The Hows & Whys of Plant Tags: Part 5

Gerry Giorgio

Plant care tags are typically produced on a high-volume, lithographic printing press. It’s a very efficient way to produce many millions of tags. However, the process isn’t conducive to printing very small quantities. This can present a challenge for a small to mid-sized grower, who doesn’t need large quantities of tags. It can even challenge a larger grower, who might buy high volumes of most tags, yet need smaller quantities for specialty items.
This month, I’ll answer questions and show options for acquiring small quantities of tags and explain a little about the process in general. It should also be said that for the purpose of this article, I will focus on the “stake” tag, as this is where most growers face a challenge.

Howcan I buy small quantities of tags?
There are several options for purchasing low quantities of tags. I’ll cover a few here.

Stock Tag

s are the tags that are printed and put into inventory, ready to ship immediately. This is the best option for purchasing low volumes of tags. There are typically thousands of varieties offered. All of the primary breeders are represented with their newest seed varieties. There are many different shapes and sizes, and most can be purchased in quantities of less than 100. Many times as low as 25 per variety, such as the case with perennials.
Stock tags also offer an extensive line of “generic” items that allow for low-cost, low-quantity ordering of items that can easily be sold with general care information.

Stock Tag Tip! Some stock tags are very thoroughly designed, feature specialty items in unique ways and can be considered not only a good way to manage the need for low minimums, but serve as an enhancement to presenting your plants to retailers and gardeners.

Another Stock Tag Tip! The Gardener’s XL tag has detailed bloom periods easily identified right on the tag in a color-coded field. Take advantage of this tag by setting up a retail display of perennials organized by bloom period and color using this tag. Gardeners will appreciate the ease and inspiration of selecting perennials in the same way in which they need them.

Breeder Stock Tags Some breeders choose to offer tags promoting a specific popular series. These tags are stocked and can be ordered in low minimums.

Quick Tags
A text-only, economical solution for a quick, custom text tag that you can order for as low as 250 per variety.

Breeder-Provided Tags
We can’t talk about tags without mentioning breeder-provided tags. This is an easy and efficient way to be sure each of your plants have consumer-care tags. The tag being a validation of the plant being a patented genetic item, the number of plants ordered determines the number of tags you’ll receive. So, you have just what you need with each shipment of plants.

I would like to buy a custom-designed tag, but I don’t need very many. How can I get them?

Custom-designed tags are within reach, even on low volumes. The best way to do this would be to put your custom designs onto “standard”-shaped tags. These would be the most common shapes sold, and subsequently popular with many other growers. The advantage of designing a popular shape is that it’s being printed on a very frequent schedule. This enables you to take advantage of a high-volume print run, yet you only need to commit to as few as 2,000.

Many times the decision to customize a tag is driven by the need to present DOR (Declaration Of Responsibility), bar code or a simple logo. One idea to manage a customized tag program and the occasional need for low volumes would be to know what options for stock tags best matches your need for size and shape, then design around it. This will make the blending of stock and custom tags easier.

I hope this provided some ideas on managing the need for low volumes of stake tags, while also opening up the possibilities available to you. GT

Gerry Giorgio is an artist, urban gardener and the Marketing Manager at MasterTag—a horticultural printing company.