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Permalink Reply by Chuck G on May 24, 2010 at 5:52pm

There is a new way, an organic insecticide spray that relies on mosquitoes sweet tooth to get them. Mosquitoes do not only just suck blood. Male mosquitoes never suck blood, they only drink nectar from flowers for their energy. The females also slurp lots of nectar, between draining us. The organic insecticide spinosad, which I have talked up her before(because its a stomach poison, and does not kill many good bugs, or non target animals), has been know for a long time to kill the mosquito larva when sprayed in the standing water they breed in. The cool thing is that, by combining the insecticide with a sugar solution, and spraying the foliage where mosquitoes gather, they suck up the little drops and get a lethal dose. In the studies in Israel, they were able to kill virtually all the mosquitoes in a very mosquito-y desert oasis. The way I would try it here at home is to get a 2 liter bottle of seven-up, sprite, or equivalent, and put it into a mister bottle, with the correct dose of spinosad and mist around the dense bushy shady places the mosquitoes hang out in. Spray it in the evening, but the next morning, go out and spray off with water the areas you misted, so that day time good bugs that also like nectar, won't get killed. These would be things like bees, butterflies, and ladybugs. Since they mostly go to flowers, the probability that lots of good bugs would be affected is low, but since it easy to wash of the stuff, why not. I'd probably repeat every week or so.

Some links about the research:

http://malaria.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTX035356.html

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mosquito-039-s-Sugar-Appetite-Could-...

Permalink Reply by Orange on May 24, 2010 at 8:55pm

Gidday Sydni, Ive also herd if you have a large body of water near by (large pound) to plant eucalyptus tree near by as mossy's hate the sent given off by the tree, also the tree has an effect on the water and larval/eggs find the condition's undesirable, well so Ive herd.

Also Ive tried catnip, rosemary, thyme, garlic and a small amount of lemon balm to with poor result's, maybe I need to plant more lemon balm as I only have one in the back vege garden, anyhow it's mid winter here so it's gonna be some time before I attempt that.

Live long....

Permalink Reply by Chuck G on May 24, 2010 at 9:34pm

Orange, If you let your lemon balm flower and go to seed, you'll have tons of plants all over the place. It makes a superior tea for colds and flu, especially when blended with Lemon Gum leaves or lemon grass. I've got it all over my Dallas yard from one plant years ago. I just mow it off where ever I don't want it. It releases a lemony burst when hit by the mower.

Permalink Reply by Orange on May 24, 2010 at 10:09pm

Gidday Chuck, thank's for the advice, Ive got mine planted in a large plastic bucket near where I seat at the edge of the vege garden, I may have to plant it directly into the garden to get better result's maybe? but ill take up on your advice chuck and see if i get any result's.

Just so happen's I have the flu, Ill give it a go, at the moment Ill try almost anything.

lawn's?? haha sorry it's hard to imagine lawn's in Texas, I watch to many cowboy movies perhaps, sorry just struck me as odd, mind Ive never been there so...what I know.

Live long .....chuck

Permalink Reply by Chuck G on May 24, 2010 at 11:20pm

Orange, I hope you'll be feeling better. Try this technique I used to do when I lived in California and we had a Lemon Eucalyptus in our yard. I actually saw it on Crocodile Dundee. Get a pan of boiling water with a big handful of Lemon gum leaves, fresh is best, and put a towel across the back of your head and put your face over the boiling water, breath in all that nice steam. Funny thing about lemon Eucalyptus, in California, they were some of the biggest and most beautiful trees with smooth, graceful white trunks. Here in Dallas, they grow like a perennial, coming up every year in a bush about 5 feet high. They freeze to the ground here. We can get 15 deg F, -10 deg C sometimes here.
A funny story about what the Japanese think about Dallas. A friend of mine was in the Dallas First Men's Garden Club. As a fund raiser, just for a goof, they did this calender of a bunch of the members in the buff, gardening. They got an unbelievable response, even though it was absolutely not original( long ago some ladies club in middle England did the same thing) and the average age of these guys was about 70. They were on National TV here and and even made the international news. This Japanese TV station wanted to do a big expose on the calender, so the club picked Tony's yard to have the filming. Tony is the local Palm expert and a world authority on hardy palms, and has a yard with probably 20 species plus bamboo, tropicals; his yard looks like Singapore or something. The Japanese couldn't believe it was Dallas, they were expecting cactus and ranches. Dallas is pretty green most of the time, except when we have a drought. We get about 1 meter of rain a year. Tony's website is dallaspalms.com

Permalink Reply by Orange on May 24, 2010 at 11:59pm

Funny you should mention Palm tree's, just last night I was goggling palm oil and if it was possible to grow crop's here in NZ, didn't get that far into the research. Ive just checked out your page, I see you worked as a oil engineer, now that's pretty coincidental haha i'm an engineer as well, i use to refit and rebuild heavy forestry machinery, anyhow Ill stop there as it moving away from gardening, don't want to clog the post up with unrelated chat.

Japanese, I loooove Bonsai tree's, I had an uncle who was well, very short tempered all his life and was one hard bloke, ex back block farmer, anyhow he's was very intimidating to meet and to speak to, I really don't think he realized how blunt and harsh a tone of a speaker he was, which I sorta admire in a person now that I'm an adult, but as a child it terrified the living crap outa me. Back to Bonsai, he started taking Bonsai classes and was a natural gardener right from get go, to honest it became a prolific obsession, which is a good thing in this case (ex alcoholic) on the last count when I last visited there had to be at least 50? Bonsai tree's, all just in amazing detail, seriously it was just beautiful, admit being a gardener I was jealous and envious, also he traveled the country giving workshop classes and lecture's with in only a short time of his first attempt's at Bonsai. Getting to the point of the story i guess, it changed him so dramatically and he became sooo placid and good natured, It was like looking at a completely different man, whether he found that "zen' thing or not, who know's, but ya gotta be happy for him, anyhow running outa juju, time to grab a drink :)

Tony's website thanx

Live long..... chuck