Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

So, I came across an awesome looking herb planter that uses differently sized galvanized steel containers. I remember hearing something about galvanized steel not being good for food, so I googled it and quickly found that it seems to be a controversy. It appears that the FDA has approved it, but it seems to be largely touted as not safe for food anyway.

So… what do you guys think? Would galvanized steel be safe to grow herbs in? Because I really love the look of that planter.

To grow herbs in, absolutely. I don't see any problem with that.

Storing your food in the containers, I think is probably okay, but I wouldn't do it a lot.

Heating food in the containers- No. Don't ever, ever do that! DO NOT HEAT GALVANIZED STEEL!

Those are my thoughts.

In one of my container gardening books, it says metal containers, including galvanized steel, should be just fine for growing plants. There are two concerns: make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom, and if you live in a really hot, sunny area make sure the container doesn't fry your plants' roots (for this reason, they recommend metal containers for indoor, windowsill herb and/or flower gardens).

Hmm… I had planned on putting them out on my deck during the summer, then bringing them inside during the winter. I wonder how hot it needs to get before it fries roots. Because if I knew that, I could bring it inside on those days. (Though, I'm guessing it'll be heavy, so I won't want to move it too much.)

I'd at least put holes on the sides of the top two pots, so that I can water the top one and the water will drip down to the lower ones. I hadn't decided what yet to do with the bottom one, because I think holes on the sides would look tacky and holes on the bottom would just let water sit on my wooden deck. (Though, the wooden deck does just fine with rain and snow, so perhaps that's not a concern.) Right now I'm thinking I'll just put gravel on the bottom of the bottom one and soil on top of that.

As long as the pots themselves don't get direct sunlight for long periods of time, your roots should be fine. ;D

They'd be on a south-facing deck all day long. They'd get direct sunlight all day.

Hmm. That could be a problem.

Something that you could do is plant the plants inside of a different container, and then place that container inside of your metal containers. That way the heat won't be as much of an issue.

Fredjikrang wrote:Hmm. That could be a problem.

Something that you could do is plant the plants inside of a different container, and then place that container inside of your metal containers. That way the heat won't be as much of an issue.

And then I wouldn't have to poke holes in it, either. I could make drainage in whatever pot I put inside. Is it really worth all this effort? I mean, I'd still have to find these galvanized steel buckets...

If I fry the roots, it's just going to kill the plant, right? Not give me some mutated plant that'll end up giving me cancer, right?

Correct. The worst that can happen is that it dies. And if you keep the soil moderately moist that probably won't happen either.

Yeah, I bet misting them with cool water every day or so would help, too. Maybe you could even try putting ice cubes on top of the soil to help keep the roots a little cooler on the really hot days. I think it's worth it-- it's a really neat look for an herb garden.