Do you mark your iris? And how?
Comments (13)
Nancy
10 years agohosenemesis
10 years agoRelated Discussions
How do you mark your pots?
Comments (16)I am managing hundreds of trees both in the ground and in containers............sure don't want to have any mislabeled or the correct ID somehow lost. My in ground trees all have those Aluminum tags for identification. I also keep a map of my orchard for back up ID. Those aluminum tags are quite shiny and have caught the attention of some birds. They were trying to pull them off of my trees. Maybe they want to steal them to decorate their nest....who knows. Copper is more durable than aluminum and will not not shine with age. Maybe it is a better choice. I use a Sharpie pen to ID my fig cuttings while they are in rooting cups. I root hundreds of cuttings each year (lots of experiments) and will re-use these rooting cups. I use a Sharpie to write the cutting ID on the outside wall of the cup. A dab of gasoline on a rag will quickly erase a Sharpie writing on a plastic rooting cup (the clear "crystal" type). I tried to use marked sticks for young fig starts in containers. Don't trust that my four grandsons will not remove or switch them while playing. Much easier to write on my black plastic trade gallon pots with a $2.00 Prang metallic marker. Like I've stated earlier, this produces a permanent highly visible gold or silver metallic paint that will not come off under any conditions. This becomes very important when you manage hundreds of container figs.....and are looking for a cheap, simple, and 100% reliable identification system. Dan...See MoreHow do you label your iris's?
Comments (10)Plastic above the ground eventually becomes brittle. I've been trying the old mini blind lengths also. With 8-inch lengths you can write the name at each end with pencil or a "paint pen". Half gets buried. The paint pens are available at Michael's craft stores and black is the most permanent. Made by Uchida. Another back up is a digital photo (highest resolution) of the freshly planted rhiz with marker showing beside new rhiz. With your hand drawn map and a copy of your order !!! you will be in good shape. If you can afford the markers Irisawe is using, they're the best! Another idea I've read of is to punch a hole large enuf in the label's end to fit over a bamboo stake. Then as the iris 'travels' the staked label can be moved. Of course they may travel in opposite directions....See Moredo you mulch your iris beds?
Comments (8)I do mulch around the irises, and it does help with weed suppression in early spring. The irises are so interplanted with other plants there is little room for weeds after things are up and going in late spring. I hand pull the johnny-jump-ups and the like that self seed into the middle of a clump, but otherwise there's just no where for a weed to grow in the beds by early summer. In spring I wait until the weeds sprout then mulch so the seedlings suffocate and die, otherwise the seeds just sit until they hit the surface again and then sprout. In my small garden this is relatively easy though. It won't be feasible for everyone. And the downside is I am constantly battling leafspot because of no air circulation between the plants. Mike...See MoreHow do you mark your tomatoes?
Comments (14)I head to the tomato patch with a handful of used plastic shopping bags, a roll of masking tape worn like a braclet and a Sharpie -yes, black- in my pocket or behind my ear. The first ripe tomato picked from a plant gets a name label made from the tape, just tear it off and stick it on. Others from the same plant go in the same bag- sans labels. Next variety new bag, same procedure. The bags sit in piles around the patch until I'm done, then gathered for the walk back to the house. They get sorted into piles on the kitchen counter for our eating pleasure. SOS...See Morelindahood
10 years agooregonwoodsmoke
10 years agovieja_gw
10 years agoiris_gal
10 years agobear_with_me
10 years agoI used wooden sticks - like tougue depressors or ice cream bar sticks, marked with a sharpie. Don't do that! They rotted away in less than a year!
I bought metal stakes online and used a permanent laundry marker. That seems to be lasting.
There are aluminum labels that make indentation when written on. Those would not fade, but require a stick to tie them to. I like those but I like the metal stakes better.
indiana_matt
10 years agoI have tried many of the above labeling options and have never really been 100% satisfied. I have been looking at new options myself (as spring will be here soon...best to label my irises while I know what they are). See the link below for stamped spoon labels. You don't have to use silver spoons...just go to Goodwill and get the really cheep ones, but if you know what you are looking at you can fine silver spoons at Goodwill for the same price as all the rest.
I have a lot of different varieties and I'm also an artist, so I would be more likely to justify the investment in some of the tools involved with this one. For someone who only has a few varieties, it might not be worth the money to invest in the letter stamps. I'm not sure if I would use the spoons in my garden, but I really like the stamping idea...one could use the stamps on all sorts of metal labels.
I too have lost varieties do to having a mixed iris border at the beginning. Over the years, I have been trying to drastically separate out each variety, giving lots of space between each, so I don't accidentally loose more.
Matthew
Indiana.Matt
Here is a link that might be useful: Stamped Spoon Garden Labels
lavman
10 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years agojudytapio
10 years agoGrannySojourner
10 years ago
aseedisapromise