Tomato Seedlings 2: Will Alcohol Slow Tomato Growth?

The tomato seedlings have been steadily growing in the Mini-Greenhouse for 10 days now. Half of the 150 beginning plants have been watered with a solution of 95 parts water and 5 parts Alcohol ( 90 proof Gin). I heard that rubbing alcohol (denatured alcohol) might work but since it will make people and pets deathly ill, I thought better of it. I picked half the plants at random to be fed the alcohol solution and half to be given tap water. Tomorrow will be the 7th day since I started this test to see if Alcohol could slow down the growth of baby tomatoes. If you've read the first article "Tomato Seedlings", you might remember that I had about 250 "Pink" tomato seeds that I was in the process of saving, sprout in the fermentation water. I had forgotten them! Should I throw them out? Could I throw them out? They were 2 months to early for This Zone. Or, I could use them to test out my experimental Mini-Greenhouse that is in its second winter of testing. I needed seedlings to do that and this couldn't have happened at a more opportune time.

And I can kill several stones at one time. Test the Greenhouse. Test the growth slowing properties of alcohol on tomato seedlings, and if they survive; perhaps have a bunch of tomato plants to plunk in my garden come springtime! And you can watch me succeed with this little experiment, or watch me fall on my kyster. [What language is that word anyway??]

Mainly, with this "growing machine", I can start seedlings - outside - in a semi-protected environment. A garage, non-heated shed, or barn. At little cost. Later the plants can be trans-
fered to a cold-bed in early spring when they start outgrowing the Mini-Greenhouse. At the present time, I am using 4 regular 60 watt bulbs for growing lights, and 4 - 60 watt bulbs for heat. I could replace this with a small electric heater but we shall see. Or increase the bulb wattage. Or, if the electricity goes out and I can still heat water, the heat chamber is made to accommodate several milk jugs, 2 liter bottles etc. containing hot water.

[Last winter I tested this out in an non-heated garage, in a cardboard box with baby tomatoes inside. The box was given extra insulation with a couple bath towels draped over. The sloped front has a simple clear plastic covering to allow sunlight to enter when it's set outside. The box retained enough heat (40 degrees) from the hot water bottles to keep the small plants alive for at least 1o hours or over night. Then a new set of 6 water bottles replaced the cooled ones. I carried the box out to the picnic table on sunny days so the baby tomatoes could catch some rays. Sometimes it was less than 30 degrees outside. That's part of that story. The rest may come later if there is enough interest. "A Cardboard Greenhouse" - anyone can build -for nothing.]

Back to the Mini-Greenhouse Experiment. At this point the heat lights are on a timer but I am working on a thermostat control. I hope to write about the results as the winter wears on here in zone 7. [see new /Arbor Day Hardiness Map upgraded for your zone]. The present temperature is 36 degrees at 10:22PM. with a predicted low of 21 degrees - Wind chill 11 degrees -Fahrenheit.
Below is a picture of the little tomatoes as of today:

The tomato plants on the right half of the picture were watered with plain tap water 7 days ago.

The tomato plants on the left half of the picture were watered with 5% alcohol mix. These also have Red toothpicks inserted to identify them. The regular watered plants have blue toothpicks.

Can you see the difference? In about a week, if they grow and prosper, I will make a statistical analyses of the average height on the left as opposed to the average height on the right. I love experimenting with plants. If you do too, you might suggest some experiments we could try together and prepare notes.

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GRANDBOB

E-Mail me at: RobertLee97@GMail.Com

THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas - and the first day for My Blog - GrandBob's Garden.



How did I come up with that name? Well, one of my grandkids quite a while back got confused when the neighbors and relatives sometimes called me Bob, and they called me Grandpa. So to

end the confusion and make sure he was right, one of the boys started calling me GrandBob. I kind of liked it and it stuck for quite some time. Now they just call me Grandpa. Which is OK too.

But I kind of miss GrandBob so I decided to name my Blog "GrandBob's Garden" Hope you like it. I do!



One of the things I like to do is make things. Sometimes with gardening, you get opportunities to do just that. Now I'm getting into gardening in bottles. You know where you take a 2 leader plastic bottle, cut it across the middle or so abouts and invert the top part (without the cap) and put it (neck first) down into the bottom half of the bottle. You then pour water into the bottom.

put a light mixture of nutrient type material into the top part (this should be predampened I assume) and put a well started plant of appropriate size in it. You can build a simple rack to keep these upright. Now, each plant has its own water (and fertilizer) source. And will grow beautifully - I hear. I can't wait to try it this spring. Think of the space you could save. Think of the water that doesn't go to waste watering the rest of a garden plot. And if the weather turns bad, you just move the whole lot into the garage, basement, etc. until the tornado all clear sounds or the hail and strong winds stop.



We here in Kansas live in "tornado alley" and see more than a little of this every spring and fall. Were only about 80 miles from where the Infamous "Greenburg Tornado" took out the whole town just a few months ago. Besides the destruction, injuries and one death in the town. Every tree was broken and stripped of foliage. Only a few houses survived. From the air all you could see was a town smashed to smithereens. No mainstreet was left. Every church in this small town was completely destroyed. Only the ever present 2o story high Wheat Elevator alongside the railroad and front lawns and gardens survived - those that were not covered by broken home materials and smashed cars and trucks that is. I hope to go to Greensburg this spring and see how our plant friends have faired.



An interesting point. Greensburg hopes to recover and many of the people there see a chance to make the little town a "Green" town. Even movie stars are getting into the act to help get things started though I haven't seen much about it lately. Brad Pitt comes to mind. Hopefully, I will be able to document some of the recovery of Greensburg and its Horticultural development in the next few years. Stay tooned for pictures!