Genius At Work

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I started some fresh Arenga hookeri seeds I plucked from my palm back in December. I tried something like the baggie method, with a little difference. I placed the seeds in a one gallon pot and put the whole thing inside a plastic bag and sealed it with a twist tie and placed it on top of my water heater. I was so pleased with myself, that I started some Roystonea regias and a small pittosporum tree I wanted to propagate the same way. Everything was sprouting nicely but with the last inspection, it appeared things might be drying out a bit.

Here comes the genius part...

I opened each bag, took the pot inside the bag over to the sink and put a little extra water into it. I then placed the pots back on the water heater.

About an hour later, my wife asked, "Do you smell something burning?" Uh oh.

I go into the laundry room where the hot water heater is and it smells like burned electrical insulation. If you have never smelled this, the best way to describe it is it smells like burning $100 Bills. Lots of $100 Bills. Investigating further, I found the breaker for the hot water tank tripped. Uh oh again. It appears that my genius invention leaked inside the electrical works of the heater. Pushing the rest button on the tank and resetting the breaker did not work. Oh, crap. I was picturing spending many hundreds for a new hot water heater. Googling it, yup, $400 for el Cheapo model and about $1600 for el Primo. Yikes!

Necessity being the mother of invention, I googled "Trouble shooting hot water heaters", but I did not see anything there about wet seed pots on top of the heater. Go figure. Anyway, I devised a plan more in keeping with a tight budget, and to make a short story long, a few cold showers and a trip to Grainger for a $50 thermostat and I'm back in the hot water. So to speak.

So, to all you aspiring geniuses out there, the moral of the story is that water and 220V electricity don't mix. The secondary moral is that "Google is your friend".

Now, the next question is, what shall I do with the seeds Jeff sent from CR? (Thanks Jeff!)

[bgl]

Jerry,

You're obviously good at providing your own entertainment. That counts for something! I am so glad I don't germinate seeds anymore! How about trying it the old fashioned way? I used to put mine in a moist medium in tupperware type plastic containers. Close them up and leave them like that until the seedlings begin to push the top off. That would be a good time to pot them up! Good luck!

Bo-Göran

[BS Man about Palms]

Remind me not to stand next to you if there is a thunderstorm.. you attract "electrical events".

[MattyB]

I have an electric water heater, maybe I'll try that. Thanks for the idea Jerry.