Planting in an old tire is planting in a raised bed. If you have a good garden soil you can use it. The recommended spacing between plants does not change when planting in a raised bed or an old tire. Al

A tire is not what I would use to grow edible plants in. If you do, be mindful of the heat build up. Tire planters can become extremely hot.

Why would you want to do that???? Sorry, don't mean to be offensive, but I can't imagine using a tire for planting anything. Around here, people recycle tires.

I would plant only the bell pepper in it. I've used tires for tomatoes in the past. Depending on your climate, the heat that they absorb can be desirable. If your summers are extremely hot, you can paint the tire white to reduce the heat. I've always considered using tires for gardening a form of recycling.

There's the question of toxic leachates from the tires, you see. Some sources say that planting in tires is most likely safe, but others disagree. Again, it's sure not anything I would EVER do.

Speaking of growing in tires and recyling, this post reminded me of something I ran across last year, raised beds made of tires.

Here is a link that might be useful: Permanent Raised Bed Gardening: Recycled Tire Beds

Noni,
I agree! Using an old tire is a great way to recycle!

I have one, it sits where it gets late day sade. I lined it with plastic, and the only edible I grow in it is mint. The rest is flowers.

It is painted, to help reduce heat.

JoJo

I used to live about a block away from these people (see the link). They had some very functional and very beautiful planters/raised beds/containers. Another neighbor had them help him build an entire retaining wall out of tires.

In my Master Gardener course they came and showed us the tire containers and I think the only thing they warned about was steel belted tires. If I remember right, they were hard to cut and had the potential of cutting back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tire Crafting

Similar to what Momstar's link shows, we cut out the top sidewall and drilled holes in the bottom one to prevent too much moisture(from all the PNW rain). A jig-saw or a saws-all is the way to go, and don't forget safety glasses.