Tools of the Trade

When you're first getting started with African violets, it all seems so simple. Water, light, and fertilizer, right? Careful, not too much of any of them! A stack of plastic pots (usually), a watering can with a narrow spout, some sort of "digger" for repotting plants, maybe a measuring spoon for accurately dispensing fertilizer. But then you read about or see other tools, learn about other techniques from fellow growers, and you start noticing that your growing or potting area is beginning to look like a rummage sale! I know mine does. My current roster of "must-have" tools includes:

• "Sucker plucker" - double-ended tool with a sharp, triangular blade at one end and a curved, pointed blade at the other. For trimming petioles or cutting out suckers or crowns. An Exacto knife and a nut pick will work if you can't find this specialized tool.
• 1-inch nylon paintbrush with feathered tips - for cleaning leaves.
• Baby medicine spoon - Looks like a spoon with a plastic test tube attached. Measures liquids without spilling.
• Bread knife - for cross-cutting the root ball when repotting a "necky" plant (serrated blade works better than a straight blade).
• Embroidery needle with eye large enough to insert wicking material, to add wick to an already-potted plant.
• Fingernail scissors - for cutting lengths of wick, or for trimming blossom pedicels when disbudding. Ones with rounded tips are less likely to accidentally damage foliage.
• Plastic travel bottle with dropper opening - for dispensing Superthrive by the drop.
• Soil Scoop - wedge-shaped plastic scoop with an opening at the "handle" end to allow you to add potting medium around a plant without getting it all over the leaves.
• Soldering iron - for punching drainage holes in plastic Solo cups.
• Sports water bottle - Gives an even more tightly directed stream of water than a narrow-spouted watering pitcher. A turkey baster works as well, but holds only a few ounces of water at a time.
• Spray bottles - for insecticides, fungicides, foliar feeding.
• Zip-lock bags - for enclosing newly-potted leaves in their own miniature greenhouse.

Contributed by Lisa Kuhlen