I know that everybody is busy, but I have looked and looked and can't find the answer to my question. How long (what length) do you cut the mini blind label to insert into the 24 inch pipe? Thank you for your help!

joseskid: I probably shouldn't make a comment, because I can't find the original post about mini blind labels. However, if they are marked with "permanent" markers, and I have been doing it for years, INSIDE the house is fine, if you take them outside, they will become ineligible very quickly! Perhaps, if one can use one of those "Labellers", Brother, etc. and then stick the label on the mini- blind strips, would be much better.

Frank, thank you for taking the time to comment. I actually meant the 24 inch pvc pipe that you use to label daylilies outdoors. I've read that different ones write on, then stick a piece of mini blind down into the hole at the top of the pipe. This keeps the label safe from blowing away, or somehow getting scattered. I just need to know how long to cut the pieces of mini blind to be most effective, without being wasteful.

I don't use the pipe, but cut the blinds to about 5 inches long per label. I use a soft 6B lead pencil to write on the labels. Pencil lasts for years.

Thank you Valerie. I went ahead and cut them at 5 inches. I'll see how that does. I'm just so nervous planting my first seedlings!

I believe Fred use pvc in his garden. Tree mail him in this regard.

Larry, thank you for the tip, but I already cut them! Whoever thought of this method, I think it's gonna be nice. On the top of the label, with a black paint pen, I wrote the number that corresponds with my paper and computer lists. Further down, hidden from the sun, I placed my Brother P Touch label with the actual parent names.

I still built a big cage to put the babies in, to keep raccoons, squirrels, birds, deer - everyone away from my labels and babies! Too bad it may not be big enough for all the babies.


Gotta get out there!

Keep building. Look safe from the critters.

Josieskid - I use a slightly diff method skipping the PVC pipe. I write on 5" venetian blinds with special markers from Tractor Supply used to mark cow ear tags. These markers contain xylene, and this is what makes them permanent. Xylene was removed from all craft markers a few years ago. I totally bury the blinds when I plant, so just the very edge is visible. When the sdlgs bloom I can pull it up to see. Writing typically lasts years this way, and the markers don't get brittle from sun. Just another way of marking. I downsized my markers to 5" so I could be sure to get them all the way into the ground using a soil knife.

I like the idea of burying the tag as a backup, but I think because of critters that love to dig, the PVC would be much better. I just think I would want to keep them short so not so much white was showing. I think painting the white PVC would be nice, but it would be too much expense and trouble for me. I know some people like to leave the PVC tall and put the label directly on it so it can be seen from a distance (great for commercial growers who have to go out and find the plants in order to dig them). I may try some with my seedlings if I run across some tossed out used PVC pipe. I would want to cut the pipe with a sharp angled point so it could be pushed into the ground. Maybe make them about 18 inches long with about 12 inches pushed down into the soil, with the remaining six inches above ground to slide my vinyl marker into.

Rob, thank you for the information about the special markers. I have a tractor supply store nearby. I'm thinking that my labels are long enough there's room to write everything in paint pen, pencil, and cow ear marker! Just in case!

Like Larry says though, the raccoons around here are bulldozers. Their back feet are as long as my hand. When they finish their business, nothing is the way you left it. If it's just the one plant, yes, you can re-bury the label along with the plant (if it's still alive). But the thought of putting my 400 plus babies out there (some of which are tiny) was giving me nightmares! At first, I was thinking to use electrical fencing, but decided not to put my trust in that.

Right now, I'm only marking the crosses, not individual plants. So it's not so many. 400 babies out of twenty crosses. Not that I didn't try for many, many more!

Larry, Josieskid, I didn't realize how lucky I was not to have such destructive digging critters. Would hate to have to deal with that! Can see why PVC would be necessary. A lot of my v.blind markers heaved up a few years ago in that year's new seedling bed when we had a very warm winter with lots of freeze/thaw and it's awful to lose the parentage on your seedlings. I had to leave them lying on the ground where I found them and hope I could put them together with nearby seedlings once they bloomed, but for the most part there was too much iffyness to tell for sure.

I know my stepfather in Colorado used to have good luck putting electric fences about 8" above the ground to keep raccoons out, but he just had a relatively small backyard vegetable garden. A lot of work for large dl beds, and racoons can be pretty cagey.

I've got all kinds of critter holes in my daylily beds this year but apparently they aren't interested in daylily roots or markers. I saw a rodent running out of the corner of my eye, but not sure what exact kind it was. Guess that means my weasel is no longer around, so maybe my hens can have some free range time this year.