Don't Throw Out An Old Pair Of Tongs, Try This Hack To Up Your Gardening Game Instead

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Kitchen tongs can rescue you from a number of frustrating situations in your home. For example, tongs are useful for reaching the bottom of a deep washing machine and cleaning horizontal blinds with a sponge. As it turns out, they can also save the day in your garden. Damaged tongs are useful for extracting plants from seed cells and other small containers. Jamming your fingers into a little pot to dislodge a seedling isn't the best approach. It risks root damage while getting your hands dirty. Tongs that have broken apart at the joint can be pressed flat against the wall of the pot as they slide in and grab the young plant inside. This extraction method is less likely to disturb the plant's tender roots. 

Using broken tongs to unpot seedlings has other benefits, too. Tongs make it easier for you to grab both the plant's roots and the seed-starting mix that's surrounding them. This minimizes disturbance to the plant's roots as well as its tender stalk. If you have to touch the seedling, aim for the leaves, which can tolerate some handling. Watering your seedlings before taking them out of their pots can also help soil stick to their roots. This soil provides the fragile roots with cushioning, moisture, and nutrition. Plus, giving them some of their original growing medium can reduce stress as they acclimate to their new environment. Tongs may also keep the pot from getting mangled as you gently pull out the plant. If the pot is still in good shape, you can reuse it for seed germination. Just be sure to sanitize it first.

Broken tongs can help protect your garden seedlings from transplant shock if done carefully. If you plan to use this tool during the transplanting process, set yourself up for success with a couple of prep steps. First, make sure your tongs fit into the pot or seed cell that needs a plant removed. If your tongs are larger than the container, plant removal will be extremely difficult, and root injuries are bound to happen. Second, clean and sanitize the tongs to remove pathogens that could harm your plants. University of Minnesota Extension recommends scrubbing tools with soap and water, using a hose's sprayer attachment to blast away stuck-on particles, and then doing a wipe-down with 70% isopropyl alcohol or a disinfectant containing 0.1% alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium saccharinate. Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner Spray is one example of the latter.

What if you need to dislodge seedlings from containers but don't have broken tongs at hand? Fear not. You probably have a good substitute in your kitchen. A chopstick is one option. Or, take a cue from the YouTube creators Happy Home and Garden with John and Dawne and try a butter knife. Gently slide the knife along the edge of the plant's pot and ease the roots out. You could even grab two butter knives or chopsticks and use them like disassembled tongs. Slide the first one against one side of the pot and the second against the side that's directly across from it, then guide the roots to freedom.