Nope.

Thanks!

Isn't rust the same as iron? Or are they different?

I didn't really want to wade into this as I do not know conclusively.

But rust is iron oxide--one of several compounds that form between iron and oxygen when iron oxidizes. Iron oxides are sometimes in the micronutrients in fertilizers.

So I don't believe that one can say that it won't ever be of benefit in a soil. Though if your soil is already orange I would wonder what is causing the orange coloration--iron oxides maybe?

I'll try to figure out what the geotechnical makeup of SC soils are next week. In the meantime here's a document that discusses applying iron to soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Iron in soils

Gargwarb,
I take it, that driving nails in pecan tree trunk did not help(I wondered about that one as a child).
And putting a can of rusty nails at the foot of a pecan tree never helped.

If the iron is CHELATED (which rusting iron is not) it will help. Rusting iron is not usually attached to an amino acid. Doubt that it will help.
I have heard of putting nails against a new tomato plant to prevent cutworm damage, but wonder about that, too!
hortster

I was thinking the same thing as jolj.
I remember old timers adding rusted nails in the garden.

Of course, the modern grill may not be pure like old time iron was. The grill could have other metals, but I thought that was what the question was. Why throw away iron when you can compost it?

Wow. New stuff for the pile! What new elements can we add?! ;D
hortster

I was thinking of adding it to my compost pile.

The iron oxide that forms on iron metals as rust is not the same Ferric Oxide in your soil. Our grandparents, not knowing there are different forms of Ferric Oxides, thaught that rust is rust and by putting some rusty metal in the soil that would help solve a soil iron problem which it did not.
Putting a nail along a plant stem had nothing to do with increasing soil iron but did supposedly help keep cutworms from sutting the plant stem.

I don't think that anyone without a chemistry degree is going to be able to say for sure.

Rusts are ferric hydroxide : Fe2O3.H2O or similar. The technical paper below lists ten different forms of ferric hydroxide.

Goethite is the most common rust on rusty steel parts, according to the article below.

Compounds don't necessarily stay in one state after the chemical change. They can, if conditions permit undergo further chemical changes.

The Wisconsin extension office article states that if microbial activity is sufficient to decrease the oxygen supply in acid soils, some ferric iron oxides and hydroxides will be transformed to more soluble ferrous forms.

I think that it is more accurate to say that none of us really possess the knowledge to state conclusively.

I will ADMIT that I do not know the answer conclusively. You are going to have to study some of the technical papers and decide for yourself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Iron Oxides and Rust

Iron in non-flooded soil is for the most part in an oxidixed form (low-solubility ferric form, rather than soluble ferrous) and plants somehow can make use of it. So I would think that rusty iron could only help (that is if there is a natural deficiency) though the help might not necessarily be significant or substantial.

Some potentially useful evidence comes from the degradation products of contaminants in soil showing that products of anaerobic degradation are found to an extent even in aerobic soils (or subsoils) and this implies that there are reducing microsites present. This at least suggests that oxidized iron might become reduced and available in such sites too. It would be an easy potted experiment using iron deficiency as the indicator.

horster, your nail may prevent cutworms, because it is in his way,not because it is iron( unless it is a fairy cutworm.:-)
Match sticks & tooth picks would do the same.
I like to use paper core from toilet/towels paper rolls.
Cut the core 1 1/2 - 2 inches & gently walk it down the transplant or seedling before planting.

Yes, I am aware that the nail presents a physical barrier and the iron has nothing to do with it. But what if the lil' bugger sneaks up on the side opposite the nail??!! (just kidding:>D)
hortster

I use toothpicks when I see cutworm damage. First I stir the soil in the area of the damaged plant till I locate the grub. Then I impale it with the toothpick. Then I set the toothpick beside the next unaffected plant, with the grub still skewered on it. I'm not thinking his brethren will be scared away by the sight, but that they will sense his decomposing flesh (pheromones? anthropomorphism?) and decide it's an unhealthy area to inhabit. Maybe it just satisfies my dormant Celtic warrior urges to put my enemy's heads on a pike.

Then I set the toothpick beside the next unaffected plant, with the grub still skewered on it. ... Maybe it just satisfies my dormant Celtic warrior urges to put my enemy's heads on a pike.

Oh, God. I SO have to try that now.

I usually just carry the cutworm off to feed it to my chickens, but this sounds like a much more satisfying outcome. Thank you for the idea!

Cutworms seem to bother freshly transplanted plants like tomatoes and broccoli. When I used to buy tomato plants, I usually had about 20% cuttings unless I had a ring around them for a few days.

With my own sets they don't bother them. I believe the reason is that I harden my plants from day 1 when possible and the stems are tough so the worm is buffaloed.

billme, your Celtic warrior does not seem dormant to me.
Bet you rule your Kingdom well, too:-)
wayne 5 I have found that true with the home raised transplants, too.

billme, your Celtic warrior does not seem dormant to me.
Bet you rule your Kingdom well, too:-)
wayne 5 I have found that true with the home raised transplants, too.

I suspect that in the 'average' soil (yeah I know that's pretty vague) with sufficient iron present, the bioavailability of iron in soluble forms is limited not by the total amount of relatively insoluble iron minerals (such as oxides) but by the rate of biological or chemical processes that convert it into usable forms such as soluble ferrous iron. There's usually plenty of total iron, but its bioavailability is controlled by pH, microbes, etc.

So, putting a bunch of rusty metal in the ground will probably not make much difference one way or the other. It's like adding a bucket of water to a tank that has a very small pipe coming out of it. The output isn't going to change much.