TOOLS AND
EQUIPMENT IN PLANT
PROPAGATION
Lesson 11
Preventive Maintenance of Tools and
Equipment in Plant Propagation
• Tools and equipment should be cleaned immediately.
• Clean by washing if possible, or simple wipe the tool then dry. Lubricate it with oil
to protect the tool and equipment from rust.
• Routine check-up and maintenance should always be performed.
• Check the tools and equipment for wear and tear.
• Check if the blade is still sharp, if the handle is loose and if there is rust.
• A sharp tool can do the job effectively and efficiently which will shorten the time of
work.
Preventive Maintenance of Tools and
Equipment in Plant Propagation
• Then apply possible solution by sharpening the cutting edge, by fixing the handle
or by applying lubrication.
• If it is broken or damaged, repair the broken part to restore the tool in good
working condition.
• Lubrication of tools and equipment before storing should always be done.
Hand tools
Are usually light and use without the help of animals or machines. They
are being used in performing farm activities which involve small areas like
school garden, home garden and farms.
Short-Handled Tools - Can be use while sitting or kneeling
Look for stainless steel working parts with all seams and joints welded and
ground smooth, and strong shaped handles for good gripping, expect a well-
made tool, with proper care, to last.
Hand trowel is used for loosening the
soil around the growing plants.
Hand fork is used for inter- row
cultivation.
Hand cultivator is used for cultivating
the garden plot by loosening the soil
and removing weeds around the plant.
Weeding Knife or hori-hori- can be used
to dig out tap rooted weeds, cut through
roots, saw, and measure.
Sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool
with a variously curved blade typically
used for cutting weeds.
Dibbler- a small hand tool used to make
holes in the ground for plants, seeds, or
bulbs
Long-Handled Tools
Tools with handles more than three feet long are made to keep you
from bending over too far and straining your back
If you’re a shorter person, handles can be shortened if needed.
Taller people may need to look far and wide to find a handle long
enough for themselves so, buy an appropriate handle.
Shovel is used in removing trash,
digging loose soil, moving soil from
one place to another and for mixing
soil media.
Spade - look like shovels but have a flat blade
with a straight, sharp end. A spade is good for
turning over soil in a bed and for stripping dirt
and grass when you want to turn a patch of lawn
into a path or bed.
Spading fork is used for loosening
the soil, digging out root crops and
turning over the materials in a
compost heap.
Rake is used for cleaning the ground and
leveling the topsoil. Use for collecting dried
leaves, grass and dirt.
Grub-hoe is used for breaking hard
topsoil and pulverizing soil.
Light hoe is used for loosening and leveling soil
and digging out furrows for planting.
Pick-mattock is used for digging
canals, breaking hard topsoil and for
digging up stones and tree stumps.
Crowbar is used for digging big holes and for
digging out big stones and stumps
Watering Tools
Water pails – for hauling water,
manure and fertilizers
Water sprinkler – is a tool use to
sprinkle or pour water on the plants.
Sprayers are for spraying
insecticides, foliar fertilizers,
fungicides and herbicides.
Water Hose- a flexible tube
which carries water and is used
to water plants.
Pruning Tools
You will need pruning tools like hand pruners, loppers, and pruning
saws to keep shrubs and trees shapely and well-proportioned as they
grow. As with planting tools look for solidly constructed tools and keep
them clean, oiled, and sharpened. Don’t bother because of the cost. A
good tool is a good investment.
Pruning shears is use for cutting
branches of planting materials and
unnecessary branches of plants. Hand
pruners are useful for cutting the dead
flowers off perennials and snipping small
twigs.
Loppers- are simply long-handled
pruners used to remove small limbs from
trees, cut up limbs into smaller pieces for
hauling away, and reach into thorny
shrubs from a safe distance
Pruning saws are used for cutting large
limbs anything more than about two
inches in diameter from trees and for
cutting large limbs into smaller pieces to
haul away
Bolo is used for cutting tall grasses and
weeds and chopping branches of trees.
Axe is for cutting bigger size post
Others:
Wheelbarrow is used for hauling trash,
manures, fertilizers, planting materials and
other equipment
Grinder- a machine tool used for grinding;
it is a type of machining using an abrasive
wheel as the cutting tool.
