pet tags as hop markers

Anyone use pet tags as hop markers? I think it cost me $12 for 6 including shipping. I'm going to nail them to my stakes. A sharpie just wasn't cutting it. Any other ideas?

Horticulturalists have used stamped metal plates for decades (centuries?), just make sure it is zinc or aluminum or it will rust out.

With trees and other perennials, it is common to attach the tag with a wire tied around a main branch that will not be pruned off. With herbaceous plants like hops however, you need a stake that will last many years, preferably something like cedar.

I am going to have my kids paint signs for mine. I friend of mine that works at Taylor Guitars made signs for his from pieces of Koa. He sketched the names on, then burned it into the wood.

Anyone use pet tags as hop markers? I think it cost me $12 for 6 including shipping. I'm going to nail them to my stakes. A sharpie just wasn't cutting it. Any other ideas?

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Since I'm not a vendor, I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules. But, a questions was asked and I thought I would answer. (Albeit very late..."life" has kept me out of brewing -and therefore HBT- for a while now)

If you are looking for hop marker ideas, check out my hop markers HERE

Mike

Or you could just plot your garden (hops) out on a piece of paper and mark where each plant is and keep it in a safe place in the house. Mine have never done any chinese fire-drills when I wasn't looking. Just a suggestion.

B-Hoppy said:

Or you could just plot your garden (hops) out on a piece of paper and mark where each plant is and keep it in a safe place in the house. Mine have never done any chinese fire-drills when I wasn't looking. Just a suggestion.

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Yup. I have a map, in my case drawn in an old college science lab spiral notebook. I made a couple of photocopies, just to hedge my bet. By this point (third year) it is committed to memory, pretty much. The challenge I faced in my closely spaced plot was in the spring, when shoots seemed to be coming up all over. I had to have the map out to see just which plant the rhizomes came from, as I pulled them to give them away. Had I not done that, I'd have a hops forest, with no clue what was growing where.

After the second or third year I prune and harvest rhizomes every Spring to keep things in check. Also, if you find a variety that is excessively vigorous, it's not a bad idea to lift the entire crown about every three years and trim it WAY back. You may set it back a very slight bit but it helps cut back the number of hours you spend on pruning and trimming for the next few years. Just be sure to update your notebook when/if you replace any varieties that don't produce well for you. I ended up making that mistake when I moved all my plants to a new location one year. Live and learn!