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There are many pesticide products that look very similar. Always read the label carefully before you buy and again before you apply.

Courtesy Meredith Seaver, USU Extension

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Using a pesticide without carefully reading the label can result in trading one problem for another.

Courtesy Meredith Seaver, USU Extension

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Most vegetable plants are very sensitive to accidental exposure to weed killers. Careful attention to the right conditions for the product can protect a vegetable garden from the kind of damage seen on this melon vine.

Courtesy Meredith Seaver, USU Extension

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Every year we get many calls and emails from people who’ve made a mistake with a pesticide application and are hoping for some way to avoid the consequences. Landscape maintenance season, vegetable gardening season and fruit tree management season have all arrived, and that means pesticide season is here, too. So, this is a good time to review the basics of safe, responsible pesticide use, hopefully preventing some of the mistakes we hear about every year.

Fungicides, insecticides, herbicides (weed killers) and bactericides are all pesticides, and there are many other kinds of pesticides, but they are not interchangeable.

Try to clearly identify the problem before you decide to use a pesticide. Each pesticide has a specific purpose and works in a certain way. Different kinds of pesticides are not interchangeable, so you need to know what you’re dealing with before you purchase a product. If you need help identifying a yard, garden or indoor pest or disease problem, you can send photos to gardenhelp@usu.edu.

Before you pay for a pesticide product, read the product label carefully several times. Is your insect or disease listed on the label? Is your plant listed on the label? Is this the right time of year to be using the product? Be completely familiar with the recommendations and limitations.

Reading the label is something that you should do each time you use a pesticide, even though you are using the same product you always use. Make sure the product you’ve picked up from that shelf in your garage is the one you think you picked up.

One of the most important rules about purchasing and using pesticides it to keep the product in the original container. Never store pesticides any other way. A quarter-full container of insecticide may occupy just as much space on your shelf as a full container, but that leftover insecticide shouldn’t end up in something smaller to save a little space. It’s just too easy for misapplications, or even accidental poisonings, to occur when pesticides are kept in a different container.

Can’t find the information you need on the product label? Most pesticides have labels with multiple pages. Make sure you open the label and read the entire thing.

While you’re reading your product label, look carefully for information about the temperature limits. Most pesticides have upper and lower temperature limits. The label may also have information about other conditions such as rain or wind. Stay within the limits!

Make sure you have the required personal protection equipment (PPE) before you use the pesticide product. If you don’t see any PPE information while you’re reading the label, at least wear latex or nitrile gloves.

I generally also choose to wear long pants, long sleeves, old shoes and socks when I’m going to spray, sprinkle or spread something; a little extra PPE is always better than not enough. If I’m going to do something messy, like spraying dormant oil on a tree, I’ll also put on a washable hat. I stick with old clothes so that stains aren’t a worry. Once I’m done spraying anything, everything goes into the washer and gets washed separately from the rest of the laundry.

Reread the label before you mix a pesticide from a concentrated product. Follow the directions exactly, and remember, enough is good, more isn’t better and could be harmful. Wear your PPE when you’re mixing the product.

We all want to have nice yards, gardens that give us tasty vegetables and productive fruit trees. Sometimes, we need to intervene with chemical or bio-based tools when there are problems. With good pest or disease identification plus the detailed information on product labels, we can manage problems in a safe and responsible way.