When I really need a plant tag to last, I use soft aluminum tags. You don't write on them with ink or paint or anything. Instead the writing is embossed by the pressure of the writing utensil. I use these on fruit trees when I might need to read the label 10 years or more later. The ones I use are meant to hang off of a tree branch, but I think you can get the same thing in copper for sticking into the ground.
http://www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/productdetails.cfm?productid=T485

Aluminum labels @ Raintree Nursery

I use these tags (check below website) but I don't use the pen that comes with them. I print out a list of the veggies or plants that I want to tag on my computer and then using that as a stencil I poke holes with a push pin though the aluminum, a little time consuming, put it is permanent.

http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_productdetails&productid=8771&cid1=205&cid2=837&cid3=-99

I certainly know your frustration but don't quite understand your question. Tomato plants don't last 3 years.

I transplant tomatoes, peppers, and such to 4-packs (48 per flat) and then out into the garden. Since there are a lot of them (maybe 150 - 200 for transplanted annual veggies) I don't use a plastic label for each plant but have 1 for every 4-pack. There's MY problem!

If I lose that 1 "sticker," there will be 4 plants in a row that I can't be sure of! And lose them, I will. They get buried under the foliage, or hit with the tiller, or stepped on.

Since new varieties show up every year, there's not too much reason to save labels. Of course, there are varieties that make return engagements and usually a few old labels are around to ID them. That doesn't work too well either - vinyl labels become brittle after a growing season in the sun (unless they become hidden under the foliage ;o). Being too frugal doesn't work well here.

I guess most of us know that "permanent" markers, aren't.

I buy pens from Johnny's Seed Co. and that ink doesn't have any trouble staying thru the season.

Steve

Instead of buying aluminum tags just make your own and recycle at the same time. Aluminum pop/beer cans can be cut with shears/household scissors into any shape you wish. Then write the name of the plant on the bare side with a ball point pen - press hard. Attach the tag to the plant with a small piece of wire or stick it in the ground, or staple to a stake, etc.

The ink fades but the indentation remains and is legible for years.

Dave

I make cedar markers, 1" wide 16" long from mill ends. I burn the name into the wood with a wood burning tool. They last for years - don't rot, don't fade. I also sell them at local farmer's market.

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I of course, do not need them to last for three years for vegetables (although I have grown about the same 20 varieties of tomato for at least 15 years.) I have had tags marked with felt pen that don't survive a garden season without fading. I buy a "bundle of lathe" from the lumberyard which is about 50 pieces. I tape my plant labels to them and pound the stake into the ground. I can remove the tag at the end of the year and recycle it. Taped to the stakes, they don't get lost beneath a big tomato plant (I usually tape them to my 8 foot T post for tomatoes) or stepped on or in Wyoming's case, blown away.

"Instead of buying aluminum tags just make your own and recycle at the same time. Aluminum pop/beer cans can be cut with shears/household scissors into any shape you wish. Then write the name of the plant on the bare side with a ball point pen - press hard. Attach the tag to the plant with a small piece of wire or stick it in the ground, or staple to a stake, etc."

Dave, I really like that idea! It gives me something garden-related to do in Winter, when all I can do is dream. ;-)

There are lots of things which can go wrong with labels. I keep a garden note book and make a sketch of my planting plan. Then, no matter what happens to the labels, I have a record of what's planted where. It's helpful information when planning next year's garden also. I used to think I can remember last year's garden, but I can't.

Jim