Bonsai chopstick hack

[GroveBonsai]

Sally Beauty supply sells wooden sticks used for pushing cuticles. They’re really sturdy sticks about 7inches long that work well for repotting. And they’re like 89¢ each

 

[vp999]

....Or just use the wooden chopsticks when u ordering Chinese food ...Free lol

 

[GroveBonsai]

....Or just use the wooden chopsticks when u ordering Chinese food ...Free lol

Yeah....you’re right. Those break on me though

 

[AZbonsai]

Yeah....you’re right. Those break on me though

Problem solved! Aluminum. 20 for $3 found them at one of our Asian markets.

 

[Carol 83]

Problem solved! Aluminum. 20 for $3 found them at one of our Asian markets.
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Very similar to what I have, mine is just a little more pointed at the end, they're awesome.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I just use branches I've just cut off of what I'm repotting.

 

[LanceMac10]

Chopstick hack? Ya, a fork!!!

 

[PABonsai]

I got 100 pairs of plain old chopsticks on Amazon for $7. It'll probably take a while to go through 200 of them. Plus having the plain ones means they can easily be used for moisture levels too without buying two different things.

 

[Bonsai_Bentley]

Sally Beauty supply sells wooden sticks used for pushing cuticles. They’re really sturdy sticks about 7inches long that work well for repotting. And they’re like 89¢ each

That's a neat idea. I also have aluminum chop sticks and freebie chop sticks as others have posted, but I could definitely see these being useful. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[GroveBonsai]

Yeah i have the aluminum ones too. I just don’t like the way they sound or feel against pumice and lava when repotting. Just one of those things. Like nails on a chalk board. The Chinese food ones tend to be too thin and snap for me. I like the feeling of wood ones and these are nice and sturdy. Idk just one of those things

 

[Bonsai_Bentley]

Yeah i have the aluminum ones too. I just don’t like the way they sound or feel against pumice and lava when repotting. Just one of those things. Like nails on a chalk board. The Chinese food ones tend to be too thin and snap for me. I like the feeling of wood ones and these are nice and sturdy. Idk just one of those things

Definitely understand that. I'm gonna order this soon and see if I can make decent chop sticks and/or props out of it.

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[Rafael Najmanovich]

These wooden sticks ought be be a lot more functional than standard chopsticks assuming you will use the sloped extremity, you'd only need to cut it on both sides to make it more pointy but leaving a flat side (like a bullet train). If you have access to Bonsai Mirai videos check it out, there is a reason behind that. Briefly, as you chopstick the normal vector from the slope defines the direction that particles of substrate are pushed to whereas the particles in the other flat side are minimally disturbed. With such a geometry to the chopstick it allows you to have control into which directions you want to move substrate to. A standard chopstick on the other hand will move substrate in all directions equally and as you remove it particles from all directions refill the space, making a less efficient and controllable use of the technique.