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I have several different types of bell pepper plants planted! After the great advice I recieved on HG, I was adviced to repot my plants seperate & in larger pots to get e larger yield! I stumbled upon a gavanized(I think I spelled that right ) metal bin that will accomadate 1 of my trees!

Is it ok to use this pot? Would it help lining it with a heavy plastis? I don't want to harm the plant or anyone that may consume the fruits from this tree! HELP!

My only concern about the galvanized metal container is: does it have drainage holes?

If so, go right ahead and use it.

If not, provide drainage holes. Then go right ahead and use it.

The plastic liner would be more likely to interfere with drainage than to be of assistance.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

The zinc will corrode and leach into the soil, but not in such a concentration that it would likely be of harm to you. If the concentration were high enough, it might stunt the growth of your plant, although I doubt that would happen in your situation. Remember, drinking water has been brought into homes through galvanized pipes for many years.

After the zinc coating corrodes, of course, the container will rust. If you want to protect the container from eventual disintegration, lining it with plastic might help.

As Cynthia said, be sure the container, and any liner you might use, contain sufficient drainage holes.

In that case It should also be ok to use a copper container as well! You both are right we have been using galvanized pipes and copperfor water! Duh! LOL! No need to reply unless you feel otherwise!
Thank you both, that's exactly why I have been bragging about this site to anyone who would listen!

Hmm.... I'm resurrecting this thread instead of starting a new one.
I was looking at my mango, avocado and citrus trees that are getting so big -- they'll need to be uppotted into food safe large containers in spring.

Since avocado and citrus want extra zinc, I thought -- hey! why not galvanized metal tubs? But then, a large tub I used to use for a small tub-pond became rusty and unusable, so I have some doubts about the integrity of the metal after drilling drainage holes. Also, I came across a reference that in addition to zinc, CADMIUM is used for those galvanized coating.

I was thinking avocado and citrus (mango too? I'll need to research that) will probably utilize the zinc, but presense of cadmium doesn't sound very safe. Although I'm not expecting them to fruit in the next year or two, they could start showing signs of maturity after that.

What does everyone else think?

Other possibilities I'm considering are (1) 4 gal pickle buckets from the deli, (2) 5 gal water jugs with top cut off, (3) glazed pottery water basin-sized (shallow wide) bowls -- lead in glazing or clay? too heavy to move around?

Cadmium, as far as I know, is found with zinc in mines, and is sometimes used as a coating for metal. Any cadmium found as part of a zinc coating on a galvanized object would be miniscule. One discussion of the subject can be found [url=https://www.finishing.com/373/94.shtml]here[/url].

Plastics can leach chemicals, too, such as bisphenol-A.

I'm not sure a wash basin, I.e. wide, shallow shape, would be all that good for a tree. It seems that it would tend to dry out quickly in hot weather.

How about wood, something like a half barrel from a winery or distillery? It wouldn't be nearly as durable as metal, ceramic, or plastic, but it's probably the safest choice.