Rubber Mulch

[Clawhammer]

Anyone ever tried potting up an orchid in rubber mulch?
Seems like it could be a great alternative to bark for orchids that like to dry out quickly and don't like to be repotted often. I'm going to experiment!



---------- Post added at 10:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 AM ----------

[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Ray]

That stuff is ground up tires, which are a petroleum product.

They use that around playground equipment, exposing young kids to who-knows-what.

Nope. Not for me.

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by Ray

That stuff is ground up tires, which are a petroleum product.

They use that around playground equipment, exposing young kids to who-knows-what.

Nope. Not for me.

Yeah, it doesn’t smell great haha

[Dimples]

That’s a hard pass. Ground up tires aren’t something you want in your house. Or your yard. Or on playgrounds, as Ray said.

[Selmo]

You ever wonder what the crumbles that get kicked up on synthetic turf fields, ground up tires too! (and some sand) Number one cause of cancer in females under 25 ,most of them played soccer as teenagers.
Would not use it for a substitute for bark or mulch!

[Mountaineer370]

Decades ago, when I was heavily into horses and horse showing, rubber mulch was starting to be used as horse arena footing. That was the first I had heard of the stuff. I knew at the time it wasn't anything I was ever going to use.

Fast-forward to today, and I wasn't aware it was being used for human sports arenas, but it certainly doesn't sound safe.

A simple Internet search will bring up many sites that claim it is toxic to just about everything, but to be fair, a similar number of sites claim it is safe. Of course I don't believe everything I read on the Internet, so I always do lots of research. In order for me to consider using it for my plants (or any other purpose), I would have to see close to 99 percent of sources claiming it is safe before I would consider using it for anything.