>> (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.
