i want to grow plants inside a plastic bottle (kinda like a terrarium)?

Question

but instead of using water. i want to try to mix baking soda and vinegar and pour it into the soil. cause plants love carbon dioxide? do you think this is a good experiment to test out for science fair? or do you think it'll kill the poor seeds due to it being so acidic?

Answer 1

I think it is an interesting idea that could be useful to check (although the plants only take advantage of carbon dioxide when they are exposed to light). Since their photosynthesis only occurs when UV light hits them and plastic locks UV light I think that might be a problem right there, come to think of it.

After the acidic vinegar mixes with the basic baking soda the resulting chemical reaction makes the solution neutral, not acidic so that is one less worry. But when you mix the two chemicals together they will be fizzing out carbon dioxide right into the air, not into the bottle so the CO2 will escape before it gets near the plants. You might need to lower a test tube of baking soda into the bottle and then pout vinegar onto it through a straw and then quickly put the cover on the bottle. Before the next time you add vinegar and baking powder pull out that test tube and wash it off to make sure there are not old salty residues left on it (and don't try to just sprinkle the baking powder on the soil and pour vinegar there because that will certainly make a build up of salts in the soil - as Paul warned you).

Answer 2

If you mix the ratio correctly, it won't be acidic.

But it'll be too salty.