Segment 4 of S4E11 Garden questions answered mid May - The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener radio show

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In segment four Joey and Holly answer gardeners questions
Q We started tomato plants by seed, they came up, looked good and now they are not real green and the bottom leaves are dying . We watered the plants from the bottom, used grow lights, and potting soil, the seeds were new, we also packed the soil down as you suggested before planting. Is there hope for the plants or should we just start over.
A: normal for the first set of leaves the Cotyledons leaves to dry up and fall off. If more leaves are dying off than those I would remove them to lessen the stress of the plant. We are noticing leave cure on some of our tomato starts this can be caused by a few factors Cause: Even a few hours without water can slow a seedlings' growth and after a day the plant may begin to curl its leaves to conserve moisture. Hot grow lights and the dry air inside heated homes can rapidly dehydrate plants, too. I had the area very warm where they are at it is has only happened on the golden nugget tomatoes.

I have seen where some people purchase what is called "Garden Paper" for weed control. Comes in rolls of 3' X 100'.
Question:
Is this just as effective a cardboard?
AND
Do the worms treat it as they would cardboard?
A: Thank you for watching as far as the garden paper it is Naturally porous paper controls weeds but allows air and water to penetrate, Made from renewable resources, with no petrochemicals it will break down and you can till in under. Cardboard will break down but it is not does not let water or air through it only the place that you would cut the hole to plant but the cardboard is lower in cost then the garden paper. The worms would treat the garden paper the same as cardboard. The live right under and feed off our cardboard

Q: I have a rain barrel for about 3 years now. Do I have to do any maintenance to it or can I leave it until it falls apart? I've noticed a very swampy and rather disgusting smell coming from the water recently, should I drain and clean it or does it not matter for my plants? My barrel is of the first type that you've shown, it's not transparent/translucent and has no direct sunlight.
A: You do not have to do anything to it but drain it in the winter do it does not freeze then you can also clean it out with soap and water as for right now you have bacteria in the barrel; just scrub it out, then let it dry in the sun for a couple of days., it's perfectly fine to use on the garden even with the smell, it's not hurting anything it is also a sign it is not being used very quicky and has been sitting for while. If you want to make the smell go away A little bit of chlorine bleach will kill the algae and,most of (continued)