That's an awesome deal. You should be stocked for a long time to come.

A friend gave me probably 1000 wooden coffee stirrers. They had bought them in bulk. I am using some for coffee, and some for winter sowing. I have to write smaller than usual, as they're more narrow than popsicle sticks, but that's worth it since they are free. It remains to be seen how well the writing will remain visible after months outside. I've tried to keep detailed records in case the writing fades badly. I've heard blinds are the best as far as not fading.

1500 plant markers... well, that should take care of this season's winter-sowing!

:)
Dee

Great! I'll add that to my list. :)

Mini blinds are my favorite plant markers too. The cheapest and another way to recycle.
Great finds. :-)

I used popsicle sticks the first year I WSowed. They blackened long before the spring was over, because dark moisture from the soil seeped up the stick. There was no way to decipher the writing after that.

I've tried mini blinds using a sharpie marker but the words faded off. What do you all use? Does it fade? I've heard that I need to turn my written side to not face the direct sunlight.

That's a great find!

My great find has been milk jugs from my mother-in-law. She lives in an apartment complex that recycles. So she's been claiming the gallon milk jugs for me. She brings me 15 - 20 a week! :) Wahoooooo!

gardeningwithlcgrace - just use a regular #2 lead pencil - works GREAT and won't fade at all - some of mine are 3 years old and been in sun, rain, snow and I can still read them. I love mini blinds for plant markers - you can also just cut the blinds with scissors - very easy and very cheap ......

Lynne

Use a paint pen instead of a sharpie, you can find these in the craft section. I use a paint pen on one side of the marker, #2 pencil on the other.

I have one marker in my garden from 5 years ago (paint pen) and it's just now starting to fade.

I either write on the milk jug with a sharpie or if I am using a sterlite box or aluminum cake pan I write on a piece of duct tape with the sharpie and stick it on the side down low. My sharpie hasn't faded so far I can always read what I have sowed. To mark plants after I plant them out in the garden I have written with the sharpie on plastice tableware! I like the handles of knives best but have also used spoons or forks if I ran out of knives!
Joann

I do use mini blinds, but the excess moisture in the containers can sometimes wash off even permanent marker. You can:

- Cover the end with foil tape, which is impressionable when using a ball point pen (tip from WS April)
- Use pencil instead of pen (marks better on some blinds than others)
- Use a pen made to write on livestock tags (waterproof, available more in rural areas at feed supply stores)

Monica

I do the foil tape - that way even if the ink runs off, you can still see the impression of what you wrote, and if you want to reuse them, you just have to peel the tape off & put on another. (Says Gail, who keeps finding little balls of foil tape tossed into her seed box - who would do that!!)

I've had marginal luck with my labels as they always are victims of the elements. I will try the blinds with either #2 pencil and or painter markers this year. BUT as a secondary identification method I'm going to take digital pictures of the containers where they sit for the winter, print them and write down what is sowed. Fool proof,nope but should be better than the first two years of wsing guess work.

I have two old mini blinds that I have been cutting and using for the past year and a half. But my deal for the year is the seeding pots I bought from a guy in my city! I bought a box of 100 flats and each flat has 32, 2 1/2 inch pots, and I paid 15 dollars for it!!!!!! I think I'm going back next week to get another case. I'm soooo glad that I didn't have to spend a small fortune buying these flats.

I use plastic blinds to label my containers. Each blind is numbered with a Sharpie. Each number corresponds to a specific plant and the list is kept in a Word document. I've reused the same markers for three years. The Sharpie holds up fairly well for me, with occasional freshening up. However, as a backup, before I write the number, I use a razor blade or pin to scratch the number into the plastic. That way, if the number does fade, all I need to do is rub a little dirt over the scratches and the number appears.

I'm a member of freecycle and two other members have notified me that they have old miniblinds (and pots, hopefully large ones) that they want to get rid of. The miniblinds do not have to be in any shape, they can be completely useless or unattractive as blinds, so I can keep them out of the landfill when people have to throw them out. I am probably going to get more than I need, and I hope it won't take too long for me to cut them up and make the markers. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this, though, because I have so many, many plumerias that also need cultivar, seedling markings. It's a great find because the blinds are free, and I am keeping them out of the landfill (a big plus to me).