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More tips & tricks

BigCarnivourKid

It's been one of dem days
This topic pops up from time to time but I thought it would be fun to share some of our tips and techniques of our hobby again.

For instance. We've all recycled the little bags we've recieved plants and things in by scribbling over the previous lable and writng a new one. But you can remove most permanent marker from plastic with acetone which is the main ingredient in most fingernail polish removers. Just be careful not to use acetone/polish remover that has oil or other nail conditioners it or use it around a source of open flame such as a candle etc.

I use a spray bottle or one gallon sprayer with the nozzle set on fine stream to help cover the roots of small plants when transplanting them. Make a hole in the soil for the roots as you normaly do and push the soil back over the hole lightly. I then hold the plant lightly in place and use the fine stream to turn the soil around the base of the plant to mud (it can be sloppy with the water spattering off leaves and dirt). This works best on small plants and plants with short roots such as pings and leaf cuttings. Don't use this on pots or trays with seeds or gemmae in them.

I have also been experimenting with using the fine stream spray to churn the surface layer of soil to discourage algae and carpet moss from growing. For moss, it works best on soils where the moss is just starting to form. If the moss has already gotten established the roots interlock so the moss forms a clump making it harder to churn under. Also it spatters a bit
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and is useless on seed trays and around very small plants/seedlings.

I have also used the fine stream to loosen the soil under small plants so that I could more easily lift them out of the soil without digging them up. A one gallon sprayer works best for this and again it works best with shallow rooted plants. I spray all around the base of the plant to loosen the soil, then while gently holding the plant I slowly lift it out of the soil while spraying around its base. This has the added benifit of rinsing a lot of the soil off the roots as you carefully lift the plant.

You can control how hard the stream sprays, on the one gallon sprayers, by only pumping up the pressure 3 to 4 strokes. The number of pump strokes will vary with the sprayer of course.
Also, remember to keep a water tray under the pot when doing this. Walking through the house to change pants with a wet lap is embarassing!
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here's my one miserable cent :p
I use those "to go" food trays (with the clear top) as germination trays.
I also use big clear plastic storage containers as terrariums.
 
I made an outdoor mini-bog out of one of those heavy-duty food-grade muffin batter buckets from a restaurant
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I use the pipette dispenser containers that just get thrown out. If you take a look at my profile, you will see an example of one.

Chucky Cheese token holders, in addition to yogurt containers make excellent 2" pots.

Steve, and to think I have acetone at the lab, to remove the marker when we change dates on our acid and solvent containers. I never thought of using it on the plastic bags.
 
When transplanting Nepenthes, sometime I will remove all of the pitcher fluid from the pitchers (only active ones, dead ones get clipped) and place the fluid in a small container, then replace it when I'm finished potting, helps if you have a small sprayer to wash the dead bug particles back into the traps as you replace the fluid.
 
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