Disappearing ink

[TZ-OH6]

I want to thank whomever posted the tip about using plastic flagging tape w/ Sharpie. It worked great this year. The pink tape made it easy to see where the label was in the foliage. I also cut the tape into thirds for thin strips in order to mark trusses that had been bagged. A roll of the tape costs $2-$3. The sharpie faded a bit but I can still see all of the names.

[Elayne]

IMG_0991 (Small).jpg

IMG_0817 (Small).jpgI used paint sticks and a thick permanent marker---worked great!

[robin303]

Made all my sticks putting scraps of pine through my table saw and had a mountain of saw dust left over which went into the compost but the sticks rot after one season.

[BR]

I use the coke cans also once they go to the garden. It works great..... but my problem was in containers before they were planted outside.

[the999bbq]

it should be controlled and enforced by law that permanent markers should be permanent ;-)
On my recycled blindfolds cut to pieces some permanent markers hold for many seasons, soms fade or disappear not even under weathered conditions (greenhouse, never wet,...)

experimenting with "hammering letters" is on my list for a long time but it is time consuming and the letters are expensive. it might be good for the varieties that will stick around, not for those that are never allowed to come back in the garden. Than again, those 'stickies' you will know "by heart" after some time so maybe they don't need naming after all.
My father in law has an engraving machine, maybe I'll have to try that out, once the name is layed out you can grind a few names.

Making a map of the greenhouse with fourty-something tomatoes worked but .. a random trip to the garden to collect some tomatoes wasn't possible anymore without 'the map' if you wanted them to come back to the kitchen 'named' (for seed colleting for instance). after some time I gave them numbers .. but counting over and over is too much of a hasstle (2nd of the 3rd row = 8, 2nd of the 4rd row of the other half of the greenhouse = 11+21,...) good to practice your maths, but not what you want for a quick trip to the greenhouse (and of course you want the outcome to be correct more than you ever wanted at school ;-))

Without namedropping: the classic permanent markers do fine, becare of the new and cheap ones ;-)

[geeboss]

There is an industrial fine tip permanent marker works fine. Double laminate Planting Maps and have two out side on sticks for reference.

[brokenbar]

Sharpie also now makes an oil-based paint pen with a fine point. I used the larger pointed ones on the labels for my daylily plants (I have over 200 varieties) and the paint lasted 3 years. Better than any felt pen I have ever used. I just bought 5 fine point black on Ebay for 3.00 for the garden plants this year. They do make other colors besides black as well. Choose carefully 'tho as there are some "paint pens" that are water-based paint.

[Polar_Lace]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

Sharpie also now makes an oil-based paint pen with a fine point.

Choose carefully 'tho as there are some "paint pens" that are water-based paint.

brokenbar
What about the Silver & Gold paint pens they sell during the Holidays? Do you think those would work? Can you tell; without the packaging?

~* Robin

[jebgordon]

Sharpies and ink pens will be bleached out by the sun. It may take a few weeks, but lead pencils will hold up much longer. You can use sharpies, but use a longer plastic label and just push the ink part under the soil to prevent the sun from bleaching out the ink. Anybody ever use the old plastic label machines with the peal off raised letters? These type labels will adhear to plastic or metal labels but not wood.

[ContainerTed]

Yeah, that old "Dymo" labeler made the raised letters in the plastic strip. I used that for a couple of years, then ran out of plastic strip. Used to put the little strips into a small ziplock and then use a twist-tie to loosely attach it around the base of the stem.

This year I haven't decided whether it will be oil-based paint or cut-up pop cans. I like the can thing because the strip can be hung up in the plant and might catch the breeze and sparkle the sun a bit to keep critters thinking.

Ted

[Polar_Lace]

Ted, if cut-up pop cans scare you; (they sure scare me!) you can use heavy duty aluminum foil to make a plant tag. Just make sure you use 4 layers and fold the edges over to thicken it a little more. You can crimp the edges to make it stay in the shape you want with a plier.

Here's one idea:

Here's another:


Pictures are from http://wintersown.org/

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~* Robin