Horticultural oil for mosquitos?

[gnappi]

Since the rains started the mosquitos in my yard have been unbearable. A few days ago several were floating all around me like planes in the battle of Britain.

I do not spray pesticides but I had a spray bottle of ag horticultural oil nearby, set it to fine mist and doused the fleet of mosquitos as they hovered around me.

Today not one has attacked me sitting in the shade of my trees.

Something to try?

[K-Rimes]

Airborne sprays will take down any insects, including beneficial, so I try not to use them for daily control of pests. If you're able to source dragonfly, damselfly, larvae or eggs that'll help. You could also get some bat boxes, they can nab thousands of mosquitoes per night. Mosquitoes would need daily if not hourly spraying to really tamp them down and that's a lot of work and also a risk for beneficials.

[simon_grow]

Rather than spraying your yard constantly, apply lemon eucalyptus oil on yourself before going out. It works wonders but you have to cover every inch of exposed skin. Wearing sock, long pants and a long sleeved shirt will minimize the areas of your body you have to spray. You can order it on Amazon, for example the Cutter brand.

While you’re at it, it’s very important for all of us backyard gardeners to wear protective clothing against the sun so get UPF clothing that blocks the harmful UV rays.

The lemon eucalyptus actually smells good too but you have to re apply if you sweat a lot. I try to avoid using products with Deet.

Simon

[swanson2]

spammer

[roblack]

I find a multi-level approach towards mosquito control the most effective and reasonable.

Limit sources of mosquito reproduction; make sure there is no standing water around. You can put mosquito bits or discs in water, and even can sprinkle in the centers of bromeliads if you gottem. I would never put them in my pineapples though.

Handheld mosquito zappers are the way to go. Often, it's just a few pesky bloodsuckers that have made it through my dome of defense. The loud crackling and pop is satisfying.

Standing/hanging mosquito zappers are good to have around, but away from beneficials. We keep ours on the porch near the seating areas.

Thermacell makes a good mosquito repellent, and there are several devices. I only use this when people are visiting. Definitely cuts their numbers down.

Dynatrap off to the side catches lots of bugs. Small moths mostly, but definitely gets some skeeters. Octenol bait helps draw them in, and away from seating areas.

Bugspray, the stuff Simon was talking about (Cutter) works well. There's stuff for the body, and stuff for the yard. I only use these when the bugs are bad. 

Fans! Lost of airflow helps.

Gotta get my batbox up! Different ways of bringing in dragonflies also seems to be a good idea.

Was sitting on the porch recently, with one of the kid's pet praying mantises on my arm. A small fly landed next to it, and became lunch. Thinking of covering myself in mantids.

[gnappi]

I never said I was CONSTANTLY spraying my  yard. I only sprayed it ONCE into a fleet of mosquitos. If HO is safe for occasional use on fruit trees I seriously doubt that an occasional misting of HO into a cloud of mosquitos is going to cause global destruction :-)

[Daintree]

Ha! No, the global destruction will be caused by the mosquitoes, for sure! 

[Epicatt2]

A bathouse is a good idea but takes patience since the bats are sometime reluctant to colonize one.

Another option is to grow a plant of beauty berry (Callicarpa americana) which is an easy-to-grow,
low-maintenence, plant native to the southeastern USA. 

The clusters of small red-purple berries feed the wild birds and wiping the crushed leaves onto your
skin is very effective for repelling those voracious mozzies!

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==

[nana7b]

Use bacillus thuringiensis - I use a couple of buckets of water and put a little fresh weeds or fresh grass clippings in it. In a couple of days this will start rotting and will have some odor to it. Female mosquitoes are attracted to this and will lay egg rafts in it. When you set these up also add a Mosquito Dunk or Mosquito Bits in it. For a 5 gal bucket I add a about a quarter of a dunk. The bacterium in the dunks will kill the larvae so they never turn into mosquitoes. You have to monitor this every couple of days as the Mosquito Dunks loose efficacy after a while. If you see larvae growing to a bigger size ... time to add more dunks. If you see them getting to the pupae stage dump it out before they turn into mosquitoes and start over. Periodically add more grass to increase the rotting vegetation(Increases bacteria that the larvae feed on which in turn attracts the female mosquito to lay eggs in it)

I have been able to keep the population down this way.

I also carry a zapper when I go out in the morning and evening and play some mosquito tennis and get a few that way.