2 things happens to labels. They get brittle from UV light, break and fall off or the writing fades. Some of the best orchid growers (Andy for example) give you lousy labels. Lots of useful info on them but after about 5 years very prone to breakage. In a potted plants that's OK but with a mounted plant you may loose it's ID. I have been making my own labels for years and feel they are superior to what I can buy. My son replaced full length venetian blinds in his living room some years ago. The panels were floor to ceiling, 3 1/2" wide and made of a durable semi rigid white vinyl/plastic. Using a paper cutter I cut them into 3/4" to 1" strips and drilled a hole in one end. Once I started doing that, like a robot, I finished all of the panels, I must have a couple of thousand labels, enough to last me for this and the next two lives. After experimenting with permanent markers, I always come back to regular graphite #2 pencil which seems to work best. I does not seem to fade. Prior to this I cut up regular venetian blinds which have the 1" wide strips, also good but these are better. Several members have 2 labels for each potted plant. One goes in the bottom of the pot, the other in the usual place at the side. If the latter gets lost or fades, the one in the bottom of the pot is there to rescue the ID of the plant. On mounted plants I try to use 2 labels, one on each side so if one falls off, the other is there. When I water I always carry a pencil with me and when I notice a tag is fading, I freshen it up. A respected hybridizer/grower, Gerardus Staahl of Peninsula Hybrids also uses these blinds but he cuts his tags 2" wide and writes the name of the plant horizontal. Makes sense, they are easier to read and one does not have to pull the tag out. I personally have not adopted that as to me, the 2" wide tag is to conspicuous. So far the venitian blind tags have shown no sign of UV brittleness. Despite all that I have my share of NDTs (same as NOID, figure it out). Frustrating. Nick

we all know they are H. ... so i leave that off.. thats 4 spaces ... including blanks on each side ... then i figured out.. that on my tags.. i can get 14 to 16 characters per line .... then i figured out.. that i can fit two rows of tape per tag ... then i figure out that i could get 3 rows.. if i cut the top and bottom ones at the top of the writing.. and the bottom ... and then i figured out... that if i used no spaces between different names ... i could run out a 12 to 15 inch tape of names and only waste the lead and follow on said tape ... and a small pair of very sharp scissors to cut in between names .. but i do use space inside names that will fit in one row the lakeside names are maddening.. when you add that.. and i use all caps ... to not waste tape on quote marks ... so my tape would look something like this: TOY SOLDIERABBYJUNELAKESIDESURF RIDERLIBERTYVICTORY ... etc until the machine tells me no more spaces available ... make any sense???? i then take the cut piece with the name ... with the backing still on... and center it ... and note which letter is under which hole... so that when i take the backing off.. i can line it up and get it basically centered ... i also polish the zinc tags with a dry wash cloth to insure there are no dust speck prior to sticking the tape on ... then just before i press down the last corner.. i take one last look.. to see just how crooked it is.. lol ... if you look real close at the tag.. you will see lines in the zinc .. part of the manufacturing process ... and those can be used to make the label basically straight ... ken below is a picture of a 15 year old tag .. note the A and D are basically right below the holes ps: if you audience doesnt know they are H. .. or hosta.. get some better friends.. lol .... though i do put full latin on everything else in the yard ....

Thanks for your help. I just check amleo.com and and called them they said they only sell the labels and no printers. they referred me to horticultural printers, they sell them but are over $2500 each printer... Still searching... Any suggestions? Bass

Word perfect as I use to go to it then to labels. That is where I run into the problem. When I do labels, it is a entirely different format. BUT, I am working with Avery and did download one of their programs so we will see what happens now. Thanks Marie