Easy Plastic Plant Markers

I have enjoyed growing my own vegetables immensely over the last few years.  It is so rewarding to plan out what you want to grow, care for the plants, and then harvest your vegetables. I have even contemplated planting vegetables that I don’t like that much just so I can see if I can grow them! No matter what you are planting though, one thing that comes in handy in the vegetable garden is plant markers! If you are sowing lots of different seeds then you need to keep track of which ones are which!

When doing my spring planting I thought I would have a go at making my own plant markers. In the past we have used old icy pole sticks, but I thought I would have a go at making some plastic ones.

I found this link that showed how to make your own plant markers from milk bottles which sounded like a great idea. I’m all for recycling used materials and we always have milk bottles that just get thrown in the recycle bin!

It is so easy I cannot believe that I haven’t seen more people using these types of plant markers! All you need to do is peel off the label from the milk bottle and then cut the bottle open so that you have a largish piece of plastic to work with.

I originally started cutting small plant markers using a store bought one as a template but that was a bit tedious. So I ended up cutting some freehand ones that were roughly triangular and I thought that they looked quite good. I think the best thing about these recycled milk bottle plant markers is that you can cut them into any shape that you like!

We just happen to have a couple of garden marker pens that were perfect for writing on the plant markers. If you don’t have a garden marker pen, I’m sure a cd marker would work fine too.

These easy diy plant markers are great for using in pots too. Whether you are planting vegetables, flowers, or even cat grass, you can use one of these markers to keep track of your plants!

Oh, and if you peel off the label from your milk bottle and it leaves a sticky residue try this handy trick to get the sticky stuff off. It was originally intended for getting the sticky residue off glass but I have found that it works just as well on plastic!

Note: A post on Making Plastic Plant Markers was first published on 29 January 2015. The post has been updated and republished on 28 June 2021.