I agree!

No tool is more needed for seedlings, inserts, 6-packs or small pots in a tray than the turkey baster! I can;t seem to stop from over-watering, but the baster helps the roots keep their heads above water.

And I always squirt it out into a big tin can or quart tub so I can settle the solids before poiring it down drain. Paying the plumber taught me that! Actually, now I just fling that mud from my back deck.

Maybe people who have pots on saucers can also use the baster to keep salts from building up in the saucer and the soil - I wouldn't know.

Some day I may buy or build a small wet-dry-vac, but until then:
suck-squirt!
suck-squirt!
tip .....
suck-squirt!

I have a turkey baster specifically for sucking the water out of the saucers of outdoor pots that are too big for me to tip.

Also they are good for getting that last bit of water out of fountains which have a concave shape inside.

Great tip Shashagirl!

Hadn't thought of that. Now, however, it also occurs to me you could also use it to put water INTO the smaller 6-pack sizes of plants.

>> you could also use it to put water INTO the smaller 6-pack sizes of plants.

IF you have a steady grip. Sometimes my hand is shakey or I grip the bulb too hard.

I saved and cleaned some ketsup bottles and mustard bottles, with a small hole for squeezing out the contents.

A little up-down shake causes a little water to come out, broken up into droplets. A squeeze releases a steady (fairly gentle) stream.

I usually walk the stream continuously down a row, onto the dividing rib, so that it runs off gently into the cells on either side. Or I shoot a glob of water onto the corner between four cells.

Now I know how important it is to buy a new baster for the turkey AND keep them separate.

I forgot that the one in the kitchen drawer was for the kitchen ONLY. So I grabbed it for my seedlings (and left it there).

The next time my SO visited and cooked a turkey, she wanted to know where the baster was. I eventually found BOTH in my plant area, muddy, and had to explain that I had unintentionally hijacked HER baster.

Don't try this at home!

Uh oh Rick! Did you end up in the dog house?

Yes, but after just a few scathing comments, she "let me off easy" and I crept to the dog house on my belly, instead of being thrown out a window.

Using HER kitchen tools to pump mud around was a no-no, especially when she had just cooked a turkey dinner! I may have been forgiven because I was so sure at first that I would NEVER use her baster for gardening. Then I looked so guilty!

You know how a dog looks when he KNOWS he's guilty?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

BTW, I found that laying down a pad of cotton flannel in the bottom of a seedling tray helps pull excess water out of the tray. I think this helps most in shallow cells or pots, where water-logging the bottom inch of soil wastes half of the root zone.

The cotton flannel also makes sure that every pot or cell has access to water even if you only put a few ounces of water into the tray. That makes bottom-watering really easy.

I still use the baster to remove any water that is deeper than the flannel is thick.

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