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In many areas, mosquitoes are considered a nuisance, especially during the warmer months of the year. Not only are they a nuisance, but they also pose important health risks for disease exposure to substances such as malaria, dengue fever, Zika virus, and West Nile virus.
Although most commercially used chemical repellents and insecticides are effective, most contain strong chemicals that could potentially harm humans, pets, and the environment. Fortunately, there are natural ways to get rid of mosquitoes that are both safe and effective.
Below, we discuss many such natural ways that help you keep mosquitoes at bay without resorting to harmful chemicals.
Understanding the Problem of Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes get attracted to any form of standing water as this is the place they lay their eggs—from puddles, ponds, clogged gutters, and it includes birdbaths.
Human scents are what draw them toward humans: carbon dioxide, sweat, and body heat.
Knowing what attracts mosquitoes can help you implement the right natural strategies to repel them and prevent their breeding around your home.
Natural Mosquito Repellents
Plants and Herbs
Some plants and herbs act as natural mosquito repellents, such as citronella, lavender, marigold, basil, and peppermint, among others, with all having a strong scent capable of chasing away mosquitoes.
Used in reducing the mosquito population, a few of these plants become helpful by just planting them in your garden, or having pots if your garden is not spacious, placed at corners around the house.
The most used natural repellent, mostly in candles and oils, is citronella, which is known for warding off mosquitoes.
Lavender smells as nice to humans as it smells repulsive to mosquitoes. The scent of the bloom of marigolds emits an odour that mosquitoes don't like.
Basil and peppermint enhance the flavour of the food you make and work as an efficient mosquito repellent when kept outdoors in your yard.
Essential Oils as Mosquito Repellents
Similarly, plant-derived, essential oils also serve the role of a mosquito repellent in a good number of mosquito repellents.
Eucalyptus, tea tree, lemon, peppermint, and Lavender can join the olive oil to apply directly onto the skin or two bodies of water.
The fact appears to be that eucalyptus oil is a strong mosquito repellent. These natural oils, such as tea tree oil, are endowed with antiseptic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory qualities that allow them to react effectively as a repellent.
Lemon oil, extrinsic in its fresh-scent characteristic, wheeled down and sprayed around the house dials down the menace of mosquitoes.
These natural oils are not only highly effective but also safe for human use and make ideal alternatives to chemical repellents.
Homemade Mosquito Traps
Homemade mosquito traps are another effective solution for mosquito control in your compound.
A very simple yet effective kind of trap can be built using a plastic bottle, sugar, and yeast. Fill it with sugar water, lay the bottom half upward, and add yeast. Carbon dioxide is released during the fermentation process, which attracts mosquitoes.
Once inside the bottle, they are unable to get out and eventually drown in the solution. You can place the trap in strategic areas within your homestead for a major reduction of mosquito population.
The study on natural mosquito control in water sources
Most mosquitoes have standing water as their breeding site; thus, proper management of water sources around the home reduces the possibility of mosquitoes infesting.
Clean and empty containers capturing water at least every week, especially flower pots, birdbaths, and gutters.
A few drops of essential oils, such as lavender or eucalyptus, added to stagnant water, can also help repel mosquitoes.
A neat trick possibly would be to let mosquito fish feed on mosquito larvae, if you have a pond, in so doing effectively managing the mosquitoes.
Alternatively, If you introduce a pump or fountain such that the water is always in motion, it would remain unattractive to female mosquitoes to lay their eggs.
Providing a Mosquito-Free Atmosphere
Cleanliness in the environment is the essence of preventing mosquitoes from infesting homes.
Mowing the lawn regularly, keeping the shrubs trimmed, and cleaning all litter help to reduce the growth of places where the mosquitoes can hide.
Screens on the windows and doors protect against mosquitoes entering the home.
Sleeping under a mosquito net is quite ideal for improvement in protection at night.
Finally, you can set up some natural anti-mosquito candles or coils in your backyard or surrounding area.
Conclusion
Naturally eliminating mosquitoes, therefore, should include natural repellents, essential oils in this context, and management of water sources besides keeping the environment clean.
While these measures will do well, it is pertinent they are implemented consistently.
In that respect, therefore, you may not only have a mosquito-free environment, but be sure no harmful bioactive chemicals are released; therefore, making the environment safe.
Implement these natural methods today to keep mosquitoes away so you can enjoy a peaceful, bite-free home.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in Your House?
Eliminate sources of standing water around the house, as it has a perfect breeding place for mosquitoes.
This also applies to your plants, bird baths, clogged gutters, or pipes with leaks. Use natural repellents such as citronella candles, essential oil diffusers, or mosquito-repellent plants like lavender and marigolds.
Screens on doors and windows will help in keeping mosquitoes outside the house. Cleaning and vacuuming regularly will also keep mosquitoes and their eggs out of your home environment.
What are the home remedies to repel mosquitoes from the room?
Keeping mosquitoes outside a room effectively is achieved by keeping all the windows and doors closed to block entry of new mosquitoes into that room.
Sleeping under mosquito nets, on the other hand, puts a barrier between the skin and the mosquitoes when one is asleep.
Use electric mosquito rackets or zappers to kill those already inside.
You can also use some natural mosquito repellents, like sprays with essential oils of eucalyptus, lavender, or lemon.
This cannot be effectively countered by the weak-flying mosquitoes; ensure some air circulation by placing a fan in the room.
How to Remove from Kitchen Small Mosquitoes?
The kitchen attracts small mosquitoes, often called fruit flies or gnats, through food and moisture.
The kitchen should be kept clean and dry to get rid of mosquitoes. Equally, the fruits and vegetables should be well stored, preferably inside a fridge to avoid attracting mosquitoes.
Ensure food spills are cleaned in good time, and the trash bins are covered and emptied regularly.
Homemade traps can also be created with apple cider vinegar and a few drops of liquid dish soap. Attracted to the vinegar, the mosquitoes in the droves fly into the soapy solution, which reduces the surface tension and drowns them immediately.
How to eradicate Dengue mosquitoes from your Residence?
Dengue mosquitoes are active during the day since their species, the Aedes aegypti, breed in clean, stagnant water.
One can get rid of dengue mosquitoes at home by eliminating all probable breeding sites around one's premises. This involves regular emptying and cleaning of containers collecting water such as flower pots, buckets, and birdbaths.
The use of mosquito nets and screens in windows and doors is an alternative to deter insects from coming into a home.
Dengue mosquitoes can be repelled by natural repellents like neem oil or even eucalyptus oil applied to the exposed skin.
A few other added protections would be long-sleeved clothing, mosquito coils, and electric repellents during the peak activity time in the early morning and late afternoon.
