How I label the vials is with masking tape. I write really small across the width of a piece of masking tape and then cut the piece of tape from the roll and put it on the side of the vial. I have tried writing with a permanent marker but it can rub off with repeated handling.
Keep in m ind that not all masking tape is the same width just like the new roll I bought is not as wide as the first roll I had so I have to write smaller or length ways. I just assumed it was a standard width. Here is some photos of how I do it
This is the foam I store it in. I don't know what kind it is, it's just what we had lying around. You could use styrofoam, florist foam, or whatever. They do make a storage case at earthstarproducts for the vial but to me it's to hard to label it. It does have alphanumeric coding on the bottom of the case and I don't really want to have to keep turning it upside down to figure out what pollen is where. It's just easier and more visible in the foam.
Now I have just thrown them in a container but then you have to search through all the pollen to see what's what and that is time consuming.
And remember, you DO NOT have to save every bit of pollen there is (Mona hint hint LOL). Just save enough to use if a fresh bloom isn't open then have a second one of those pollens in case the first vial gets ruined somehow. Also, at the end of the season save pollen to freeze over winter so you will have pollen to start the next season off with until you have fresh blooms.
I put a piece of masking tape acroos the foam to write the name of the pollen on so the labeled vial will go back in that spot so I won't have to hunt for where I put it.
I press a hole into the foam with the vial, you can do as may or as little holes as you need.
I label each vial with the name of the pollen. For laong names you will need to abbreviate some. Just make sure you remember what your abbreviations. Since I started using colored paper clips to take the most used pollen with I will also write the color below the name and on the vial as well. I keep this written in a small notebook that goes outside with me so if I'm using fresh pollen I can look and see what the color clip is that I need.
For the pollens I won't use as often (or didn't think I was going to use often) I use the tags like Fred uses. If I start using that pollen more often then I assign it a color
photo by Fred
You can get the colored paper clips at Office Max or some place like that in containers of 600-800 and there are 6-8 colors usually in them. I ordered mine online which was cheaper tthan in the store because of free shipping, online discount, and the cheaper online price. I have one with blue, dark green and light green (will be used as same green), red, pink, purple, yellow,white. Some have black in them and others may have orange and clear. What I do is use the single colors and then I add a clear paper clip to each one when I need more and then you can add say 2 greens together or 2 blues together for more colors. And then if you have a whole lot of pollen choices then you can start adding 2 different colors together. I'm trying not to use every single daylily's pollen this year. Last year I had wayyyy too many. I use most of my daylilies as pod parents and I have other ones I'm using as the pollen. I will have hit or miss crosses that just pop in my head as I see 2 blooms open. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible (trial and error) and next year I have figured out how to keep it even simpler.
