Ed's Experiments and Stuff

Last year I put a blanket on the water heater. It is made from a radiant barrier product that is basically bubble wrap with aluminum foil on both sides. It is R-6 I think and I used it on some other projects and had a bunch left over so I made the blanket. (One of the other projects I did was to take a car seat heater/massager that you can find at Kohles for $20-$30 dollars that the heater element shorted out and used scrap pieces as a replacements for the seat and back. It is working pretty well. Of course it doesn't heat up but it reflects enough body heat that even on those freezing mornings within a few minutes my butt and back are pretty warm.) Anyway, I was over at my buddy Andy's house the other day and he asked how it was working. So this weekend I took our indoor/outdoor weather station downstairs and slipped the outdoor sensor inside the blanket and put the station a few feet beside it for the room temp. Room temp 65.3. Inside temp 82.4. I don't remembe

It appears the patio tomatoes are taking pretty well to the drink glass planters. I have 4 that germinated and that I potted, although one is not growing very well. It was rather iffy when it got put into the pot (it was sitting in too much water when it sprouted). I was hoping it would start growing after a few days but it is languishing. The others are doing well. The roots seem to like the extra room. Notice in the picture that there are roots right against the container wall. Bottom watering with these pots works well. Since the glasses are clear I can easily gauge how far up the moisture has reached so it is easier to not over- or under-water them. The straw hole is providing enough moisture to get through. When I potted them I bent two pieces of the straw hole up (into the pot) in two of them and left 2 of them alone. That doesn't appear to matter as all 4 pots are getting water drawn up into them to the same level. If I over-watered from the top it might make a di