Mosquito repellent natural for patio

You could try the citronella plant it's supposed to work.
They sell them everywhere this time of the year.
My gf swears by the OFF personal clip fan

Bats, lots and lots of bats

One of these days I'm going to get around to building a bat house.

The Citronella plants don't smell nearly as strong as the candles do, maybe you could tolerate them? Just be careful where you plant them... the leaves look rather "suspicious," if you know what I mean... :hihi:

I've heard Rosemary is another natural mosquito repellant, though I've never tried that one? I love fresh rosemary, though, and have been wanting some potted- so I'll probably try it soon, myself.

lauraleellbp said:

One of these days I'm going to get around to building a bat house.

The Citronella plants don't smell nearly as strong as the candles do, maybe you could tolerate them? Just be careful where you plant them... the leaves look rather "suspicious," if you know what I mean... :hihi:

I've heard Rosemary is another natural mosquito repellant, though I've never tried that one? I love fresh rosemary, though, and have been wanting some potted- so I'll probably try it soon, myself.

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I have three huge rosemary bushes and lots of mosquitos. I'm considering screening the back patio.

Ain't natural,and stink's, but creosote keep's em away.
Also product "skin so soft" by Avon which I lather on before night fishing on the river.

Sounds like an excuse to setup a couple big tubs or barrels with a small species of fish to attract and eat the larva!

Try lemon grass. You can cook with it too.

oldpunk78 said:

I have three huge rosemary bushes and lots of mosquitos. I'm considering screening the back patio.

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Well crap. (I'm still getting some rosemary though lol)

They've got roll-up and tie-back screens you can move out of the way when you don't want them blocking the view. I've actually been considering those for my back porch. I actually like the looks of the tie-back screens, they look like curtains. Just not sure how long before they'd look dirty? I think they'd mildew pretty quickly down here with the rain and humidity. :/

lauraleellbp said:

One of these days I'm going to get around to building a bat house.

The Citronella plants don't smell nearly as strong as the candles do, maybe you could tolerate them? Just be careful where you plant them... the leaves look rather "suspicious," if you know what I mean... :hihi:

I've heard Rosemary is another natural mosquito repellant, though I've never tried that one? I love fresh rosemary, though, and have been wanting some potted- so I'll probably try it soon, myself.

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I wouldn't worry about the citronella plant's leaves. It's really just a scented geranium. If I get really desperate I'll rub a leaf or two where the buggers are most attracted to: Ankles, backs of knees, inside of elbow and temples (all have lots of blood vessels close to skin surface).

I can deal with mosquitoes WAY better than the swarms of blackflies in the woods of N.E. Pa. Just indiscriminate clouds of them with a really nasty bite.

Seriously, set up the screen canopy.

It's not natural but it works well and is odorless
Amazon.com: ThermaCELL Cordless Portable Mosquito Repellent Appliance (Olive): Sports & Outdoors

xmas_one said:

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I have several bat houses in my back yard and they help out a lot since I have a good sized pond that supports those pesky skeeters. The fish eat some of the larvae and the ones that hatch out are bat food. In the evenings around dusk you can see hundreds of bats flying around eating bugs. It can be a little freaky sitting outside while there flying around but they do their job. A bat is capable of eating 1/3 of its body weight in insects each night.

Get some owls and racoons too.. it'll keep the bat population in check. Then get some eagles to keep the owls and racoons in check. Then find a few bob cats to keep the eagles in check. Mosquito problem solved.

I have bats around my house also and did a lot research one summer (last summer was it when got warm way to early?) about mosquito prevention. Bats, while commonly suggested won't help that much as only certain types will eat them and mosquitoes alone make up a very small part of their diet.

Most of what I read that made sense was to get rid of any standing water. Even the tiniest amounts can be a breeding ground. I have koi pond and I could see all the larva in it even with good water flow. I did add some smaller fish (ruby red minnows) but what made a big difference was a product called mosquito dunks. You toss a small puck in and it dissolves, the larva eat it and die. Completely safe for fish and other animals...never lost a pond fish from using it.

TekWarren said:

Sounds like an excuse to setup a couple big tubs or barrels with a small species of fish to attract and eat the larva!

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I'm actually in the planning stages for an outside tank with mts and a few guppies which I know will explode into 843789437438974398 guppies lol

I guess I should have mentioned that I'm in an apartment complex and they tend to frown upon building on lol

I may have to try that item from amazon though :icon_cool

I had read that if it's a choice between a little skinny mosquito or a big fat juicy moth, the bat will choose the moth 100% of the time.

From what I understand, that statement about bats eating mosquitos came from a lab test where they starved the bats and then released mosquitos to see how many they'd eat. Of course a starving bat would eat mosquitos, thats all there was.. In real life, its moths all the way.

If you're really into bats, you need to get a bat detector, a device that translates bat ultrasonic squeaks into sounds that we can hear. It's really interesting listening to them hunt.

BTW, Home Depot sells that gadget too if there's one nearby.

Mint is supposed to help with bugs (and maybe to a small extent it does), but then there's the problem of a mint plant, which very very quickly becomes mint plants.

bizzle said:

Get some owls and racoons too.. it'll keep the bat population in check. Then get some eagles to keep the owls and racoons in check. Then find a few bob cats to keep the eagles in check. Mosquito problem solved.

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*like*

Get a blow dart gun, become s pro, and then actively hunt mosquitoes. No need for Bats.