I’ve been using a bamboo skewer and tweezers. With the tweezers I do it very carefully and pick the seedling up by soil around the roots, not on the seedling itself

a small teaspoon after loosing the soil around with a toothpick.

Tweezers and a pencil to make the hole in the soil of the new pot.

I have collected many types and shapes to find the ones I like best: precision thin pointed and another set that is thicker with angled head and very sturdy.

I've been using this lately, found it on Amazon.

isde02, so THAT'S what it's for. Thats great!!! I got one in Bunnings with a packet of plant ID tags and pencil.

I have trouble with baby plants all the time, Kalanchoe babies and babies propagated from leaves. I don't know how many have died after shifting them.

Thanks for the tip isde02 and thanks for asking Stefan :-)

Isde, I have apair of those tools. Works well. The other tool is just a round tapered tool or making a hole in the soil for planting.

A must have tool? Yes and no. Depand on your requirement. But is super cheap....

Yes I have both, and agree not a must have but it does come in handy at times. But lately I find myself using it more than anything else.

I reckon we should do a "tools of the trade" thread. Including things for other purposes eg. dish drainer, kitchen sieve, my Asian ear cleaners etc, all with photo's. Also where we got them from, other places we've seen them and how much in our own money and if you know conversion, how much in $.US.

Maybe tools of many trades used with succulents, or something like that.

i use a dental explorer to clean spiny plants.... i got it via a relative.....it worked well for cleaning mealybugs in hard to reach areas.

Stefan, thats cool! Can you get a photo of it, I'd love to see which one it is.

Also reminds me of an unused scalpel my GP gave me. It was great for succulent surgery. Too blunt now.

They come in throw away packs for doctors rooms. A round one to take a "plug" of skin for biopsy (mine was clear) and the regular scalpel. I'm gunna ask her to keep them for me. I should ask her for any tweezers etc that don't get used too.

Back to seedlings and plantlets, would eye lash curlers help? I can't remember what they look like properly and have never had them. So don't know how they work.

That looks dangerous.......... to seedlings anyway.

Lol. I thought it might be. Couldn't be as dangerous as cuticle cutters, surely.

I consider everything with moving parts to be dangerous, and anything unnecessarily sharp/ That being said, a worn one, without those edges...

Ive seen people recommend something like a peeler knife pit remover thing....

I have a set of random tools like tweezers , hard and soft brushes, long nose pliers good for picking up in-between pots, sharp knife, scissors, magnifying glasses.

It's sort of built-up over time...

And also scoop for mixed.

My tools? A diy scoop made out of a detergent bottle, dentistry probe, brushes, trowels(for mixing soil), swiss knife(small one), and a bunch of spray bottles.

Helen, I almost started a thread a few months ago about the tools we use. This would have been one of my photos. I got the silver ones as a set for a Christmas present.

Jeff, do it!! That would be the perfect shot as the intro to the thread. I'll add mine when I get home.

After looking at yours close up, I was thinking "what a good idea", "that would solve that problem" etc. Some I was wondering what you'd use it for and others "what the heck is that" lol.

Like what is 4th from the left? And what on earth would you use a star scew diver for, digging holes for seedlings/baby plants? Most are obvious though, even to a beginer I would think.

I have no idea. :) But I've used it a couple of times. I'll start a thread. After starting two good ones on favorite pots and seedling photos, I'm afraid of coming up with a flop.

Only need to start, the rest takes care of itself ;-D

(off topic guys, sorry).

Ycloh1, there's a guy in here at the moment from Malta, "85%+ humidity almost all year"

His name is Albert Zahra and in his opening post has a large photo of his Aloe cosmos. If you zoom in you can see slight brownish on some leaves, which is what he's concerned about.

The thread title is "Aloe Cosmo - any suggestions why this brownish colour"

I think he would appreciate any information / ideas from someone who lives in the tropics and grows GREAT Succulents.

I didn't see your screwdriver question. I use that to poke a hole in soil if I want to put a bare stem in it. That doesn't really work for a grittier soil though. The Phillips aspect is just coincidental, although it is pointier. The tool next to it is just for bigger stems.

Yep thought it would make sense lol