Hi
@chelle!
I haven't tried "pricking out" anything that small. I'm glad you said that the seedling lies across the flat part of the toothpick. That tells me that you have steady hands!
For the last several years, I've pandered to my squeamishness about seeing "naked roots" and planted just 1-2 seeds each in small cells. Then I kill one instead of trying to untangle roots.
But back when I did start seeds in tiny "flats" and had to untangle roots, I used a cocktail fork or shrimp fork to pick up seedlings. But my hands shake, and the seedlings kept falling off.
So I cut and bent a cheap, flimsy dinner fork with four long prongs into a three-pronged, triangular fork. The single bottom prong supports the root and seedling. The two upper prongs keep the seedling from falling off no matter how clumsy you are.
I cut one of the four prongs out of the center of the fork, by bending it all the way down and then using a hacksaw.
Then I bent the two outer prongs up a little, and the remaining middle prong down a little. Then I jammed some hard wood between the outer and the inner prongs, and bent all the prongs back to parallel. (There's a small "jog" remaining, due to the wood.) Then I removed the wood.
Now the fork that used to have four prongs in a straight line, has three prongs in a triangle.
I used it to pluck out seedlings by positioning the three prongs AROUND the seedling. Because the prongs form a triangle they're equidistant from the stem, and can usually straddle the root system without stabbing it.
When I dig UP with the fork, the single lower prong lifts the seedling out with or without soil.
The two upper prongs cradle the seedling and keep it from falling off.
Sorry, no photo!
