# Do weed killer or Roundup have expiration dates?



## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

I was cleaning out my wood shed and found two large containers. One is Spectracide Weed Stop, and the other is RoundUp. I have purchased them some years ago (I think 5 years), used a little then forgotten about them. They have been sitting inside my shed (in the hot Florida sun) for five years.


Are they expired? If they are, then how would you dispose of them? I don't think pouring them down a sink is a good idea.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

According to this article pesticides are pretty stable.

https://www.grainews.ca/2011/02/14/is-that-pesticide-still-good/


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

I concur with @wooleybooger and provide another link: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/homeowners/031025.html

I've used 20 year old glyphosate (roundup) concentrate and the weeds still die. Not as sure about the Spectracide, but I think if you have a use for them and use them this year, you should be okay.


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

I'm thinking maybe I should stock up on RoundUp. I don't use it often, but I'm wondering if all the stories about lawsuits against the manufacturer mean it might be hard to get soon.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

CaptTom said:


> I'm thinking maybe I should stock up on RoundUp. I don't use it often, but I'm wondering if all the stories about lawsuits against the manufacturer mean it might be hard to get soon.


I wouldn't worry about that in particular, yet, though that could change.

I always keep a bunch on hand, and get out there all the time. 

"Let us Spray."


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

DoomsDave said:


> I wouldn't worry about that in particular, yet, though that could change.
> 
> I always keep a bunch on hand, and get out there all the time.
> 
> "Let us Spray."


LOL, yes, let's.

Once bitten, twice shy. I discovered this year I can no longer buy MEK in any of the local big-box or hardware stores. One hardware store had a dusty old can behind all the new, shiny cans of "MEK Substitute." I grabbed it. Hopefully it'll last the rest of my life, but I'd like to procure one more.

I had the same experience years ago with tin-based anti-fouling outboard motor paint. In the paint room of a marine hardware store, behind all the new, useless crap, were two dusty cans of the real stuff. I don't have an outboard now, but I've still got one can, just in case.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> I discovered this year I can no longer buy MEK in any of the local big-box or hardware stores.



Have you tried a paint store? MEK is one of the solvents I keep on hand .... and the what I have is getting low, providing I can remember I'll check it out next time I go to Lowes.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Just a tip here. Compare the prices on other brands of glyphosate concentrate. You may be pleasantly surprised.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

wooleybooger said:


> Just a tip here. Compare the prices on other brands of glyphosate concentrate. You may be pleasantly surprised.


Great tip, and I heartily concur!

Roundup is a brand; there are many others. Go by what percentage the concentrate is. Some are 41% others are 18%. Don't mess with that already mixed stuff unless you're buying it for someone who just can't do their own and you can't help them.

Roundup went off-patent a while ago, so the price is a LOT lower than it was back in 1975 when the stuff first came out.

And . . . 

Some makers have added stuff like "dicamba" and other stuff to it. Dunno how much of a difference that makes. Gonna start a thread and ask that one.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

DoomsDave said:


> Great tip, and I heartily concur!
> 
> Roundup is a brand; there are many others. Go by what percentage the concentrate is.* Some are 41% others are 18%*.* Don't mess with that already mixed stuff unless you're buying it for someone who just can't do their own and you can't help them.*
> 
> ...


The 41% stuff is what you want. Easy to mix in a sprayer. The pre-mixed is expensive in my experience. Lots of extra money for water.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

CaptTom said:


> I discovered this year I can no longer buy MEK in any of the local big-box or hardware stores. ..........



Our local Lowes sells it, https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jasco-128-fl-oz-Fast-To-Dissolve-Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone-Mek/50298051


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

mark sr said:


> Our local Lowes sells it, https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jasco-128-fl-oz-Fast-To-Dissolve-Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone-Mek/50298051


Yeah, ours did too, until recently. Of the 7 Lowe's stores within a 50-mile radius, only one shows any in stock; six cans. And that could just be an inventory error. One salesperson at each big-box (Lowe's and HD) said they didn't think they'd be getting any more, alluding to decisions at the home office.

The shelf at the local hardware store where it used to be now has "MEK Substitute" instead. The old shelf label is gone. I was lucky to find the one old, dusty can of "real" MEK behind all the new, shiny, fake ones.


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## michaelhwilliam (Mar 16, 2019)

Generally pesticides have long shelf life. You can always contact manufacturer to learn about the expiry date. Draining isn't the solution anyway.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

Roundup or glyphosate is an herbicide and a bactericide and a carcinogen but what the heck who worries about cancer in Florida?


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Calson said:


> Roundup or glyphosate is an herbicide and a bactericide and a carcinogen but what the heck who worries about cancer in Florida?


Carcinogens are EVERYWHERE. It's startling what they are, where they are, and how bad some supposedly are.

Burnt BBQ, for example contains a natural carcinogen. Some molds are also considered carcinogenic, or at least some of the byproducts of same. And while asbestos has had its uses limited in response to its carcinogenic qualities, it's still all over the place, especially in adhesives for tiles and the like.

I don't buy the jury verdicts about glyphosate being carcinogenic. I think the plaintiff's attorneys did a great job of evoking sympathy. 

But, even if glyph turns out to be carcinogenic, I'll still use it the way I always have; sparingly, keep it (especially the concentrate) off me, and away from food plants.


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