Great tip! I do the same thing when I'm not using a pump sprayer at very low pressure with the nozzle twisted to "mist".

i like mustard squeeze bottles because they have smaller openings.
But ketchup bottles are bigger and hold more water.
Your idea of actually buying a condiment bottle would never have occurred to me, but I bet the tiny tip is great for this purpose.

Sometimes I give the bottle a small down-and-up shake so that just a little "plop" of water comes out in one cell.

Sometimes I squeeze a continuous thin stream while I move the bottle along a row.

To be extra-gentle, I'll squirt the continuous stream onto the plastic dividers between rows. Then the water runs off the divider and into the mix with no force.

I use the spray bottles all the time, but never thought about using the squeeze bottles. Good tip!

Great tip! Thanks for sharing!

I have been using turkey basters for years. I guess the squirt bottle holds more water and would be more efficient. Thanks!!!

I'm going to pick up a squirt bottle today. Thanks for the great tip

Yea! I found the one I KNEW I had! I was worried that I might have tossed it. That's going to be great for watering those tiny seeds.

The most use I get from squirt bottles is filling the vases of all my bromiliads. Just aim and squirt!

Great idea. I've been using a turkey baster which also is used when more water
is in the drain pan than I want to leave. The squirt bottle would hold more water
too.

Yes, Misty, I think the baster is better at sucking up the over abundance of water in the drain pan and the ability to refill it by just squeezing the bulb is pretty neat, also.

Great idea!

They also make trays with no holes in them to set the plants trays into for watering. You see the top starting to get damp, or however you gauge your plants needs and then just pick that tray out and put another in.

Thank-You. What a great idea!

I just found that 1/4" irrigation tubing fits the holes in my ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles really snugly. Now I have an extension that puts the water right where I want it.

And jamming an 1/8" tube into the 1/4" tube gives a smaller stream. But I suspect a real condiment bottle puts out a finer stream!

I wanted to be able to attach an irrigation mini-sprayer head, so I could spritz with a gentle mist, but the squeeze bottle won't create enough pressure to get a spray: just a dribble.

I WAS able to get a really tiny stream out of an 80 cent "Mini-Mister" spay head. That has a REALLY tiny orifice.
http://www.dripworks.com/produ...

Gotta say, I just started using my little old ketchup bottle for watering, and it is going to be a lifesaver! Or at least a hand saver. So much easier to use with my decrepit, aching hands than the spray bottles I've been using! And I can use it with my left hand (that doesn't hurt quite so much) with no difficulty. Thanks so much for this suggestion!

I agree, ketchup bottles are great.

Now I need to find time to make up 4 trays of seedlings!

I'm not so much short of time, as energy. Sigh. Usually, I have to restrain myself from starting stuff in January; now I'm having trouble getting anything going here in March! But, I do have two tiny tomato seedlings in the GH! I'm really quite impressed with how well my little ketchup bottle is working, particularly with the vermiculite! Soaks stuff nicely without disturbing the seeds and/or tiny seedlings.

>> impressed with how well my little ketchup bottle is working, particularly with the vermiculite!

You have a steady hand! I have to shift to the mustard squeeze-bottle to get an assured-steady stream.

Some times, if there is not too much air in the bottle, I can hold it inverted, and none comes out until I gave a little down-and-up shake. That pushes out just a small splash, not too fast.

Also try hair color application bottles.
@woofie
In a Salon supply store they have automatic and semi automatic spray bottles that really reduce hand fatigue.

For years I have been using Turkey basters to get near the root of the seedlings without knocking them down.