Our herbicides and insecticides are powerful products designed to help homeowners and farmers keep their properties weed and pest-free. We offer a lot of advice on how to spray our products and how to do it safely. But once the job is over, there is a little more knowledge to know – how to store our products. 

According to Invasive.org, the proper storage of herbicides comes down to picking a suitable storage site and labeling everything used for herbicide mixing, storage and application. 

Choosing A Proper Storage Site 

Kitchens, garage floors and non-insulated outbuildings are not the best places to store your herbicides and insecticides. You never want to store these products somewhere they could fall into little hands or contaminate food or utensils. You also don’t want to store herbicides and insecticides within reach of the family pet or your livestock. Herbicides and insecticides are strong chemicals that could poison a beloved animal that unwittingly walked through a spill or accidentally ingested some. Extreme heat and cold and excess moisture can also degrade the product, reducing its effectiveness. Skip any areas that are prone to flooding, like basements. The proper site should be dry, out of reach of children and pets, doesn’t freeze or get extremely hot and, if outside on your property, somewhere you can lock to prevent theft and vandalism. The UMass Extension suggests using a storage cabinet that can be kept locked and the door labeled. 

Labeling Your Herbicides and Insecticides 

You should never leave herbicides or mixtures in unmarked containers; you don’t want to kill off your favorite landscape shrub by accidentally spraying it RM18 thinking it was Compare-N-Save Indoor/Outdoor Insecticide. You may think you’ll remember from season to season what percentage of BRUSHTOX is in that jug, but trust us, you won’t. Label everything that you use to mix, store, and apply herbicides and insecticides. Put the name, percentage of concentration and any surfactants used on the label. Don’t reuse your bottles for any other type of herbicide or other landscaping products. Ragan & Massey alone makes several herbicides with not only different ingredients but differing amounts of the same active ingredient, like our RM18 and RM43. Both have glyphosate as the active ingredient but RM18 only contains 18% of it compared the 43% in RM43. When you need to dispose of a used container, clean it with warm soapy water and rinse with fresh water. Check with your local recycling center or extension office to see if a pesticide recycling program exists in your area. 

Safely storing your Ragan & Massey herbicides and pesticides will allow you to get the most out of your money by ensuring your products are the most effective they can be.