What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Mosquitos

are driving me nuts. they are in everything and everywhere. My bogs, my neps...

Grr....

I pretty much can't go out back now to enjoy my plants because I get swarmed. I put some dunks in all the open nep pitchers out there to see if that helps, but really at this point I'm at a loss...
 
Bug zapper maybe? Or you could cover all of the standing water around there so they don't lay eggs in it.
 
You should get some carnivorous plants. That'll take care of 'em. Oh wait...


:-))
 
Mosquitos can sucessfully breed inside nepenthes pitchers?
are you sure?
why wouldnt they get digested in the larva stage?

as for other areas of standing water, such as trays, all you can do is dump and refill every couple days..

they wont breed in bogs which just have moss on the surface..even though the bogs are wet and "boggy", mosquitos have to have actual open water to breed..the larva live in water..they can't live in just "damp moss"..

Scot
 
I feel your pain. I get bit about 10 times everyday. The only thing I can do is wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt if I go outside, but it's 90 here! And even then they go after my head, lol. My sundews are getting a good meal though :) Hang in there!
 
Ralph Snodsmith, radio garden guru reccomends this:

Take 500mg of B1 thiamin then the following day take 100mg twice a day. He swears this works. I haven't tried it yet myself. Our bodies don't absorb it, it gets released through the pores and apparently the mosquitos hate the smell.
 
Scotty, yes mosquitoes can breed inside the pitchers.

Well you could get a mosquito magnet. The thing that used the propane tank, but they are pricey at around $250. I know a few people that swear by them. They are said to wipe out mosquitoes in like a mile radius. A Doc at work said the second year he had his up and running there was hardly any int he traps and none flying around because it did such a good job taking them out. It attracts them to an opening and sucks them in a trap so you can visually see the dead mosquitoes.

Your already using the dunks so that is a good thing. You can also get yourself some Bayer advanced concentrate and add it to the pitcher and all of your standing water. You have to get the concentration to the right level, but it will kill the larva and any other invertebrate growing in the water. I added it to a tank that had daphea in it and it killed all them too so I have to get a replacement culture to start them again. I will just have to add some gold fish to eat the larva.

Whatever you do you need to do something though. Since your in ATL, you have a lot of people in a close area. If by chance a West Nile mosquito starts to breed there you could get in a lot of trouble for allowing the condition for them to breed. I recommend the the propane powered mosquito magnet, but I know that is not always possible. I have not bought myself one yet due to the funding issue. I just try to keep Bayer or a dunk in the standing water.
 
But wouldn't that thing kindof attract mosquitos too, then they go "Oh hey look people"
 
  • #10
His emphasis on "Dehydrate and DIE!" sounds very cynical.
 
  • #11
In response to the Mosquitoes breeding in pitchers, they definitely can do it in the northern purpurea varieties, don't know about the others.

Up at the wild center in Tupper Lake NY they had a nice display of Adirondack bog plants. Among what they had was a video of pumping the water out of a pitcher and showing all the stuff in there, dead and alive. The little wriggling mosquito larvae among them.
 
  • #12
yeah it's a major bummer that CPs don't wipe out mosquitoes. I actually took a class in gardening CPs with my wife to get here involved a little, and someone asked that very question. The host said absolutely they catch mosquitoes. I guess she was kind of right, but sort of misleading. I just let it go.

I actually totally stopped using trays last summer because of the mosquitoes and switched mostly to bog barrels now but it actually decided to rain last week in Atlanta so they filled up so that is where they went nuts in. Unfortunately as was pointed out, neps can still grow mosquitoes (which also is a bummer...).
 
  • #13
yeah it's a major bummer that CPs don't wipe out mosquitoes. I actually took a class in gardening CPs with my wife to get here involved a little, and someone asked that very question. The host said absolutely they catch mosquitoes. I guess she was kind of right, but sort of misleading. I just let it go.

I actually totally stopped using trays last summer because of the mosquitoes and switched mostly to bog barrels now but it actually decided to rain last week in Atlanta so they filled up so that is where they went nuts in. Unfortunately as was pointed out, neps can still grow mosquitoes (which also is a bummer...).


If you put one quarter of a Mosquito dunk in your tray water and rain water barrel you will be FINE.
 
Back
Top