Types of Seedling Labels

When it comes to gardening, keeping track of your seedlings is essential for successful plant care. However, it can be challenging to remember which plant is which, especially when the markings on your labels fade in the sun. Let's explore our favorite methods for labeling plants.

Why is labeling seedlings important?

Properly labeling your seedlings allows you to identify each plant accurately. This is particularly important if you are growing multiple varieties or species. You can know which are your favorites to plant again (based on taste, growth rate, productivity, beauty, pest and disease resistance etc.) and when an issue does crop up (pun intended) you can better diagnose that issue.

Check out this 1 minute video I made on labeling my starts https://youtube.com/shorts/9keY2LQEpQI and read below.

How to label seedlings effectively

Here are some methods to label your seedlings in a way that ensures the markings do not fade in the sun:

1. No labels - write on your container

I've written on my reusable plastic containers with permanent marker and found this quick and effective (legible and doesn't fade with sun or watering). Unfortunately, when I reuse the containers the writing is too effective and I have to cross it out (which looks tacky) or tape over it (and had to use more tape because I wrote larger than I would have than if I'd had a defined area to write on).

2. Plastic labels

Consider using metal or plastic labels. I have tried plastic and would like to try metal (I believe you can get an engraving tool but haven't looked into it yet - let me know what you've found if you've tried metal). Using plastic labels I found the writing would fade in the sun if it didn't just wash off while I was watering (note: I've heard pencil works great but I can never find one at our house and don't think of buying them).

2. Wood labels

My favorite for in pots and the garden are popsicle sticks (written on with permanent marker or sticky labels; more on that next). Popsicle sticks would be my favorite but they do not fit under a germination hood so can't use it for the first seedling stage. Posicle sticks do disintegrate eventually but I find this beneficial since I don't have to stress about a label getting lost in the soil, as it'll just compost the wood. By the time I've lost the sticks or they are no longer legible the plant is large enough and I've seen it enough that I know what it is.

3. Sticky labels

I've tried masking tape on plastic containers and found it effective but time consuming. And if your hands get soil on them (which is 100% likely for me while planting / transplanting) then it won't stick as well.

What I've found to be the best for me is small multi-use labels, especially for germinating seeds in trays, since it's easy to write on / see and easy to move the label from my reusable plastic trays to reusable plastic pots. When putting in the garden I can put the label onto a popsicle stick (folding it around the stick, in parallel). Or I've placed the labels on the sides of my raised beds but that's not as accurate when interplanting.

Note: try not to get the label too wet (which I haven't had a problem with the majority of the time) or it'll break when peeling off if or smudge the writing. It does eventually disintigrate if it gets wet in the garden from watering but I've found they have held up for as long as I've needed them the majority of the time.

This is a 35 second video I made on my sticky labels https://youtube.com/shorts/ZGWfvhzerYs

4. Painted rocks or stones

Get creative by using painted rocks or stones as labels for your seedlings. Choose smooth rocks and paint them with weather-resistant paint. Write the plant names or use symbols to represent different plants. While my kids have painted rocks for fun I haven't tried this method for planting. It would be time consuming initially, especially if you have a large garden, and it would be harder to distinguish between varieties (you can't just write tomato or draw a symbol if you have amish paste tomatos and mortgage lifters and....got to collect all the tomatos, right?). Also, if you have children....they may walk off with your pretty rocks and then you're back to having unlabeled plants (as my kids have done with my popsicle sticks before, actually...I forgot that downside). I may try this for my perennials or my frequent starts, of which I only have one variety or plant everything in one spot. Have you tried this method? Bonus points if you have pics!

5. Digital tracking

If you prefer a digital approach, you can use smartphone apps or online tools to track and label your seedlings. I've used Trello (a project management app) to store seed packet info, pictures, and notes, and it's a great tool. But not as easy to access as I'd hope when actually planting. So then I found myself trying to look up all the seed info before working with my plants (and not always recalling what I needed to) and trying to remember to write down what I'd done that day and for whatever reason found a paper calendar easier for me to manage. What digital tools have you tried and how did they work for you?

By implementing these labeling methods, you can easily remember which plant is which without worrying about the markings fading in the sun. Happy gardening!