Label printing...

[Cav]

Was thinking of buying a Brother GL-H105 label machine and was just wondering if anyone is using one of them at the moment?

Hoping for a recommend before I make the purchase and then realize I should have got something else.

Thanks everyone.

[Chris L]

If you've got a PC then this is what, I think, most of us use.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brother-P-Touc ... B001N7FKV8

You can copy and paste from a document on the PC - usually a spreadsheet.

Typing on a hand held will take an age......

[fruit]

I use a Dymo (Duo) with D1 Permanent labels, copy and paste similarly. Also works under linux - but a bit more of a fiddle as no auto-size

[Aiko]

I use a Dymo (Duo) with D1 Permanent labels

I see there are knock-offs of these D1 labels available. Anyone in the know if they are of equal quality regarding water and sun light resistency? Or do they peel of label holders faster when wet, and lose readibility in a few years in sun light, much faster compared to the 'real' D1 labels?

[Cav]

Thanks for the suggestions I will probably lean towards the Brother one then as I'd already come across that one whilst browsing. Sounds like I should be cataloguing my collection on excel or something before it gets any bigger - is that the best way to organise things and keep track? I suppose you'd always have a record if any labels got damaged, would that be the main benefit of building a database?

[rodsmith]

...Sounds like I should be cataloguing my collection on excel or something before it gets any bigger - is that the best way to organise things and keep track? I suppose you'd always have a record if any labels got damaged, would that be the main benefit of building a database?

I've kept a record of my collection on Excel for several years. I have separate sheets for the collection in date of acquisition order and numerical order, and also separate sheets for seedlings grown each year, watering info, size of plants, first bud appearing etc. etc. The possibilities are endless; but you have to be disciplined in keeping the various sheets up to date.

[fruit]

I see there are knock-offs of these D1 labels available. Anyone in the know if they are of equal quality regarding water and sun light resistency? Or do they peel of label holders faster when wet, and lose readibility in a few years in sun light, much faster compared to the 'real' D1 labels?

I have only used Dymo brand. I have tried their Standard labels but they do tend to come unstuck after a while with heat and wet.
D1 Permanent labels are good and I've not noticed any fading, quite expensicve but cost is not much per label.

This is the sort of format I am using on a 12mm tapes

12mm label

07-label.jpg (2.9 KiB) Viewed 2191 times

[DaveW]

Brother labels are pretty good. A friend tells me they are used on North Sea oil rigs, therefore pretty permanent. The only problem when I bought some were they worked out quite expensive per label, particularly if you have a large collection. Also you need a plastic label to stick them on.

It is certainly quicker to type in using a computer keyboard, or paste the name in on computer than setting each individual letter on the hand held units I found. Hopefully the labels have now got cheaper?

A friend of mine used Dymo ones and odd ones I had from him on his plant labels have come unstuck, but I have not had that trouble with Brother ones.

[purzo]

Sounds like I should be cataloguing my collection on excel or something before it gets any bigger - is that the best way to organise things and keep track? I suppose you'd always have a record if any labels got damaged, would that be the main benefit of building a database?

Like Rod I used to use an Excel spreadsheet for all my plant records. I recently moved the data out of the Excel version into a Google sheets spreadsheet instead. There wasn't a lot of difference but I wanted to be able to sync it with an Android database app which I could then access in the greenhouse on my phone. As Rod points out, discipline is key otherwise the records soon get of date.

I have a Brother QL printer (570 from memory) but haven't used it for plant labels due to worries about getting wet/fading etc.

[KarlR]

I have a Brother P-touch (something something) handheld. For me it's brilliant. I like the flexibility of being able to print a label anytime I need whether indoors or in the greenhouse. It's a bit more of a hassle to type everything manually, but personally I really don't think I'd have bothered to print as many labels as I have if I had to go on the computer every time and hook it up to the printer. I use Brother labels. Excellent quality.