Numerous plastic white labels out there at your garden center. Most catalogs have them as well.

Dan

I assumed they would do the same thing as the plastic spoons but I have never used them myself. Have you used them before?

Jen - foil tape wrapped around a piece of wood (like a popsicle stick)is the answer to your problem. Just use a pen to write the name on it after it is wrapped, and the indention of the letters will remain even after the ink has washed away.

EG

EG, that's good.

Didn't Granny once use cut up pieces of her window blinds? I think the slight texture kept the sharpie marker better than the spoons.

I tried the plastic tabs with permanent marker, and the marker faded before the season was over.

This winter I used a ball point pen and wrote directly on the wood frame. Not good for season after season, I know, but the writing has held up well.

This thing about labels is so funny. And sort of depressing ... because I had assumed that when I SFG there will be no need for labels!! Woe is me.

BTW, didja ever plant a row of onion seed, very carefully, and then have dh go down the row with a hoe and plant radishes??? The radishes won that year. That was one year there should have been a label. LOL

I don't think I will put any labels in my still imaginary beds, but, will keep the seed packs themselves in my garden notebook, or at least a photocopy of the pack. That makes a good yearly record.

I use old venetian blinds from the dumpster. They can be cut with a scissors to any length you want. A lead pencil is used to write on the blinds. The only way to erase them is to use a pencil eraser. Water won't do it.

This link explains how to do a permanent embosed label using the foil tape and mini blind slats.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Embossed Labels

I'm on white purchased labels with Sharpie and some of mine are in their third year, very intense sun here but you should be planting to shade the ground. And I like the Venetian blinds idea too.

EG must be a young-un, as I couldn't read that label here in the sun unless I put my face down there. ;o)

Dan

I've had some luck with using plastic labels, Sharpie pen, then lightly spraying them with hair spray. They hold up to watering plants in flats, but I've not tried them outside. I think popsicle sticks and pencil (push hard to leave an indentation) are probably the best markers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Dan - if being 41 years of age can qualify as being a "youngun", then I guess that's what I am. "Whippersnapper" would qualify, as well.

EG

I use recycled mini-blinds cut to length for the markers and a Brother P-Touch with laminated tape for the labels. I've been using some of them for three years or more, most in direct sun, and while the tape has yellowed a bit, the writing hasn't faded at all. The laminated tape isn't always easy to find, so I buy several cartridges at once.

I cut strips of sturdy plastic containers that some veggies come in, write with a sharpie an then coat it with clear nail polish. Works for me!

This is not the cheap way out, but when I worked in a forestry lab, we'd mark our experimental plots with Rite in the Rain labels, printed with a laser printer, stuck on short lengths of PVC pipe. They never faded.

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Rite in the Rain labels.

I concur with the write on the plastic label (storebought, spoon, blind, etc.) with sharpie and coat with clear nailpolish approach. Then at the end of the season, some nail polish remover and you can reuse for the next year.

I've also had some luck with something not mentioned here. I've been using the old fashioned China Markers. Kind of a cryon like wax pencil. The wax can be wiped clean with some windex and elbow grease at the end of the season, but it's fairly water and sun resistant out in the garden.

Susan

I like to go to nurseries and when no one is looking, I pluck out the pre-printed color plant tags from the 4-packs of the types of veggies & flowers I am growing at home. Like these . . .
{{gwi:1262283}}

OK, I am just kidding ! Hopefully you didn't spit coffee into your keyboard. I like the idea of writing with a regular pencil on a piece of blind. I also like the idea of using a wax pencil/grease pencil/china marker. Last year, I did almost all transplants so they came with those nifty color tags. This year I am growing from seed so this thread was good timing.

I use cut up metal mini-blinds and a sharpie. For my perennials, I cut the blind double-length, write the name of the plant inside, fold it over and label the outside. That way, I can see the label but there's backup label hidden from the sun.

How about cheap tongue depressors (Wally Mart) and sharpie. I'm trying that this year.
Keski

I couldn't find china markers & permanent markers fade, so I tried eyeliner pencil. Worked like a charm on window blinds. You can get them cheap at Dollar Tree or Dollar General.

Angela - thank you! I did spit out my coffee I was laughing so hard. :)

I use an empty milk carton cut into strips and a sharpie.

I will utilize the clear nail polish trick along with that this year.

Cut the top and bottom off an aluminum can, trim any ragged edges. Cut the sheet of aluminum into the size you want and use a ball point pen to write the name of the plant.

Punch a hole in the aluminum and use galvanized steel wire, about 20 or 22 gauge to loosely attach to the plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant markers

I cut bleach bottles into strips and write on them with a paint pen. True, they don't meet your criteria for reusing them next year. But they are so cheap and easy to make, it doesn't matter to me.

Pain pen does not fade the way a sharpie does.

That's a good idea! I don't mind if it doesn't last more than one season. I usually change my mind and use another type the next year. I just want it to last the WHOLE SEASON! lol I might try that and the idea of using aluminum and writing on that. woohoo! cheep ideas. Thanks guys!!!

I am going to try something different this time. I'm planning to print out my garden plan in color and laminate it, punch a hole and attach a ring to the corner and then hang it from a shepherd's hook at the entrance to the garden. So if you wanna run around and take a tour, it acts as a map and I don't have to make all these fussy little tags I'm tired of dealing with making only to have them fade. We'll see how that goes...
-T

I posted this on another topic so I apologize for the repeat.

I actually embarrassed my hubby by going in to the local Home Depot and asking to pick through their garbage in the blind section. They custom cut miniblinds and the "ends" (the part they cut off) are thrown in a waste basket. I got about 300 "plant tags" cut the perfect length for my seedlings. When the lady asked my husband what I wanted them for he explained I was labeling seeds/plants. All of a sudden her expression went from one of suspicious confusion to one of enlightened jealousy. She said she was going to scoop up the next bunch for herself.

Great idea !! That sounds like something I would do too. And something that would embarass my husband as well, hehe.

I got frustrated with faded, dislodged and/or buried plastic tags of various types last year. I use pencil and grid paper to diagram what's in my garden. I just carried the notepad around with me after I pulled up all the plastic tags.

I like the idea of a laminated garden plan. Perhaps will map out a grid on sturdy paper, laminate it, write in the crops with a china marker and hang it out under the eaves next to the garden this time around.

Wow, that's a great idea to get the cast-off blinds. I will have to try that. My hubby would definitely be embarrassed - he doesn't even like to take things back to the store and he hides when I'm asking what they have for half price in torn bags of soil, mulch etc.
Angela, I did laugh so hard about your labels.
Keski

Jen,
When I said they don't meet your criteria for reusing them next year, I meant they can't be changed to another plant name. If you grow the same plants, the paint pen labels will hold up for many years to come.

Things that last: paint pen and bleach bottles, mini blind and pencil.

Things that disappoint: popsicle sticks, any way you do it; sharpie pens

I've tried many diff ways. I say get old blinds what ever way you choose :)
or empty bottles or cans

"I use old venetian blinds from the dumpster. They can be cut with a scissors to any length you want. A lead pencil is used to write on the blinds. The only way to erase them is to use a pencil eraser. Water won't do it."

#2 Pencil won't fade in the sun and will last until you erase it. This method has fewer steps, fewer materials, and requires no toxic chemicals.

Pencil is also useful on the foil tape.

Hint: Try the pencil on whatever material YOU choose.
or IF you need it bolder, trace the Sharpie outline with #2 pencil. If you go the other way you may run out of space.