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. 😀