Have anyone's labels survived?

[caroline7758]

I labelled my plants with strips of venetian blind and a "permanen" marker pen. they are all blank after this rain. if anyone's have survived I'd love to know what they used!

[caroline7758]

[Si D]

Not mine - used the free plastic labels that came with the seeds: all have mysteriously dissappeared  ???

[Deb P]

I'm using P Touch printed labels this year, blue printed ones have faded to nothing, black print ones are fine....... ;D

[caroline7758]

Can you tell me more about P Touch, Deb?

[grawrc]

I always have problems with labels and would really welcome a solution if anyone has one.

[manicscousers]

our bits of cut up plastic milk bottles, marker penned have survived.. :)

[Mrs Ava]

Black permanent ink on regular labels is okay, altho they do fade over time, pencil for me lasts longest.  Red or blue permanent ink disappear overnight!

[asbean]

I only use labels for seeds, when the leaves have formed I know what it is.  For seeds sown direct we use permanent marker on balsa wood.

[Jeannine]

Mine have survived written with a Sharpie pen,mind you most have them are several lotties away . !! XX Jeannine

[Kepouros]

I use pieces of old aluminium salvaged from gale wrecked greenhouses and written on in black marker pen.  I cover the marking with a strip of waterproof scotch tape which sticks on forever (it even `mends` broken greenhouse panes permanently).  Of course, I have to keep growing the same things every year.

[tricia]

I made markers with a Brother P Touch labelling machine I bought at Lidl for about 13 quid. I used black on white and all the labels are fine - ran out of tape and bought a second one on E-Bay (much cheaper!). Next year I shall only need to make a few of different tomato varieties (won't be growing some of the plum types from this year as I'm not very happy with them!) All the others will be reusable so the investment was well worth it.

Tricia

[Deb P]

Can you tell me more about P Touch, Deb?

OH bought me mine as a Christmas pressie the year before last, it is still using the same batteries! I have found using the narrow tape is the best and fits on normal sized plastic labels nicely. I keep my labels from year to year and they are in good condition to reuse if I grow the same things, easy to peel off and replace the label if not. Useful if you have several pots of the same thing, just keep printing out as many labels as you want. eBay is where I get my replacement tapes from too, they are not really cheap either. :-\

Downsides? Well it probably does take a bit longer to do each one, peel it off and stick on than writing with a pencil directly on a label, and you have to stick the labels on to something; I don't put mine direct on pots as I pot things on quite quickly usually, most useful for things that stay in pots, like peppers and indoor toms. Also look good on plant sale donations! I have some bigger T shaped labels I use down the plot that I have stuck the printed labels to, but to be honest I don't like the look of them , it makes it look bit like a showgarden so I've stopped using it for those now!

There are also the resource implications, yes I will be reusing all those that I can, but I do like to try different things so it probably isn't the most environmentally friendly of approaches......OH and kids do like to use it for labelling their stuff as well, so it is useful for them too... ;D

[debster]

i used plastic from a margarine tub written on with a cd marker pen and theyre pretty good

[Emagggie]

our bits of cut up plastic milk bottles, marker penned have survived.. :)

I did exactly the same and they are still ok, butI confess to marking my seed labels with felt tip and of course the writing disappeared into the condensation under the lid. Sirry Irriot ::)

[caroline7758]

Mine was a Sharpie pen, too, Jeannine. Maybe it's the surface I'm writing on that's a problem.

[Tinkie_Bear]

Amazed to find that my lolly sticks with permanant marker pen have survived, the shop brought ones with the permanant marker on it have gone blank but the ones with pencil writing on them are still fine (apart from the one I cut in half when harvesting cut and come again leaves - ooops)

[Larkshall]

Blimey!!

With all these problems, I give up. No not really, I have a last idea that might last. Use my laser printer to print an A4 page of labels cut them all to size, arrange them on an encapsulation sheet then heat seal and cut labels out with 2mm seal all round.

[Multiveg]

GardenAntics was telling me about labels - I've been mastering writing backwards so I can make labels using old drinks cans. What happens is that the writing is embossed so won't get washed away with rain. He sells the instructions as well as sheets of metal for making labels.
He was telling me about plastics - there is a chemical in them on the surface or something that goes in sunlight or something - can't remember exactly, but it explains why pen on plastic "proper" labels fades. I think he said to give em a scrub before writing.
However, some small 3-4ft high creatures like removing labels.....!

[Paulines7]

I haven't found a marker pen yet that doesn't rub off over the course of the growing season.  I now have a Dymo label printer........pinched the idea from my niece Prink 13.   I stick them onto my own labels made from plastic milk bottles.

[twinkletoes]

Brilliant idea Larkshall - going to try this one today.  Doesn't the damp get in where you cut the label down to size though?