Tip of the Day

Tired of paying high prices for plant labels in the stores? So was I. So I cut up one of my horizontal blinds now I have lots of plant labels. If you don't have any horizontal blinds just look in other peoples' trash everyweek... you will see them sticking out of the garbage cans.
"Another Persons' trash is another ones Treasure"

Hi, Dinkadog,

And what do you use to write on it? I have not found markers that do not fade in sun...So I use pencil, but it is less visible than markers, I would prefer markers.

I just use a Sharpie marker it does'nt come off.

Sharpie...I must try to find that in my country. We have here waterproof ones, but not sunlightproof.

Nina, we have Sharpies in Canada too. They work well for a time but I find they fade in sunlight after a few months too. Why not get a tiny pot of black paint (like for painting models) & paint the words on. If you buy a water-proof paint that dries fast, it will last for years.

I've used plastic lids from 4 litre buckets of ice cream. I don't eat that much ice cream but the small pails are often sold in 2nd hand stores (thrift shops) for 25c so I can use the pails for garden stuff & the lids, I cut up for markers & other things.

Another quick tip that many probably already use but worth mentioning in case. I use discarded panty hose or nylon tights, cut into strips to tie plants. They're very stretchy but don't dig hard into a plant being tied. I make a figure 8 to hold a stem to a bamboo stake or some other stake. One loop of the 8 goes around the stake, tightly tied on & the other loop is placed more loosely around the plant stem.

One pair of panty hose can be cut into many strips. I generally cut them cross-wise not vertically since each strip has so much stretch to it. If one does wear panty hose (I doubt any men here do ), they can be bought at thrift shops VERY cheap - 25-50 cents for a pair.

A good tip Iso, however, hell will freeze over before I buy a pair of panty hose even in a thrift shop. My plants will just have to make due with old tee shirts and the like. The male ego is quite fragile, you know.

evo

Evo, you will just have to send in your wife or a female friend to buy the panty hose for you. Old T-shirts get torn up to make rags so I always use old panty hose instead. Since I wear tights or bare legs (in summer) with dresses & skirts, I get mine from thrift shops. Actually, I get most of my clothes from thrift shops. I'm glad many women grow tired of their clothes quickly. Saves me lots of money!

By the way, there's a town called Hell in Norway. I'm sure it freezes over in winter. During such time, I expect to find you in a thrift shop, buying panty hose.

Iso, you are very funny. Thanks for the needed laughs. And, by the way, it appears to be very fashionable to purchase clothes at thrift shops. Early this spring in the US, I was at a garage sale and I was very cold (I don't have many warm clothes because in CR there is very little need). The person there sold me some very nice sweaters for $4 each. I put one of them on immediately. I was very warm and very happy.

For me personally to buy panty hose, I would have to wait until no one else was in the store. Also, the clerk would have to be female because they are more kind.

evo

Back to the markers guys,
I use Staedtler permanent Lumocolor. The black ones are waterproof and lightproof, the writing usually lasts at least two seasons. They are made in Germany, but widely available in Europe. I searched for years for the right thing and this is it. A tip is to scrape the plastic label with a blade before writing on it. It often has a coating of waxy release agent which shortens the life of your writing.