the last label maker I will ever need- Dymo rhino 1101

[DirtyCoconuts]

this thing is circa 1980's as that is when they changed to the M1101 which is still the one they sell today.

all metal body, the embossing disk is plastic but stout. fully adjustable in depth and pressure of the emboss-

here's why it rules, aluminum or SS tape!!!

The last label maker I’ll ever need by J Solo, on Flickr


it is as annoying to use as any rotary dial embosser BUT it comes with the satisfaction that it is the last time i will have to make any given tag LOL


The last label maker I’ll ever need by J Solo, on Flickr



I am particularly pleased bc i found this used on ebay for $65 which is a steal...lubed and tuned it in 5 minutes and i have been cataloging my orchids (i have been working on a spreadsheet) and giving them each a unique number to add to the tag...that lets me keep my notes on the spreadsheet and the tags as short as possible


this is orchid 6

The last label maker I’ll ever need by J Solo, on Flickr


as a bonus, they allow me to cheat and reduce the size of the "too big" SH container holes

[Diane56Victor]

Sometimes the older versions are the best.
Great purchase!

[Orchidtinkerer]

That's not bad, I lost my plastic one but the idea is good since writing on labels does get washed away sometimes.

Just one thing did pop into my mind when I was thinking that maybe the aluminium could be harmful.

Orchids as far as I know are quite sensitive to metals, I tried to google aluminium and nothing came up so maybe aluminium is safe but if you have read enough care guides you do come across the odd one warning of copper toxicity, air plants are especially sensitive to it apparently.

This article mentions in the second paragraph on ph to avoid galvanised pipes:

"Be sure to use plastic or polythene pipes if you have acid water as the acid can act as a solvent and release zinc or copper from galvanized and copper pipes and cause toxicity to plants."

GROWING ORCHIDS - Angela van Rooyen | Orchids SA

Can you make plastic labels instead? They would work just as well, would be a shame if the labels cause a problem.

[Keysguy]

I started using a Brother P-Touch which has been working fine for me so far but that there is THE BOMB!

You're using SS for the tags right? Otherwise it will rot away in FL in no time.

[Roberta]

Aluminum metal is quite inert - that's why it is a great material for greenhouse structures where everything else rots/corrodes/rusts. It will stand up to greenhouse (or south Florida) humidity, and being embossed won't fade. I think that aluminum quickly develops a very thin oxide coating that helps its inert-ness (is that a word?) It is also impervious to weak acid solutions (such as fertilizer) - strongly alkaline materials will attack it, as will strong acids, but one is not likely to encounter those in orchid culture.

I just use #2 pencil (generic) on plastic labels, and find that it lasts as long as the labels. However the plastic labels, in time, will get brittle. So these aluminum labels have some distinct advantages there.

[SouthPark]

hahaha .... nice one DC! Amazing to see those dinosaurs ---- oops .... I mean heritage listed (national treasure) objects.

Kidding! That is very cool actually. Although --- the computer labels (eg. P-touch) are fast. But - some good quality plastic tags and the uv resistant stickers are recommended for 'P-touch'.

The old style tag makers are nice and therapeutic. Good find.

[Diane56Victor]

You ceratinly got a bargain.

Are the rolls of metal tape easy to get?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

I am particularly pleased bc i found this used on ebay for $65 which is a steal...lubed and tuned it in 5 minutes and i have been cataloging my orchids (i have been working on a spreadsheet) and giving them each a unique number to add to the tag...that lets me keep my notes on the spreadsheet and the tags as short as possible

A hint... now that you're assigning a unique number to each plant, if you add that number to the photo ID (You can just put in front of the camera number if you don't want to fully rename the file, or in front of the name if you do rename the file), you also end up with a way to easily retrieve photos of a particular plant. If you use names for the photos, you can use the unique number followed by a letter (e.g. 205a, 205b, 205c for the first 3 photos of plant 205) so each photo file name is unique.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Roberta

A hint... now that you're assigning a unique number to each plant, if you add that number to the photo ID (You can just put in front of the camera number if you don't want to fully rename the file, or in front of the name if you do rename the file), you also end up with a way to easily retrieve photos of a particular plant. If you use names for the photos, you can use the unique number followed by a letter (e.g. 205a, 205b, 205c for the first 3 photos of plant 205) so each photo file name is unique.

How do you deal with multiple photos of the same plant then? (ex: taken on different years?). I struggled for a long time to find a naming convention that make sense and would avoid duplicate names, for all of my photos. I have gone done the path of unique names (full date-foldername-photonumber, ex: 20201022-Orchids-001) and then use the Lightroom catalog to manage the photos and search for what I want.

I automatically rename the photos when uploading them to the computer, import in lightroom and then add tags to each photo (plant name, year). It's a lot quicker than manually renaming everything. The downside is the subscription to Lightroom, but I think that there are free photo management apps that work with similar cataloging systems if you don't need the LR development module.

[SouthPark]

One ID system I use was mentioned a while ago ----- just based on date/time code. It's one way of generating a unique code.