Mosquito..be gone...

SprigOfTheLivingDead

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Oranges, lemons, lavender, basil and catnip naturally contain oils that repel mosquitoes and are generally nice to the nose. :D:D:D
I'm not spreading orange peels around 10 acres of land. I get that people say this along with "plant lemongrass", but lemongrass doesn't grow here. I will spread seeds for mint in my prairie grass seeds that are native to the area.

Looking for solutions that I can implement while also raising 5 kids, raising and caring for a ton of poultry, keeping a tree farm up, working a fulltime job and staying married ;). Hence my asking about the biological solution
 

wyoDreamer

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Not spread orange peels on the ground, make a spray bottle of the stuff and spray your clothes.

A friend of mine always put a Bounce drier sheet under her hat and claimed it kept the mosquitos away. It never worked for me though.

Mint is horribly invasive - don't spread it willy nilly all over your property. Put a potted plant of mint by the door and as you leave, you pick some mint leaves and rub the plant oils onto your clothes or skin. I will have to try mint and see if it works for mosquitos.

We have 40 acres of swamp across the street from our place and about 16 million miles of wetland ditches, lol. We have a Mosquito Magnet that we run to keep the area near the house mosquito free. It burns propane to create CO2 and had mosquito attractant tabs also. The yard stays fairly mosquito free, but there is usually a swarm of mosquitos near the device.
 

SprigOfTheLivingDead

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Not spread orange peels on the ground, make a spray bottle of the stuff and spray your clothes.

A friend of mine always put a Bounce drier sheet under her hat and claimed it kept the mosquitos away. It never worked for me though.

Mint is horribly invasive - don't spread it willy nilly all over your property. Put a potted plant of mint by the door and as you leave, you pick some mint leaves and rub the plant oils onto your clothes or skin. I will have to try mint and see if it works for mosquitos.

We have 40 acres of swamp across the street from our place and about 16 million miles of wetland ditches, lol. We have a Mosquito Magnet that we run to keep the area near the house mosquito free. It burns propane to create CO2 and had mosquito attractant tabs also. The yard stays fairly mosquito free, but there is usually a swarm of mosquitos near the device.
How fast does it go through a tank? I've been curious about those but they get Spendy real quick
 

wyoDreamer

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About a 3 weeks to a month I think. DH is in charge of keeping it going, but we take the tank in to fill about once a month. We found one at a rummage sale for $10 and snatched it up. It worked really well so when it stopped working a year later - we bought a new one on end-of-season sale. The next spring the old one started working again - turns out the mud wasps had filled in some hole and clogged it up.

If you get one just remember - it is a "Magnet" it works by attracting the mosquitoes to it and then a fan sucks them up into a small bag where they die. Place it away from where you are going to be.
One of our friends says " Oh, those don't work! My neighbors on both sides of our house have one and their yards are just filled with mosquitoes, but my yard is mosquito free!" So the best place to put it is in the neighbors yard, lol.
 

YourRabbitGirl

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Well it is that season again...
love to be outside...
but good gosh...can't say those blood suckers are making it pleasant..
Has anyone managed to come up with anything reasonably effective
You may cultivate lavender in an outdoor garden or indoor planters. Crush the flowers and add the oil to the bite-sensitive areas of your body, such as your ankles and back. Drop some lavender oil on a clean cloth and rub it on the skin.
 

SprigOfTheLivingDead

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About a 3 weeks to a month I think. DH is in charge of keeping it going, but we take the tank in to fill about once a month. We found one at a rummage sale for $10 and snatched it up. It worked really well so when it stopped working a year later - we bought a new one on end-of-season sale. The next spring the old one started working again - turns out the mud wasps had filled in some hole and clogged it up.

If you get one just remember - it is a "Magnet" it works by attracting the mosquitoes to it and then a fan sucks them up into a small bag where they die. Place it away from where you are going to be.
One of our friends says " Oh, those don't work! My neighbors on both sides of our house have one and their yards are just filled with mosquitoes, but my yard is mosquito free!" So the best place to put it is in the neighbors yard, lol.
Yeah. I'd put it a ways away, which also means I wouldn't want one with a cord, which means it'll be $800 :(

We bought a Flowtron Diplomat last year and that killed a lot of bugs, including skeeters. Probably a lot of good ones too. Now THAT is a big bug zapper. It also lights up the night like an electronic blue sun
 
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wyoDreamer

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You really don't notice mosquitoes until you are within 12 feet of the mosquito magnet.
 

flowerbug

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we have mosquito control which comes around and poisons everything and everyone. :( i'd rather get bit. they even fly planes over the local woodland park that has some wet areas at times and drop granules from the planes to kill mosquito larvae.

mosquitoes are a part of the food chain.

for me i don't go out that often when the mosquitoes are out and i'm well covered up so i don't usually get bit that often. if i were out in the early morning or at dusk there are more mosquitoes out then.

in the heat of the summer i tend to work a few shifts in a day so i can siesta around noon for a few hours.
 

SprigOfTheLivingDead

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we have mosquito control which comes around and poisons everything and everyone. :( i'd rather get bit. they even fly planes over the local woodland park that has some wet areas at times and drop granules from the planes to kill mosquito larvae.

mosquitoes are a part of the food chain.

for me i don't go out that often when the mosquitoes are out and i'm well covered up so i don't usually get bit that often. if i were out in the early morning or at dusk there are more mosquitoes out then.

in the heat of the summer i tend to work a few shifts in a day so i can siesta around noon for a few hours.
I have a wife and 5 kids and here the mosquitos don't care what time of day or night it is. If you go outaide they swarm. It's not uncommon for a lid to come inside crying and welted and yelling about how terrible the mosquitos are.

Yes, I want to be safe and support my local wildlife. I spend a lot of time annually leading volunteer crews and educating people on our ecosystem, but even I have a limit. I'm trying to plant good stuff and spread good prairie grass and wildflower seed, but we'll see if that's enough.

When the dragonflies swarm it's a beautiful thing :)
 

wyoDreamer

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I was mowing our 3 acre front yard one day after a wet spell. the grass was longer than we usually let it get, but there was no way to get it mowed in the rain. As I was mowing, a dragonfly showed up. Then another and another until I had a swarm of dragon flies flying around me. The mosquitoes would fly up from the grass as I mowed and the dragonflies were zipping around catching lunch like porpoises around the bow of a ship. They would land on the hood of the mower - I assume to rest, and then take off and zip around again.
 
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