I guess you could call this recycling. My husband’s cousin’s widow gave me a 10 gallon fish tank that she said she was just going to throw away. It was practically brand new and in perfect condition. So, I couldn’t turn it down. The filter that came with it was very poor quality and insufficient for the needs of a fully stocked freshwater tropical fish tank. No wonder they couldn’t keep any fish alive in it. Anyway, after about a year of trying to keep it going with fish they all died and I turned it into a greenhouse for starting my seeds instead of throwing it out. I figured it has the special aquarium/grow light type lamp and it would hold heat and moisture well; it should work.
I used some of the newspaper pots that I made for my winter sowing project for this greenhouse. I fit in 15 rows of 8 mini pots each with orange juice carton pieces as dividers and markers. This is what I planted between April 23-25, 2008:
| Date Planted | Row | # Planted | Bought/Rec’vd | Type | Common Name |
| 4/25/2008 | 1 | 4 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Tiger-Like, IND, 70+ DTM |
| 4/23/2008 | 1 | 5 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Costoluto Genovese, IND, 90 DTM |
| 4/23/2008 | 2 | 4 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Italian Market Wonder, IND, 75 DTM |
| 4/24/2008 | 2 | 4 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Olena Ukrainian; IND, 85 DTM |
| 4/23/2008 | 3 | 3 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Bonny Best; IND, 72 DTM |
| 4/24/2008 | 3 | 3 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Livingston’s Golden Queen, IND, 78 DTM |
| 4/23/2008 | 3 | 3 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Cosmonaut Volkov; DET, 75 DTM |
| 4/23/2008 | 4 | 9 | 10/23/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Assorted |
| 4/25/2008 | 5 | 9 | 11/8/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Marglobe VF, DET, 75 DTM |
| 4/24/2008 | 6 | 9 | 10/23/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Speckled Roman Heirloom |
| 4/25/2008 | 7 | 9 | 2003 | Fruit | Tomatillo, Mexican Husk |
| 4/23/2008 | 8 | 9 | 4/15/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Jelly Bean Hybrid, Indeterminate |
| 4/25/2008 | 9 | 9 | 9/30/2007 | Fruit | Tomato, Delicious |
| 4/25/2008 | 10 | 9 | 2003 | Fruit | Pepper, Chile Bola |
| 4/25/2008 | 11 | 9 | 2004 | Fruit | Pepper – Ancho/Poblano |
| 4/25/2008 | 12 | 9 | 2003 | Fruit | Pepper, Cayenne |
| 4/25/2008 | 13 | 9 | 2004 | Fruit | Pepper – Jalapeno Early |
| 4/25/2008 | 14 | 8 | 2004 | Fruit | Pepper – Marconi Red |
| 4/25/2008 | 15 | 9 | 2004 | Fruit | Pepper – Serrano |
I watered the whole thing with a pint of water with 2 baby aspirin dissolved in it. Supposedly the aspirin is going to aide in germination and ward off dampening off.
On Monday of this week I was searching through the “barn” and found an old waterproof lamp that’s made for a 15 watt bulb to give heat. I wasn’t going to use it for it’s original enclosure so I brought it in, cleaned it up and hung it inside the fish tank greenhouse as close to the top as I could get it. It keeps the temperature in there a steady 72 F. Both the aquarium light and the heat light are kept on 24-7.
It’s paid off already. I was misting the little pots and noticed that I have three sprouts – 1 of the Marglobe Tomato and 2 of the Speckled Roman Heirloom Tomatoes. In the picture you can barely see them so I’ve circled them in green. Hopefully once their baby leaves unfurl I’ll get a better picture. Not bad for only 5 full days in the tank and 3 under the heatlamp. 😀
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
