Hmm, plastic forks. I never thought of those. I could dip them in boiling water and then bend the tines into a wide variety of shapes to try to find something that makes up for lack of dexterity!

That's a good idea Rick just don't burn your fingers when you grab the tines to bend them.

Late to the party but I use chopsticks most of the time and sometimes Popsicle sticks and/or a knife to lift the seedlings.

Re: the spork
Taco Bell usually has sporks available. If you don't eat there you could ask a friend to save the sporks for you.

Chopsticks would work as well as pencils.

I too sometimes use pop sickle sticks to run thru the slits in the bottom. And a few chop sticks are always handy. I use them all the time to punch holes to drop seeds in.

drdawg said:Chopsticks would work as well as pencils.

Regular pencils would work.
(I only use mechanical pencils so the chopsticks are a better choice in my yard.)

>> (I only use mechanical pencils so the chopsticks are a better choice in my yard.)

Mechanical pencils - yes! I made a big hit with a new boss once when I blushingly admitted that a certain mechanical pencil (a Staedtler) was "my favorite mechanical pencil".

When I need something with a point, I use a pencil sharpener on a chopsticks or a dowel.

The flimsy "insert" cells, like 6-packs, can be pushed out by just pressing against the bottom while tipping the 6-pack on its side. The plastic bulges in and pushed the root ball out.

I don't think anyone mentioned the biggest issue: never try to PULL a seedling out of a cell or pot. First you would crush the stem where you grabbed it, and second you would probably pull the stem right off the root ball.

The technical name for that process is "weeding".

(Any time you have to handle a small seedling, try to "grab" it gently by the leaves. Don't try to grab the stem "gently enough". You could beat the leaves with stick until several were shredded, and still do less damage to the seedling than even a slight bruise on that tender stem. Leaves can be lost and replaced. there's only one stem.)

Probably everyone posting on this thread already knows all that, but there are always more readers than writers. It doesn't hurt to repeat the fundamentals.

RickCorey said:
I don't think anyone mentioned the biggest issue: never try to PULL a seedling out of a cell or pot. First you would crush the stem where you grabbed it, and second you would probably pull the stem right off the root ball.

The technical name for that process is "weeding".

(Any time you have to handle a small seedling, try to "grab" it gently by the leaves. Don't try to grab the stem "gently enough". You could beat the leaves with stick until several were shredded, and still do less damage to the seedling than even a slight bruise on that tender stem. Leaves can be lost and replaced. there's only one stem.)

Probably everyone posting on this thread already knows all that, but there are always more readers than writers. It doesn't hurt to repeat the fundamentals.

And yes - making sure all lurkers and kluebies see that info repeatedly is a "good thing".

Aw -- I think the spork is one of the world's greatest inventions! I do admit that I've never used one for gardening purposes, though... on the other hand, plastic forks work great for digging seedlings out of the cell packs (and I have more steak knives out in the greenhouse than in my kitchen )

Every time I go to $ Tree, I come home with another couple of "garden tools".

Watch this demo from @trish. She uses an awl and it's a pretty awesome tool.


http://garden.org/ideas/view/d...

Speaking of Turkey basters, I have five inexpensive ones that I keep where ever I have plants 2 empty the drip trays if I should over water. Turkey basters are also a good idea for moistening seedlings because you can add little droplets of water without knocking down the delicate seedlings.

Hmmm I mist my seedlings with a very fine mist from a small ~ 1 Liter pump sprayer.

I do use a 1 $ Tree baster to "water" my ochids. Sit them in a pool of food, water, etc in a butter tub and give them a good soaking from top and bottom.

Will keep the idea in mind for seedlings as well. Hmmmm

Roses_R_Red said:Speaking of Turkey basters, I have five inexpensive ones that I keep where ever I have plants 2 empty the drip trays if I should over water. Turkey basters are also a good idea for moistening seedlings because you can add little droplets of water without knocking down the delicate seedlings.

I save plastic ketchup and mustard bottles. 1/4" irrigation tubing fits tightly into the opening in some of those bottles. I cut it either so the tubing goes to the bottle of the bottle, or leave just a short stub near the cap. The tubing that sticks OUT of the bottle give me a nice extension that can reach across the width of a 1020 tray, even if seedlings are large an leafy.

Then I fill the bottle with water or very dilute soluble fertilizer.

The 1/4" tubing allows me to either shake out tiny droplets into individual cells, or squeeze slowly and release a thin stream of water as I move the end of the tubing along a row of cells. I usually water onto the 'ridge" between rows of cells so the water rolls down into the periphery of each cell.

When the tubing goes to the bottle of the bottle, I water by holding the bottle mostly upside-down, but then some water leaks out where the tubing goes through the ketchup-bottle-cap.

When the tubing is only a short stub below the cap, I water with the bottle upright, but then air escapes and eventually i can't squeeze the bottle any more until I let more air in.

It's an experiment in progress. Fortunately I don't need to do much top-watering any more, since I can bottom-water (if the mix wicks well enough).

In my shaky hands, either a baster or a ketchup bottle can turn into a squirt-gun if I twitch wrong.

Some of my favorite seedling/transplanting tools are kitchen discards-

seafood fork
chopsticks
plastic spoons, forks, knives (I don't always use the business end, lol)
old knives
old milk jugs with the bottoms cut off and caps discarded (used as a cloche)

Water first then they remove without harming the root.

In all situations leaves will grow again if damaged but not roots....