[SusieB]

I have never been good at labelling what I've sown or planted.  Having finally accepted that I won't remember, this year I labelled with the little white plastic labels and a permanent marker pen.  But even though it says permanent, I can't read them after they have been outside for while.

What do other people use to label their plants?  Having grown a gourd instead of a melon in the greenhouse, I need a solution!

[mumofstig]

white labels with the supplied pencil work well for me, @ 99p in Wilko 

[VegGirl7]

I've used permanent marker on wooden 'lolly' sticks for everything that's started in pots this year, they've faded but are still legible. 

Out on the plot I use the wooden/bamboo label sticks, again, it does fade but I can still make out what they are.  I'm thinking of going over with marker and using the same ones next year as the're still in good condition

picked them both up in wilko sales (even out of the sales they're are still cheap though) 

[SusieB]

Mumofstig, doesn't the pencil come off if you use them outside?  I've used an ordinary pencil and blink and it's gone.  Maybe there's something special about the supplied pencil.

Will get to Wilko and try the wooden one's too.  Maybe go over them mid-season.  But as I have said, I'm not good at labelling them once, never mind doing  a top-up.  But as yet again I am buying new seed garlic, as I don't know which garlic is which, I must persevere.

[Steveharford]

I'm also interested in the answer to this one. I've tried lolly sticks and they very quickly went mouldy, making the writing impossible to read. I've had success with bigger ones for the garden by making a flat on a hazel stick and writing on with a carpenters pencil. About an inch thick by a foot long, they look nice and rustic too. Just experimenting with some black plastic ones with white marker pen ,supplied with them , on my garlic patch. So far so good and they look pretty professional too. If you like that sort of thing.

[Totty]

I use the small white plastic labels and a pencil. One side of the labels seem to be smooth, the pencil soon comes off, the other side is slightly rougher and the pencil stays legible all year.

Totty

[allotmentann]

I have tried most things. The best by far are the white plastic with a good permanent marker, so good that I can't reuse the sticks unless I use them for the same plants. I find the supplied pencil wears off outside. Lolly stick type ones even with good marker are all but useless for me, going mouldy and illegible within six months. I have large oak markers on the plot, but the permanent marker has faded after a year.   

[mumofstig]

It's strange, because I find markers from years before when I dig over, and I can still see the pencil markings, and yes, as has been mentioned, use the rough side of the labels.

[jrko]

One word:  whiteboard

Keep it in the shed and hey presto! No faffing about with markers and little pieces of plastic ever again

[Dantheman]

jrko that's a great idea might have to try this, will have to be out of reach of little hands.

[Kristen]

I have a number of backup strategies 
 
I use a permanent marker on white labels.  It doesn't seem to fade, but as a precaution I put the labels in with writing opposite side to sunlight, and push them in so the writing is under ground / well into the pot (which also stops them getting knocked out of the pot easily when brushing past them).

But even doing that animals pull them up ... and people pick them up, read them, say "That's interesting" ... and then put the label back against a different plant

I generally [unless I need then in ripening-order] plant vegetables varieties in alphabetical order. Then when labels lost / mixed up I can still work out which one was Aardvarck and which was Zebra

For permanent planting, in the ornamental garden for example, I have a spreadsheet of all the plants in the garden, and columns for which bed they are in, and "position".  Position is the number of strides from one end of the bed (obviously need to be consistent! I start from the end nearest the house), and then a letter for Front, Middle or Back.  Unless I plant two very similar plants near each other knowing what Genus-X variety-Y is 5 yards along the border is good enough for me to ID it.  The spreadsheet can be sorted by Bed / Position to give a list in "walking order", and is my fall back when label lost / moved / illegible.

I also have columns in the Spreadsheet for various critical times of the year - e.g. a column for "Frost forecast" that gives me a list of any lift-and-bring-in type actions.

(Spreadsheet also has various other OCD columns - where I got it from and the date, how much I paid, and so on).

[jrko]

WOW Kristen that's thorough  :blink:

Looks at whiteboard......thinks about buying MacBook Air....wife says no

[fatcat1955]

No good for planting out but when i sow into mini pot's i number the pot's accordingly. So all pot's with a no.1 are Sweet corn , all pot's with a no.2 are Brussel's etc etc. Obviously the pot's need to light in colour to write on but i have found that because the pot's are in the poly tunnel the number's have remained visible for the last 4 year's.

[Yorkie]

I've never had a problem with pencil on the white labels.

[Nikkithefoot]

I got a brother printer and stick the labels on the white plastic sticks. Even after a year of being in the ground buried 'cos I forgot to pull them out the labels are still stuck fast. Can vary the size of the text, wonderful invention