Best planting tool

[CACAdmin]

I'm not a total novice when it comes to plants, but far from experienced (and with little talent in that regard :twitcy: ). I've observed a few things, however, along the way. One is that regardless of substrate, those large long-handled plastic tongs must be meant to be used in pairs as the moment you remove the tongs, the plant comes back out with them. (hence the need for two so you can hold the plant in place with one pair while withdrawing the other used to insert the root of the plant in the gravel).

Maybe it's just me, (or the type of tongs I'm using), but it's still a struggle. Although they helps plant without getting up to one's armpits in the tank, I have found a tool which works far more efficiently: the human hand. :yes: The plant is not damaged, roots can be gently eased into the gravel. The only drawback is often getting more than a little soggy (especially if the tank is deep). :wink:

What do you find is the best tool for planting in your aquarium?

[fishclubgirl]

Plant weights but love using my hands too. I put on a short sleeve shirt when I know I'm working on the tanks. And yes, I do often have arms covered in duckweed!!

[mdfa.ca]

Most of my tanks are planted so I guess I could consider myself at least a bit experienced and, like you Jay, found that human hand is one of the best tools I've used so far. Like you said, you can gently insert the plant with one hand and then push the roots into the substrate without damaging it.

But I gotta say, I'm discovering the beauty of potted plants and plants attached to driftwood. I've got lots of little interesting pieces of driftwood on which I try growing things like anubias, ferns, mosses. The beauty is - you can move them where you want them and then change the position without any fuss. Of course not all plants will grow on driftwood, which is where the pots come in. I use tiny ones, about 2 inches across. You can cover them with substrate if you want or arrange stones around them so you don't see the actual pot.

[Ursus sapien]

I've got a 25 year old pair of forcepts - big tweezers- that are about 28cm and very responsive. Excellent for moving things about and catching small snails for the puffers. I also use small bamboo pieces (skinny kind, not dyed) with rubber bands at one end for friction.
And, always, my hands:-)

[fishykisses]

I bought an aquarium aquascaping kit - stainless steel. It came with straight long tweeezers, curved long tweezers, long scissors and a long double ended subrate smoother/sculptor.
I LOVE IT! The curved tweezers i use ALL the time and i find if you grab the plant right by the tip of the roots, push it deep into the substrate and open the tweezers just a bit once it's in, i rarely have any float ups. Well i the next day there's always float ups but once they root we're good to go.