Mosquitoes may make a great evening on your patio into a frustrating one. These small insects not only bite, but they can also transmit diseases. Fortunately, powerful insect repellents can allow you to enjoy your outdoor environment without worry. In this article, we will guide you about how to get rid of mosquitos on your patio.
Mosquitoes Are Dangerous
There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes in nearly every country on earth, with approximately 200 species in the United States alone.
Sadly, these flying parasites can transmit malaria, West Nile virus, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other pathogens. This threat to humans occurs when mosquitoes consume the disease, transport it in their bloodstream, and then transmit it to the next individual they bite.
It is a widespread misconception that mosquitoes feed on blood. Mosquitoes consume blood to nourish their bodies, allowing them to produce and hatch healthy eggs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that mosquitoes can lay 100 eggs at a time, so populations of this pest can rapidly become unmanageable.
When eradicating mosquitoes, employing multiple methods to eliminate them at each stage of their life cycle is essential.
Notably, repelling and destroying mosquitoes are not the same thing. By rendering you less attractive to mosquitoes, repellents will keep them away from you.
They are attracted to our exhaled carbon dioxide and perspiration components. Mosquitoes are also attracted to standing water, depositing their eggs in locations such as birdbaths, moist potting soil, standing water in kitchens, puddles, and more.
Killing mosquitoes may seem like an appealing option, but it’s not always in our best interest or the environment’s. Mosquitoes can develop resistance to pesticides, making them more difficult to eliminate over time.
Try natural methods first if your mosquito problem is minimal, and turn to professionals if the problem is severe.
How to Keep Mosquitoes Away from Your Patio
1. Remove Standing Water
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing or stagnant water. Objects such as children’s sand toys and kiddie pools, buckets, birdbaths, wheelbarrows, tarps, and flowerpots can collect and hold water, making them ideal mosquito breeding grounds. Examine your yard for standing water, then empty and drain any bins with water.
Drop a few Mosquito Dunks in standing water that can’t be drained, such as a depression on your grass that gathers water. They have no toxic substances and a natural organic component that destroys mosquito larvae. Mosquito Dunks will continue to kill for another 30 days.
If you have old, unused coffee grounds, sprinkle some on the standing water to keep mosquitoes away. Mosquitoes dislike coffee grounds and will not lay eggs in regions where you have sprinkled coffee grounds.
2. Maintain A Well-Kept Yard
Mosquitoes enjoy the shady places created by vegetation. On hot summer days when mosquitoes need a break from the sun, bushes, long grass, and overgrown trees, all offer good hiding spots.
Trimming your hedges, shrubs, and other foliage is a sure way to get rid of many of these pests, eliminating their hiding places and ensuring they have nowhere comfy to live in your yard.
However, don’t stop there! Examine the yards of your immediate neighbors as well. If they’re overgrown and providing a haven for mosquitoes, you might also want to bring it up with them. If everyone joins up and trims their yards, the mosquitoes will have nowhere to sleep!
3. Set Up Fans
an electric blue plastic desktop fan on a white wooden table with a green blurred nature background interest symbol
Have you ever noticed how bugs don’t seem to bother you as much on breezy evenings?
Mosquitoes can only fly at 1 to 1.5 miles per hour. Even a moderate breeze will make landing on you difficult.
More significantly, a fan disperses the carbon dioxide you breathe, first drawing them. It also cools you down, which helps to dry off the sweat that mosquitos enjoy.
What is the moral of the story? Place a few weatherproof fans on your patio to keep mosquitoes at bay.
4. Involve Some Natural Predators
You may despise mosquitoes, but there are things that do — to eat.
Skeeters are eaten by various migrating songbirds, sparrows, and swallows. To attract them, consider putting a few bird feeders around your yard.
If you don’t mind bats, they’ll eat a lot of them. Install a couple bat houses, and you’ll soon notice their dark silhouettes flying above your head at night, doing their job.
Do you have a large pond? Fill it with koi, goldfish, and even red-eared slider turtles. They will also aid in the control of the biting bug population.
5. Set Up A Mosquito Trap
Mosquito containers are a convenient method for controlling the mosquito population. These traps are effective because they mimic the visual and olfactory signals that attract mosquitoes to humans.
There are numerous mosquito trap varieties available. Some repellents function by luring mosquitoes to an adhesive surface, while others use an electric grid to electrocute the insects. The Mosquito Magnet, one of the most popular traps, works by drawing mosquitoes up.
Put your traps in a shady area for this tactic. You may need to relocate them in order to capture the most insects. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution, as different mosquito species react differently to traps.
6. Candles Scented With Citronella
Deck mosquito repellentFew things are more annoying than a swarm of mosquitoes disrupting a relaxing evening on the back patio. If you’ve had this problem before and need a quick fix, Citronella Candles may be the answer.
These candles contain natural citronella, which repels mosquitoes and other flying pests while being fully safe for humans and dogs. In fact, many people enjoy the fragrance.
What’s great about these candles is that they provide immediate relief once lit. They’re also lightweight and portable, so you can use them almost anywhere, on your deck, patio, porch, or even take them camping for a bug-free trip!
They’re cheap, and a single candle can last up to 40 hours, forming a pest-free ring up to 20 feet in circumference. It’s a basic solution, but it’s proven to work.
Thanks for reading. I hope you find it helpful.