For marking containers, I use duct tape with black sharpie and cover the duct tape with a layer of clear packing tape. Will stay legible for several years.

mini-blinds and a regular pencil - lasts for years ......

Lynne

I cut up white milk jugs or Kefir containers into strips and use grease pencil.

havent been able to figure a way to "erase" the grease pencil!

:)

What's a grease pencil & where do I get one?

I like rumbum's idea of clear tape over.

I'm with Lynne - and if you write it on one end and put it below the soil line it's there for keeps

Works - foil tape and ball point pen.

China Marker/Grease Pencil:

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I got mine at the dollar store, unfortunately, its not there anymore. Bummeer, they also had a dozen bamboo stakes for a buck also. Not a seed in the store tho.

I mark my containers with a sharpie, not problems

Hi BL-
I have too (sharpie on the containers), but after I realized I don't need to mark the container, I opted to just put the ground stakes in the container (stuck in the edge of the container facing in so I can read what it is when I'm looking for sprouts), and then put the stake/marker in the ground for the season. I found that the sharpie doesn't last in the garden all season. Are you using the sharpie on a different material than either the vinyl or the plastic knife so that it's got better staying power?

China Markers/Grease pencils can be found at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Be persistent. Every year they've moved them, and every year the clerk doesn't know what I'm talking about. But they've got 'em.

Black Permanent Sharpie markers on colored electrical tape. Apply tape on outside of container below soil line and it still looks like new at plant-out time.

Rustolem paint pens...nail polish remover will not take it off...it is VERY permanent!;)

Vinyl blinds and #2 pencil. I use them in the container, then they go in the ground when the babies are put in their final home.

I used to mark on the containers themselves, but quickly realized when I went to reuse them, I could confuse myself.

Tried Sharpie and was guessing at some containers in the first season because they did fade.

Bought Lee Valley's Garden Markers and have never had an issue. Some tags have been out for three year and I can still see them clearly.

I use plastic spoons and paint pens from the craft store. Haven't had a problem yet!

Tiffy, did you write directly on the container with the Sharpie? I write on colored electrical tape, which is then applied to the outside of the container. On the electrical tape, the Sharpie will not fade.

China markers or sharpies don't work for me - they fade within the first season.

I also bought some paint pens at an art supply store, but those didn't work either.

I finally bought a different paint pen at ACE hardware and it seems to be working. I can't remember the name of it though. I've only been using it for a couple of weeks, so I'm not sure about its longevity.

I wonder if those of you further north have better luck with the china markers and sharpies because it doesn't get as hot up there. I think the GA heat fades them quickly here.

I just use sharpie on project tape. I'm not sure that the name of the tape is. It's beige and feels like a glossy sheet of paper with a sticky side. If I'm really afraid of the ink washing or bleaching off then I cover the words with a layer of scotch tape. My handwiritng is tiny, saves tape and ink =P

Paint Pens. Period. Now in my 3rd year, I have "sharpie" labels all over the yard that I can not read - faded or completely gone information.. The plant labels with Paint pen writing applied at the end of last season looks exactly the same as the day I wrote it.

They cost only a little bit more than a sharpie. I get them on ebay.My brown one wrote up over 100 labels before it ran out of paint.

I cut up lids from plastic contianers that I won't be using for WS... like cottage cheese containers. I recycle what I don't use. I use a paint pen I bought at Wallmart to mark them.

I also use cut up mini blinds (my neighbour was throwing out some blinds last year and I raided her garbage--with her permission:)) I wrote on them with an ordinary pencil and they are still very readable. In fact I tried to erase some and it was not easy to do!
I have a tip though. Make several plant markers if you intend to get several chunks of plants from one container, and plant them in different spots. Last year I 'thought' that I would remember what things were when I planted them and didn't want to stick the marker in the garden beside the newly planted HOS as I was afraid that I would forget what was in the container....well you know by the time you get back a while later, you have a lot of figuring to do!! :)
gg

Last year I used sharpies on the jugs, and I still have stuff in jugs but the marker wore off! Now I have to wait for them to bloom!
-B

Great thread, still useful to a "veteran".
Thanks.
Question- what is the advantage of mini-blinds over regular plastic garden markers that are sold in the garden store?

Price would be one I imagine, if one sows many containers.
Is there any other?

I use pencil on garden markers, and magic marker on the containers (I have to re-do about half-way thru). I use the legend system. Keep a notebook with numbers, and I just number each container.
If I lose the notebook, I know nothing!

What's a "sharpie"?

Makes me think of a knife - but I don't think you'all are using a knife, an exacto blade? :)

Sharpie is a supposedly permanent marker, but when I tried them in my first year they faded to the point they couldn't be read. I switched to paint pens and they don't fade at all, even after several years.

I used to use cut up yogurt cups as the label itself. They worked well. Now, since September, we have had 2 extreme "wind events" (70 to 80 mph) that actually blew them out of the ground because they weren't long enough. The writing with paint pen is still legible but most are strewn around the yard, mostly stuck in the lawn.

I finally broke down and bought several hundred actual plant markers, linked below. I like them better than mini blinds or yogurt cups because they're harder, easier to stick into my clay soil easily, and hopefully long enough to stay put once placed.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant labels

I use cut up mini blinds and a Sharpie. They do fade, but not that much. I think a lot depends on where you have your containers. Mine are on the north side of my building, so not much sun. They do fine for me.

If you put the plant marker in facing north it will last 5 times as long as facing south. Just my two cents worth.
Duane

Persons on a cleaning forum elsewhere say that a permanent felt point on soft leather white cannot be removed.

So here I propose an experiment for one of you who needs long lasting labels. Take an old white leather shoe, cut off some strips, make some labels, put them out by some devise - perhaps staple them to some plastic bottles - and wait and report.

For me, Sharpie fades but Sharps-A-Lot does not. Too bad I can't find it in a medium or fine point!

I must second Tiffy's use of the markers by Lee Valley. They last for years - in the seedling containers and then in the ground. I took the time to cut up several detergent containers into nicely shaped markers (used a bought one as a pattern) and I use and re-use them for annuals. In the containers, then in the garden. For perennials, I clean them off after the first year with nail-polish remover and re-use them - that's the only thing that will take the writing off.
Northerner.

Has anyone ever just used black paint?

For my perennials in the garden, I use labels made with a Brother label maker and stick them on 6-7" pieces of metal mini blind, which I cut with my DH's aviation snips so they are pointed on one end. They're not perfect, but they last several years and are easy to read. For my small pots and seed trays, I use a Sharpie marker and those purchased white plant markers that another poster recommended, the kind that come in strips. I'll have to look around here for the kind of marking pen someone called "Sharps-A-Lot". I would try Lee Vallley but there is none in my city. Maybe I'll look for paint pens too. Are they sold in a craft store or in the paint section of a hardware store?

P.S. I got the suggestion of a Brother label maker from the Daylily Forum.

Took a stroll around yard yesterday and noticed the white paint on my metal mini blind plant markers was peeling off. The writing was fine - Elmer's paint pen under $3 from wally world craft section. ARG!!

Annette

I also found that the paint peeled off my markers when I used a paint pens bought at a hobby store. Bought a fine tipped Pilot gold paint marker at an office supply store that hasn't peeled and hasn't faded. Don't use the black Pilot paint marker though as it fades.

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