Blurbs for plant tags?

[GreenThumbGal_07]

I will have LOADS of tomato plants to swap and give away this spring.

I am currently in the process of repotting some of them (they are just starting to show true leaves, and are mostly in peat pellets, some are in cups with potting mix). The separated seedlings go into plain paper cups with holes for drainage punched into the bottom and sides, and these cups are filled with Black Gold potting mix.

Right now I'm just writing the names of the plants on the sides of each cup, but I don't think that's enough. I probably will need to include some sort of tag to insert. What should I write on this tag?
Name
Days to maturity
Fruit color
[Plant habit]
Flavor, uses

That's a lot of information to put in such a small space.

Also, I can't see myself writing this on each tag (it will take a long time for this many plants). Is there a way to print this by laser onto plastic tags?

Thanks in advance.

GTG

[nctomatoman]

Here is what we do with our seedlings - we purchase the 5 inch plastic labels (boxes of 1000) - and with a Sharpie, just go with the name. I have on my web site a list of plants with descriptions, and also have a few sets of laminated sheets with the descriptions for my customers to refer to as they browse. Even writing just the name on 4000-5000 labels is a big task!

[mms]

GTG,
Of the varieties I started this year I plan on putting two of each in my garden. I started at least three of each and as many as ten of some. It just depended on how much I wanted to make sure I had two for myself. Of course this means that I will have lots of extra plants, and like you I hate to give someone a plant with just a name on it. As Craig said, people could look them up on the web, but I doubt that most people that I give a plant to would do that. I think that if someone is interested enough to go out and buy an heirloom they are probably more interested in what the differences are. People who are not Tomatoheads most likely don't care that much about the details.

Anyway, I am planning to print descriptions of each plant I have extras of. I will probably put the info in 5 inch by 3 inch boxes so I can get 8 per page. I don't know if I will tape the description to the cup or maybe staple it to the tag. I guess I will have to experiment with that when the time to give them away gets a little closer. When you decide how you plan to include the info with your plants please post it on this thread, I can always use a good idea.

MMS

[carolyn137]

If you really do want to give out more info about a variety why not just do a sheet of paper, double sided if you need to, with the relevant info and make lots of copies, which is cheap, and distribute one sheet to each person with whom you swap or give plants to outright.

I used to do a fairly detailed handout when I was selling fruits thru a farm stand and folks enjoyed knowing not just the basics, but also the country of origin, where known, and other pertinent info such as history, where known.

If you're going to use plant habit and leaf form and all that you're going to have to define some terms somehwere, which could get confusing to those just wanting some tomatoes to plant and grow and eat.

[tanagerzoo]

I will have about 40-50 extra plants that I will be donating to a local Flower Market. My plants are in 9 oz solo cups. I've created labels on the computer that I will wrap around and tape on each pot. I've included the name, DTM, color, shape, weight, and whatever history I can find regarding the variety. If I had a lot more than 40-50, they would likely remain with their variety written on the cup in a sharpie that was done at potting up!

Christine