Starting 7 years ago and lasting about 2 years I bought plants from an Australian vendor named AON (Australian Orchid Nursery). I have a significant number of Dendrobium speciosum which are slow growing and may take 5 to 10 years to mature and bloom. They have been hanging in one section of my lath house under 50% shadecloth and there has been no reason to disturb them as only 1 or 2 of them have bloomed. I have a number of large ones which bloom every spring, this discussion is not about them.

Yesterday I took each of them down to closely inspect and see how they are doing. I immediately noticed that tags were brittle and started breaking. I'm now in process of replacing ALL of the AON tags on every plant I have with my own tags which are cut from vinyl window shades and NEVER get brittle.

I pays to realize that some vendor's tags are not permanent and replace them to prevent having a bunch of NOID plants in the future. Of the vendors I have bought from frequently SBOE stands out as having very long lasting tags which I do not replace. Some are over 10 years old and perfectly malleable and readable. Andy's tags are anything but. They remain readable but if they are outside they become brittle and break near the top leaving you with a NOID plant.

Andy's plants are distinctive and usually cam be id'd as they are unique species. 30 different Dendrobium speciosums with subtle differences are anything but. If a vendor's tags become suspect immediately replace all of his tags with permanent ones. A potted plant can have a tag placed in the bottom of the pot for a permanent solution.

Plants in the greenhouse are safer but the ones outside, especially under 50% shadecloth in the brutal SOCAL sun, are at risk of loosing their tags. Making provisions to prevent that makes good sense.

Nick