorine, silver nitrate, Ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate and glycerin. And of all things sugar.
Can you guarantee no metal fragments. I can see someone filling containers getting cut.
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i would advise against this practice. high advise against this. Soil airation is really what we are talking about. Many options here. Dont use tires…
this is about adding air on a small level. microbic to allows microbes and benficial bacteria to form. tires is a horrible idea. when you see that guy slap him for me.
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Lol, I was trying to be nicer.
I have seen a lot of additives for soil over the years. The best new addition was composted pine bark. And the first addition of surfactants to peat mixes.
Fun was looking at the wide spread use of cement truck mixers for making soilless mixes. We found that the particles mixed at their relitive weigh and size. So you would get terrible soil combinations. Turned out an old front end loader gave us the best mixes.
If you are interested in soilless mixes. Modern Potting Composts by A. C. Bunt, is my favorite. It is a pleasant read, mixed with hard science. The author is British so the scholarly style is more palatable than the American style.
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Im sorry, its not ment to be mean. Im just very passionate about growing. Not sure how many actual growers we have here. However as one of them. Thats gonna be a NO from me dawg.
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For commercial i suggest going with Rougue Soil they are out of Medford Or.
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