Mosquito Deterrents

greyfurball

The news has continuous warnings about the difficulties with this insect now. For us in the areas where it is prevalent, we do need to be conscious of all the difficulties the mosquito can conjure up for us humans and our animals too.

But myself, I refuse to use all those cans and bottles of spray-on chemicals. I'm not much on eliminating one possible problem health concern and acquiring another down the road in the future.

So yes, I did check into what I could plant to help deter this insect. And I'm happy to report, it seems to work!

So here's my list:

1. Basil - The strong odor of cinnamon basil, genovese basil and lemon basil all reduce flying bug populations in the area.
2. My cat garden bed never has mosquitos around it so I found out catnip has an essential oil which is actually stronger than the can of DEET.
3. Lavender - The lavandula angustifolia, otherwise known as English Lavender variety is a known insect repellent
4. Lemon Balm/ Lemon Sage/Lemon Grass - Each of these are effective in areas where there is a high concentration of the insects if you cut some of the leaves and just rub it on any exposed skin areas.
5. Rosemary - make your own insect spray by adding 1 cup of DRIED fresh rosemary to a quart of water and let it slow boil for 30 minutes. Cool. Take a 1/2 qt. GLASS jar, add one qt. cool water and then strain in the boiled rosemary water. Pour a small amount into a sprayer bottle and use this as needed when you are outdoors. Keep the larger jar and the squirt bottle refrigerated when not in use. As long as the rosemary aroma stays strong the dilution is OK to use. As the aroma dissipates, use the formula to water your garden or compost pile and prepare a fresh batch for your family.
6. If you enjoy camping or just sitting in the back yard with a campfire, throw some fresh sage on the coals.
7. And lastly, I always have some fresh marigolds somewhere around my house, my doors and windows etc. Use the Cracker Jack variety and the Sparky Mix variety for the best results. Insects don't seem to like marigolds.

So if flying insects seem to be a problem in your area give these a try. I actually have all of them in my yard and garden so I can honestly say we don't ever really have a mosquito problem in my area. My neighbors though, they don't seem to be so lucky.

maimover

I recently went through a local Wendy’s drive thru. They had a sign hanging under the pay and pick up windows. They also had pots of basil on the sides of the building. The sign said they were growing basil to deter the flies. Needless to say I was pretty impressed! The sign asked people a) not to steal it and b) if they wanted plants they would show them how. For a big corporation to acknowledge the power of herbs is incredibly awesome!

judsoncarroll4

Beauty bush is a good deterrent, too

Hassena

We also make a mosquito trap. Daughter and I are eaten alive every single evening. The joys of the outdoor were diminishing. Every natual recipe/spray we made/bought would only last an hour before reapplication was needed.

There are a few options for traps....

https://permies.com/t/118209/quest-happy-turkeys-chickens (trough with minnows to eat mosquitoes, it also grows duckweed for animals)

This is what we are going to make...https://permies.com/t/115296/trapped-mosquitos

Basically a barrel filled with water and covered with a screen. Females lay eggs through the screen in the water. Newly hatched mosquitoes can't fit through the screen. So they never reproduce.

That's awesome about Wendy's. What a pleasant surprise! =)

Great advice on the plants. We will be planting more of these early spring. Thank you.

Melissa Swartz

Thanks for the mosquito trap ideas. Very cool!

Sheila

Pennyroyal is also a good skeeter deterrent as well as citronella.

amyjacobson6

Yes! Thank you for all the herbal alternatives to use as natural repellants! This knowledge is so much better than using toxic chemicals. I am so grateful to all who have shared!

Hassena

Thanks for posting this discussion.