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Best way to label and catalogue your collection

theplantman

theplantman

Hi all! I am looking into trying to breed Sarracenia a la Mike Wang/Rob Co/Brooks Garcia/Jerry Addington and wanted to take a survey of the ways you all label your collections. I'm still in the early stages of building a Sarr collection, but I imagine sooner or later I could get in over my head trying to keep track of all the crosses I've made or even be able to write complex labels very easily and quickly.

Does anybody use computers to keep up with their collections? I am considering having an Excel document with various categories of info about each plant. That's in addition to individually labeling the plants.

Also, for those out there with crazy multi-generational crosses, how do you label your stuff? Furthermore, how do you prevent the potential for labels to be broken, stolen by animals, or lost? Any kinds of labels work better than others? I already know pencil's the best for making your writing last.
 
The Brother P-Touch Model: PT1280 laminated label maker works great.

I've got plant labels 5 years old and they look the same as when I printed them out, the adhesive hasn't loosened nor has the print faded any amount in that time.

If you have a website / nursery / etc you can get custom printed rolls of 5" long x 1/2" wide plastic plant tags with your logo or website URL on one side for about $40 per 1000 labels. To keep my labels from coming out I usually shove them most of the way down into the pot so just the tip sticks up since I have no actual need to see the label unless I'm making cuttings and need to copy the label.
 
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definitely one that interfaces with your puter.... I got a small thermal hand held portable and its a PITA to use.
 
the Ptouch D200 was on sale for about $23 at OfficeMax over here. was down $20 from list.
 
Thanks very much for all the feedback! The options all seem neat and I'll begin looking into them!
 
I use thick white plastic plant labels and a GONTP (Good Old Number 2 Pencil). On the label, I put my ID code twice (once at the top, and once half-way down the label). This way, if the top of the label breaks off, I still have the ID code. I also have a color coding system to keep track of individual plants in the collection: Red = primary stock plant, Yellow = secondary stock plant and green = available for trade, etc. I always keep at least two pots of each plant if possible, and more of really rare stuff. I slide these colored labels behind the main ID label.

My ID codes are an easy way for me to know what's what. I have a different code for each Sarracenia species and hybrid (e.g. SFL = Sarracenia flava, followed by a #, SxEO = S. x exornata) and so on. I have the collection information assigned to each code in a filemaker database, but I have been largely using a google docs spreadsheet for the task these days.
 
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Thanks, Jay--I would eventually like to develop a collection much like yours and I think that's a good way to go. I really do think I need to have my own plant codes before I get in over my head.

Remember to stop by if you're ever headed down south :).
 
  • #10
For plant labels that can take the sun and not become brittle just get an old set of mini blinds from Goodwill or one of the other "THRIFT STOREs" (make sure they are vinyl and not metal :>}) and cut them into suitable sizes. Cut one for inserting into the side of the pot to see and one smaller one with just the ID number into the bottom of the pot for an emergency backup. If you aren't putting the labels in when repotting then just shove the small one deep into the pot.
 
  • #12
Costco has one of the Brother P-touch desktop label machines on sale for $19.99 until March 31, 2014. The regular price is $29.99 (or could be $27.99). I didn't write down the model number but it does not have a computer interface. As I recall two fonts and memory for some labels (I want to say 3). Sorry I didn't write down the details. Comes with two tapes of different widths.
 
  • #14
+1 on the miniblinds and GONTP. Also, Jay's labeling system has always seemed like the bee's knees to me.
 
  • #15
I'm using Brother P-Touch laminated labels for the plants (on misc. plant name plates) and recently I started a spreadsheet on Google Drive for the plants. I tried the CPgrowlist mentioned here but it's not developed any more and it has a few annoying bugs.
 
  • #16
If I end up with a bunch of CPs to the extent I can't just remember which is which, I plan on just keeping them in alphabetical order wherever they are set up. That way I can just keep a list on my tablet with the number of each plant I have and not worry about labels breaking.
 
  • #18
Jcal said:
i got a one from costco a last year for $10 during christmas. they have some pretty awesome specials online from time to time.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can find some awesome bargains on the Costco coupons and specials. Still at $20 with two tapes and batteries it was a good deal.

What model is that? The PT-1880 is nice though more fonts and memory boxes (2 and 5 respectively) would be desirable. Still five labels in memory isn't bad. The D200 that Mach mentioned is awesome with 8 fonts and a 30 label memory not to mention all the frames (95) and 12 deco mode patterns. Not that I'd really use the frames and deco, but would be nice if you have kids. One plus is the 1800 uses AA batteries vs AAA. Slightly more life.
 
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  • #20
Ok, I see the biggest difference is the 1880 can take tapes up to 3/4" (18mm) wide. It came with 12mm and 18mm tapes (8 meters long). They should last a while.

Costco has $20 off the PT-1230PC, regularly $44.99. While supplies last. Today is the last day of the sale. This is a PC connectable label printer. You can use any True-Type font and add graphics and logos which you cannot do with the desktop and hand labelers. Maybe I'll return the 1880C.

http://www.costco.com/Brother-P-Touch-1230PC-Label-Printer.product.11503484.html

PS: This looks like a nice unit, it supports barcoding if you download the software for it. However it is not supported on the Mac and reviewers say Windows 7 isn't supported. Since it has a manual cutter it still has the problem with a 1 inch wasted leader on the first label of a set. The more expensive ($79.99) PT-2430PC has an auto-cutter so it doesn't have the leader wastage. No tapes are included.
 
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