Lost all my labels!

[Tracydr]

I used some new labels to just mark my tomatoes until I get my trellis up and do my usual colored masking or duct tape with a sharpee. I used the pen that came with the package,and I also used what I thought was a brown sharpee marker. One rain and I couldn't read a single label!
I will be making a map from now on. This year, I guess all or most of the tomatoes will be "mystery" tomatoes. I'll keep seeds from the ones I like but just store them as mystery and their size/color. Obviously won't do any trading with them. I do have quite a lot of seeds to trade with still so no real worries,although a few that I planted were planted because I only had a couple of seeds left and they were 7-8 years old.
Oh well,live and learn!

[Bulldog]

I feel your pain, Popsicle sticks seem so economical until they get splashed with dirt and water and can't be read, too.

[Bulldog]

You could save seeds with pictures of the plants and fruit for yourself and spend the winter trying to figure it all out

[Tracydr]

I planted about 45 plants, plus 30 peppers,almost all are different varieties and most are new to me. I should recognize a few of them like Spudakee,blush and Carbon Copy. There are only a couple of pepper varieties that I've grown before,although I can figure out which peppers I planted so that might not be as difficult.

[ginger2778]

Live and Learn. Oh well, it's not the end of the world. I bet once you see fruit with leaf type you are going to be at least able to narrow it down to 3 or less.

[Tracydr]

Just to add to my pain,Last weekend I started Porter,Snow White and a tomatillo in a six pack recently and the cat knocked the pack in the floor before anything had even germinated. I scooped everything back up but I'll have to wait on those three until I can tell the tomatillos and until the other two start fruiting.

[Labradors2]

Sorry about your labels .

Thanks for the warning though. I must get out there and make a master plan to stick on the fridge. It's so easy to lose labels or for the writing to fade. I wrote a name in ink on a piece of masking tape, stuck it on a pot, and it had faded by the next day! Pencil is best and I know it but the pen was handy.

Linda

[Gardeneer]

I make my own tags from discarded plastic blinds and use Sharpee marker. Never had problem. I find the old tags here and there, buried in the garden from previous years that are still readable.

I plant in raised beds and keep a sketch of what I plant in each bed, for just in case. My raised beds are also categorized , eg. Black/browns, Reds, Hybrids, Determinants, Mixed colors.. etc.
I am not worried that much about losing tags with the system that I have . Plus, I can identified most of them from their fruits too. Of course , I am not growing many varieties and plants (30 varieties, 45 plants).

Gardeneer

[Labradors2]

After I had planted everything, it dawned on me that it would be a great idea to plant alphabetically, then I would have a clue what everything is and, if the labels were lost, I'd be able to figure it out. Next year......

Linda

[joseph]

A few years ago, I decided that if I stopped doing record-keeping in the garden that I could grow twice as much food. So I mostly stopped keeping records and making labels. Gardening is to much more joyful these days. Every new variety of tomato that fruits is an adventure.

And at the farmer's market, my most popular offering is six packs of mixed varieties of tomatoes without names.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by joseph

A few years ago, I decided that if I stopped doing record-keeping in the garden that I could grow twice as much food. So I mostly stopped keeping records and making labels. Gardening is to much more joyful these days. Every new variety of tomato that fruits is an adventure.

I'm almost to that point. Planting one variety at a time in a long row and making the map as I went took ten times longer than just sticking plants in the ground. I'm getting a helper next year just to operate the pen and paper, which I can't do with wet, muddy hands.

My labeling revelation of the season is that yellow paint markers from Wal-Mart will write on black plastic mulch. The ink seems to be holding up so far in the wet weather.

[loulac]

In my garden the same label follows the plant from the nursery to the post in the open air. Finding the right kind of pen isn't always easy, special pens used to identify CD records are said to be permanent.
I always make a plan on paper of my plantation just in case...

[Maticc]

All the tomato plants in my gardens have lebels (little plastic name-tags & names written with a simple pencil - it always stays on for years).
But. It usually happened some of them went missing, I couldn't even find them later on.

So what I do is I use my cellphone (which I always have in my pocket) and write the names down one more time: from left to right, for example and mark the rows. I don't write it down as a SMS draft (which can always be lost or erased by mistake): I write it down as an email and sent to myself just in case. This way I have it on my phone and computer as well.

This only took me 10 minutes each year and I never have to worry about lost tomato ID again.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Maticc

All the tomato plants in my gardens have lebels (little plastic name-tags & names written with a simple pencil - it always stays on for years).
But. It usually happened some of them went missing, I couldn't even find them later on.

So what I do is I use my cellphone (which I always have in my pocket) and write the names down one more time: from left to right, for example and mark the rows. I don't write it down as a SMS draft (which can always be lost or erased by mistake): I write it down as an email and sent to myself just in case. This way I have it on my phone and computer as well.

This only took me 10 minutes each year and I never have to worry about lost tomato ID again.

That is a great idea!

[Kazedwards]

I keep a list of varieties being grown. I then just keep a map. Although this year I used cut up solo cups with permanent marker for seedling tags. I left the tags next to the plant when I planted over a week ago. They are still there and readable. Last year I also started keeping a list on my phone in notes. That way as I pick fruit I can keep track of how many of which one. Although by the end of the year I typically know what is where.

I like to plant by type instead of alphabetical. Then I have an area that is a little closer to the house for plants that aren't thriving or I don't have more seed for or something. It seems I keep a closer eye on them or something.


-Zach