My grandpa did something like this back in the 90s but with old milk jugs cut in half, lined up under his gutter downspout. Neighbors thought he was nuts until his green beans came in twice as big as everyone else's that summer. He never spent a dime on them either, just poked holes in the bottoms and set them on some bricks. The whole setup lasted him like six years before the plastic got brittle and cracked. Gene sounds like the kind of guy who figured out what my grandpa knew, that water is water no matter what fancy thing holds it.

Wait, you got a scale for three bucks at a garage sale in Toledo? That is wild luck, and it totally changed how you read your starter after two whole years?

Borrowing starter is smart, but I keep a dried backup in my freezer for exactly this kind of panic.