Plastic labels.

[Borlotti]

Thanks Cornykev, really missed this site as computer out of action.  I thought I went walking in the Dolomites, it was very cold.  Even walked on a frozen lake. Vote for my picture in the competition.    Think most allotment people are mean, or as I say sensible, don't like wasting money.  Corny go to the 99p shop in Enfield, slug pellets and other gardening things for guess what - 99p.  Oh dear off topic again.

[Ian Pearson]

Two ways of making labels:
1.Dive a skip, and find a set of those posh wooden venetian blinds - cut up into giant luxury labels, big enough to read from yards away. One set has kept me going for years.
2.Thick plastic strapping used to bind pallet loads. Just snip to length. Its smooth one side, and takes marker well. Obviously not the black type!

Only just off topic!

[james1]

Try leaving your labels in the sun. because when i write my labels with permanent
marker and shove them in the beds. and someone will come along and say what variety are they ?
ILL go and look and without fail the sun has bleached them.  believe it or not....Honest 

[Robert_Brenchley]

The same happened to me. CD marker pen lasts better.

[Vinlander]

That's a point - don't use red ink - the UV bleaches it much faster - even the best ones. Not sure about green but black is best and blue will maybe last a season.

Also I've had bad results using pallet straps for anything - the clear polycarbonate ones are OK but the blue and white fibrous ones can't take the UV.

[Anisemary]

Phew!! Well, that's given me plenty to experiment with (lest I should become idle)! Aren't gardeners a resourceful bunch of folk!! 

[Pesky Wabbit]

Pens without UV resistant ink to help reduce fading can become unreadable in a couple of months, especially in direct sunlight.

I find the Staedtler good for bright areas, but the pens dry out quite easily. For general use, I use Sharpies.

I'm also a fan of cut up milk bottles - the contents are good for stomach cramps and ulcers

[powerspade]

soak in domestoes

[shirlton]

When I was a young thing I worked in a bookies and we used to have to write all of the results up on a board using permanent pens. We used diluted bleach to clean the boards at the end of the day. Thanks to William Hills for the tip

[cornykev]

Blimey Shirl you've got a good memory.                  

[PurpleHeather]

A couple of years ago a thrifty chap on our allotment site proudly announced to me that he had spent a rainy day in his shed painting his used labels with white gloss.

He had stacked them and was about to show me how wonderfully they had turned out when he realised that they were all firmly stuck together.

I had to walk away with my belly aching with laughter as he diligently got to work with a hammer and and chisel to separate them all.

[Vinlander]

You can make posh copper ones from the inside of tomato puree tubes.

That's a great tip for permanent labels Sunloving.

I pride myself on re-using just about everything but I missed that one!

Much safer than beer can - the high tech alloys in beer cans are quite hard and can make a very sharp edge.

I particularly like writing all over the shiny inside and then folding it inside out to hide the paint and curling the edge, making a double-sided label that will outlast my apple trees (I'm fed up of replacing them too late and having to rack my brains to identify them). It's good to have room for both the name and the pick-before date - I hate over-ripe apples almost as much as over-ripe pears.

The lead-substitute foils on good quality wines are excellent too. Pity I only found out about this now when they are being phased out!

Cheers.

[Mortality]

You can make posh copper ones from the inside of tomato puree tubes.

Could also use the copper to deter slugs, I read somewhere they don't like it.

[Pesky Wabbit]

You can make posh copper ones from the inside of tomato puree tubes.

What do you use to cut them with? Surly scissors would blunt too quickly.

[Vinlander]

You can make posh copper ones from the inside of tomato puree tubes.

What do you use to cut them with? Surly scissors would blunt too quickly.

Nah, they are pretty soft aluminium (sorry slug-haters - they aren't copper - the brassy inner is a coating that scrapes off - probably anodised and varnished).

They aren't hugely harder than lead - they can cut your skin if used roughly but won't scratch a fingernail, which means some of the lignin fibres in cardboard are actually harder.

I wouldn't use your best hairdressing scissors but a kitchen pair will cope easily.

It is a fair point vs.  beer cans though - that aluminium alloy they use is  hard enough to scratch right through a fingernail.

Cheers.

[Jeannine]

Daft as it sounds, often the pen you wrote with will start the written ink to break down, then while it is wet you can wipe it off. I don't know for how long it works but  it doesn't have to be new,


Best cheap  labels I make  and I say this every year. The slats from and old venetian blind, one old blind from the thrift store will give you enough for a liftime. They cut easily. I prefer aluminum as it is super to write on but the plastic is OK too and if it gets bent it bounces back.

XX Jeannine

[flytrapman]

soak in meths for 5 mins or scrape with a sharp knife, use a pencil next time lasts longer and easier to remove

[mpdjulie]

I've started using white plastic disposable knives!!  They are long enough to get a good depth in the soil and to be able to leave a long enough space visible to write date/variety on them.  Because they are smooth - instead of the slightly rough texture of traditional planting labels - you can write on them with a cd pen and they rub of with an eraser.  Also they are cheap.  I just bought more from Wilkos, 50 for 97p.

[Digeroo]

I've started using white plastic disposable knives

Mega Brilliant.  I looked at some pukka labels and they were over £1 for only fifteen,

[kippers garden]

Thanks to this thread i've just made some labels out of a plastic milk container and they are wondeful...it will save me buying them again and they only took five mins to make.  Thanks again