Growing raspberries in containers? MERGED

Farway

Sounds iffy, not what one may call exhaustive scientific research but Google iron oxide poison? showed this

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080128180522AA3EcJj

One excerpt

"Although iron oxide is not all that reactive it can still release large amounts of Iron into the bloodstream. This can lead to oxidative stress. That is a condition that can kill children and infants especially. With adults, it would depend more on the dose"

TOPAZ_2

Ahh - thanks for the advice

Might be better for me to take the water tank to the dump and get the largest plastic pots of some kind then

Sounds like a trip round the garden centres then

Thanks
Topaz

Davesnave

Hang on a minute! The question on Yahoo was not related to growing plants, but to the toxicity of rust if directly ingested.

Our bodies need iron and plants like spinach contain a lot of it. In normal doses it is beneficial - nay, essential.

If you grow raspberries in a rusty tank, they may indeed absorb some of the iron in the tank, just as they would absorb iron from iron oxide-rich red soils in places like south Devon. If you're concerned that they might absorb 'too much' iron, and I'm not suggesting that they would, you could simply line the sides of your tank with thick plastic, puncturing it over the base area to sustain drainage.

I think this would be safe, but more important, it would allay your fears.

alanobrien

Hang on a second, just line the tank with a bin liner to keep the rust at bay if your that bothered about it, thats a lot better than buying more pots


oops dave got there first.......what he said !

nanokitten

Iron oxide is not toxic unless ingested like those chaps who eat cars on the internet! (children are susceptable to iron poisening eg from swllowing iron suppliments) but eating food grown in iron bearing soil will not do you any harm, indeed quite the opposite.
It would be another matter if the tank was contaminated with lead or other heavy metals.

Iron oxide is extremely insoluble at neutral or alkaline pH so if you grow veg (which you normally use alkaline soil conditions) it will stay locked up in the soil. The plants will just take what they need.

However you could take the opportunity to grow something like blueberries which like acid (erracacious) soil because it helps them absorb iron. Then your tank would feed your plants. other plants which you could grow azelaias, hydrangers (people often plant over rusty nails to keep them blue).

one thing, having wet soil agaist the container will cause it to rust faster so you may choose to line the walls with bin bags (but still with holes at the bottom) to slow this down.

webwalker

Raspberries have very shallow roots and only need about six inches of soil so a deep container would be a bit of a waste anyway. Certainly not worth the drilling and filling of the old water tank, if you want to use the tank plant mint and herbs in it, that will stop the roots spreading all over the garden

TOPAZ_2

Thanks for you advice - certainly gives me a lot to think about

Aldo I didnt realise Raspberry roots were so shallow - good to know

Thanks
Topaz

Davesnave

TOPAZ wrote: »

Thanks for you advice - certainly gives me a lot to think about

Aldo I didnt realise Raspberry roots were so shallow - good to know

Thanks
Topaz

The roots may be shallow, but if you don't have a reasonable depth of soil you'll be forever watering them, or starving them.

Life is rarely simple!

pobby_2

Hi everyone

Firstly thanks for such an informative board, I've spent much time this afternoon reading threads when I should be working!

I'm about to embark on my fruit and veg journey - our patch is dug out and raised beds built and nearly filled (been to garden centre for more manure and compost today so should be done over next few days!) It's in a nice sunny but sheltered spot of the garden so hopefully will be ideal.

Spurned on by success with a herb patch and strawberry patch that did well last year! :T

I'm planning on mainly veg, but have a small thin space against the garden fence where I'd like to plant a fruit that will climb and not bush out so much. I'm thinking raspberries, but want to know how tall and wide they grow? Also how easy are they to look after? If raspberries not suitable then can anyone recommend something?

Thanks in advance.
Paula

kitaj

I think you'll find everything you need to know here....
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_january_2_raspberry.asp

The really big deal is birds that will pinch all your raspberries if you don't net them well. Old net curtains work fine if you can cover them well or otherwise buy the commercial stuff. They're easy to grow and well worth it as they cost so much to buy. Also, you can get summer and autumn fruiters so you could potentially have yummy raspberries for months!