Well, it's the end of March, and for me, March kicks off transplanting season.
In the past month, I have planted over 1600 lisianthus, 400 snaps, 120 yarrow, 240 godetia, 800 ranunculus, 120 agrostemma, 200 rudbeckia, and a few others. And I've got a greenhouse and grow room filled with thousands more. My hands are pretty sore!
I have a couple of tools I like to use that I happened upon out of necessity, utilizing what I had lying around.
First of all, the giant sharpie.
I have owned various dibbers over the years. They can be kind of expensive and, probably because they are expensive, I'm good at misplacing them.
One day I had a giant sharpie in my tool belt I had been using to write labels on garden stakes, and it became my new favorite tool for making transplanting holes.
It seems to be the perfect size for most of my transplants, and I can quickly go through and make a bunch of holes, and then fill them in with my seedlings.
Bonus: I always seem to have a few lying around. Double bonus - I can use them to label things as well!
What else do I seem to have a ton of? Garden staples!
These make the perfect tool for getting transplants out of their trays without going insane (or ripping off the poor plant's leaves!) And they can help you carry the plant all the way to the hole!
Even if I seem to lose the staple I'm using, I can typically borrow one from the irrigation line near where I'm planting. (Yes, I tend to lose tools all.the.time!)
I'd love to hear about your favorite tools! Leave them in the comments.
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