I use mini blind pieces. Cut them into about 2 or 3 inch pieces and write on them with a Sharpie marker, both sides of the label. I put them in the container in a place where they can be seen from the outside.

Btw, your marigolds are second generation this year. :)

I buy bulk plant labels in the big boxes, sharpie pen, and when its time to plant out, dig the label in deep so that the sun won't fade the printing.

I also keep track of all my sowings, indoors & WS'ing on Mircosoft Excel just incase I lose the tag ;)

Sharon

If you saw my half-hazardly labeled gardens, you'd think I'm a fine one to speak-up, but I do make an attempt to keep my winter sown containers labeled to the point that the plant at least gets in the gardens. :)

One thing I've learned is that duct tape with the name marked on doesn't work for us in 'the north'. It may work for others who don't experience extreme cold, but in my case - at least - the duct tape tend to start peeling off when the weather starts getting wet and warm. Especially on a container which has been labeled as such on the top plastic covering it.

So I take such things as ice cream containers and lids and cut them to label size. I bought permanent markers from Lee Valley tools which are UV resistent and have been using those. They seem to work better than the Sharpie version so far. I will place a few of these labels in the inside perimeter of the container for 'hunk-of-seedling' containers for when I plant. In that way I'm prepared. In individual containers, I will place one label.

I also mark the top of the plastic which covers the container. But remember that the plastic will come off - so don't forget that label on the inside!

Claubill, I also have many of your marigolds that are second generation and are from w/s'ing last year. Thanks.

I use plastic plant labels that I buy in bulk and a permanent, waterproof marker. I put the label into the cellpack, just like I do for any indoor cellpack. This year I used blanket bags, which fit two flats perfectly, and my labels all stayed intact and very readable. I inserted 2 plexiglas panels - about 6" X 20" - into the outer sides of each flat and this held up the blanket bags really well. This year, I just cut my own from flat, flourescent light panels that I bought at HD. Next year, I'm going to stop by a plastics company and get them to cut me some thicker ones and they should be useable for quite a few years. The light panels were a bit flimsy and cracked pretty easily. The blanket bags are readily available at dollar stores and I really liked the slightly opaque, softer plastic ones. The perfectly clear ones can become brittle in the cold and crack. But, they act like mini greenhouses and work great. Seemed to protect the labels so that I didn't have any trouble with fading.

Shauna

For all winter sowers I recommend you read the article by Trudi:
http://gardengal.net/page104.html
I have followed her advice on labels and varied it a bit so it works for me up north. I use plain paper and use a Sharpie indellible pen, but I put my labels on the BOTTOM of my containers. I cut labels out of writing paper, cover them with double-sided tape to make 'plastic' labels and afix them with another layer of wider tape and they work fine. They don't fade from the sunlight and I have never had one come off. I just planted out some petunias last week and I could still clearly read the label. I like using styrofoam containers because you can scratch the label on to the surface of the container and it stays there forever. I also keep a journal of what I plant when and that helped me identify one container which I had forgotten to label.
Northerner.

I've been cutting margarine and ice-cream pail lids into plant marker size strips and using a scrapbooking marker by Marvy-Uchida (or a Zig Writer) which are pigment writers. I write on the plastic strip (it does stay wet for while depending on the type of plastic it is) but then I cover that with some clear packing tape. Worked great and stayed readable. But I do use a mini-greenhouse to do my WS'ing in so the container doesn't really get too wet either.

Ang

I use a combination of cut up window blinds for the inside tag with a waterproof sunproof marker(which goes into the garden with the sprouts) and shiny foil duct tape. I put a peice on the outside of the container, and use a ball point pen. You can't see the pen, but the label is "carved" into the foil, so you can see the writing if you tilt it to the light.
Make sure you use the shiny, foil type tape (it has a pull off paper backing). It will stick to anything!

Combo for me too. I buy a large green mini-blind for a couple of bucks at Walmart and cut it up, write on it with a Sharpie and put the written part in the soil (both in the containers and in the garden). The writing stays clear for years and the green labels blend in well with the plants the garden. Depending on the container, I also write on the bottles and such with a Sharpie and use duct tape with the flats. Using both the plastic labels and the Sharpie/tape on the container make it easy to identify at the seedling stage and transplant into the garden without having to relabel.