recommend tag source?

[oriky]

Hi, im looking for good tags, until now i bought those tags:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100PCS-Plant-Po ... Swd0BVzL4A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but it too big, and when i use pencil/pentel its erase after couple months.

im looking for cheaps and good source buy around 1000 tags

thanks

[iaeen]

Those look like a good deal. The ones I'm using are the same thing, but I paid twice the price

I wouldn't expect pencil to be a good way to label them. Regardless of what material the tags are made of, it will eventually wear off. I use fine tipped sharpies for my labels... they'll probably succumb to fading from the sun eventually, but I'm not sure what would be better.

[oriky]

i use those kind of tags for couple months, believe me it's not worth the money.
it just 100 piece of plastic...

i prefer pay more 1.5 and get something that worth the money

[SoilSifter]

In my experience the Sharpie writing fades away after a couple years and I'm left with a nearly blank tag. I noticed some of the plants I bought came with labels written in pencil. I tried using a pencil and haven't gone back to using a Sharpie. Some tags have a slicker surface than others. The tags that have more texture are better for pencil writing. I don't often handle the tags so rubbing off the writing hasn't been a problem, yet.

[DaveW]

The longest lasting labels are the themo printed stick on ones, same as in the Brother system in the link below, but you still need a label to stick them to. I have a brother 1230PC label printer that attaches to the computer and prints half inch wide labels, which just fit a normal UK label or tag. However I think that model has been withdrawn now. I gather these thermo printed type of labels are used on North Sea oill rigs, therefore are pretty long lasting in harsh conditions, even if the tapes are a little expensive.

I bought mine off EBAY when it was on offer at a lot cheaper price than normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNvdIwjC0A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks as if 1230PC has been withdrawn but evidently still available at clearance prices, the PT- P700 seems to have replaced it, printing wider tapes but you would have to check it will still print the narrow ones too.

http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/Ptouch_Computer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are a lot of label makers on the market, some use thermo printing and others emboss the label. I prefer the thermo printed ones myself. If you are buying one however make sure it will print the width of tape you want. Some only print wider tapes that are no use for the narrow labels/tags we use. I find the half inch tapes just fit the vertical labels/tags we use in the UK, You can also just stick the tapes on the plant pot itself and save the cost of a plastic label/tag, but if you group pots tightly together on the greenhouse staging as we do in the UK, you can't read them without lifting the pot out, therefore I prefer a label/tag in the pot.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... s&_sacat=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have not tried it, but as you say plastic labels or tags are often too smooth for writing on in pencil, therefore perhaps if you lightly sand the surface using very fine emery paper, or the fine wet or dry paper sold for rubbing paint down, pencil would probably key better?

Pencil will outlast most of the supposed permanent inks any day, depending what it is on. I have some old Hartley zink labels from the 1960's written in pencil that are perfectly legible still. The only problem is Hartley stopped making these metal labels years ago when plastic came out and was cheaper. From a commercial point of view, same as plant pots, they only need to last a couple of years for the nursery trade until the plant is sold, wheras we often want plant pots in the greenhouse and their labels to stand up to the UV in sunlight for 10 years or more before fading and without becoming brittle and disintegrating.

[greenknight]

You can still get zinc labels, google it. There are also copper and stainless steel ones available.

I use labels cut from broken vinyl mini blinds, they hold up quite well. Cutting 1000 0f them would be a lot of work, though.

[Aiko]

I use labels cut from broken vinyl mini blinds, they hold up quite well.

I use the same. Great stuff. And on it I stick a Dymo label.

[DaveW]

I was evidently wrong, since I thought Hartley labels were zinc, but evidently they were anodised aluminium. You can still get comparatively expensive metal labels in the UK, but not like the old cheap Hartley ones. As said the introduction of the cheaper plastic label, though not as long lasting, killed them off.

Evidently they even reached America:-

https://raingardenartsblog.com/2013/12/ ... al-labels/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/ ... nventions/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My friend had a Dymo Aiko but I still preferred the Brother thermo ones. With the computer coupled machine, unlike the hand held ones, I can also show off and print the plant names in italics which is theoretically correct for writing botanical names. Though we seldom bother to be that pedantic normally and use italics, only Cactus Journals stick to that convention.

http://blog.labelzone.co.uk/reviews/lab ... er-gl-100/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[iaeen]

I've heard of people using label makers for this, but I've always had concerns about the waterproofness of this. Are there specific tapes that people get for this, or is the standard tape more waterproof than I think it is?

Great idea using blinds. Those would hold up much better than the cheep labels that are linked above.

[DaveW]

Yes they use spercial tapes like the Brother ones that are pretty resistant. As I said they even stand up to sea water spray on North Sea Oill Rigs.

Couple of my old labels, getting a little dirty now they need a wash.

label.jpg (150.44 KiB) Viewed 1605 times

[Aiko]

I've heard of people using label makers for this, but I've always had concerns about the waterproofness of this. Are there specific tapes that people get for this, or is the standard tape more waterproof than I think it is?

Waterproof they are (if the pen states it is), but from my experience not so much sun intensity proof. They fade away in just a few month's time. That is why I eventually switched to a Dymo label printer. Saves me writing things down, I can just copy the names and locality data from an excel spreadsheet and print directly from my computer.