Name tags

[Royal]

I'm with Ray on this one. Not all "plastic" is made the same. The not-so-cheap ones for sale at the big garden outlets are terrible. They break in a year. But the plain old labels from Ray or Calwest will last for years and years.

I did mark a few plastic pots with a paint pen at one time, but it never comes off and it looks a little junky.

[BobInBonita]

Originally Posted by lycaonpictus

I'm liking this idea! What do you use as a log on your Blackberry? Just a spreadsheet? Or a particular program?

My log is a Word document (I've gone back and forth between Word and Excel). I copy the table of contents, which is just the name and ID number to a separate document. I use WordToGo or SheetToGo on my Blackberry to read the documents easily, although you could just send it in an e-mail/

[BobInBonita]

Originally Posted by got ants

I've had the same problem Carol. Looking on the web (GOOGLE) I found these....

Aluminum Marking Tags -- Box of 100, Plant Markers & Tags - GEMPLER'S

100 for $17, for a permanent label = purdy goot toomee.

That's pretty close to what I've paid for stainless washers at the local hardware store, and would be a lot easier to stamp. I don't know about the legibility of scratching or engraving. I think I'll be switching over.

[BobInBonita]

Couldn't wait to run out of the stainless washers so I ordered the aluminum tags from Gemplers.

Just like when buying an orchid, I may have gotten ahead of myself. I found a couple of more products on their site after I ordered that were very interesting:

Laser printable pot sticks:
6-3/4" x 1" Laser Pot Sticks, Plant Markers & Tags - GEMPLER'S

and laser printable strip loop-lock labels:
11" x 1" White Laser Strip Loop-lock Tags - GEMPLER'S

as well as a laser printable sample pack:
Laser Label Sampler Pack, Plant Markers & Tags - GEMPLER'S

I didn't feel up to that much experimentation, but if anyone else is up to it, let us know how they work for you.

[CTB]

I ordered some too, I'll try engraving first but you can write on them also. It says they don't fade so either way would work for me.

Any other ideas guys?

[Queenslander]

Carol, this is what I use. The name tag with plant twister and I attach to a pseudobulb. The paddlepop stick has the pot no. on it. Also an indication of the wetness of the potting mix. Just my

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by BobInBonita

I carry a copy of my log's table of contents on my Blackberry, so it is easy to look up when I'm in the garden (or about to make an impulse purchase).

GENIUS!

[CTB]

Thanks guys, your ideas have been great. I use the crime scene tape now for marking my pots for no water, or inside when its below 50 tags. These blow in the breeze now, I just couldn't see any more tackiness with marking the pots. You had some great ideas. I thank you.

[cb977]

I use quality plastic tags and a P-Touch label printer...love it!

A side-note: anybody who lives in Florida (or any other location prone to high wind situations like hurricanes and such) should wire an additional tag to the plant itself. If the pots go flying in a storm, the plants will most definitely lose their pots but you'll still have the name attached.

[Ray]

For folks interested in the laser-printable sheets like Gemplers have, but don't want to invest in a whole box, I carry them in individual sheets of 10 labels, and even have a MS Word template for them.

I agree that the P-Touch labels are practically indestructible. You need not bother with the "industrial" ones either, as that's just a better adhesive. As long as you stick to the black text on white for UV resistance, they seem to last forever.

As an example of the standard glue: when we moved into our current neighborhood, we were pleased to discover it had a dinner group. That meant schlepping casserole dishes around, recovering them a day or two later. I put a P-Touch label on the bottom of one to ID it. It has been on the Corningware dish for close to 20 years, had been baked and dishwashed a zillion times, and its STILL THERE!