Mosquitoes a problem? Try this!

I don't know how it is by y'all, but the bugs are BAD this year! My husband (with the help of our fathers) built an awesome deck that has been such a wonderful blessing this past year. But with how bad the bugs have been, it has been a bit of a challenge to enjoy some family time outside. My two year old has, unfortunately, been getting eaten alive out there! The poor kid didn't even know what a bug bite was until this year. Now she freaks out when she sees a "buggie". Half the time she'll run to me screaming and the other half she plucks up some courage and goes running at the flying creature yelling "NO! NO BUGGIE, YOU DON'T GET ME!", after which she will come running up to me triumphantly, exclaiming "Momma, I got it! I got the buggie!!"

Now, unless you plan on running at the bugs screaming at them every time you see one (and most likely collapse in the process), I have some other ideas.

Here are my natural solutions for mosquitoes:

- mosquito repelling plants
- homemade mosquito repellent
- A fan! Simple, obvious, but it helps keep flying insects away. it also has the benefit of rustling the mosquito repelling plants and disseminating their scent a little better. 

Some other options that may or may not be effective against flying insects:
- penny in a ziplock bag of water (Click here for more info)
- Mosquito trap (Click here for more info)
- fan mosquito trap (Like this one from Skeeterbag)

The bag of water and mosquito trap are some of those "why not try and see what happens" solutions. Can't hurt. But I can't speak to their effectiveness because I've been trying other things that seem to help quite a bit. Here is more information regarding mosquito traps from Mosquito.org. The Skeeterbag seems like a pretty cool and promising solution that you can make at home, though I have yet to take that step.

Mosquito repelling plants

There are a lot of sites that can tell you what plants are supposed to keep the mosquitoes at bay. You can read more Here, Here, and Here. But I'm going to tell you what I use: Marigolds, sweet basil, purple basil, and rosemary. I have 6 long planters of marigolds lining my deck with two large planters full of the herbs between the deck chairs. Not only does it smell delicious, but I've noticed a lot less mosquitoes flying around. Just something to keep in mind :)

Homemade Mosquito repellant

This is a simple recipe and it is as effective as any commercial "all natural" mosquito repellent on the market. But a lot cheaper. So its worth the try, right? I used this recipe from Wellness Mama and customized it a bit. 

In an 8 oz spray bottle, put 4 oz of distilled water. Add 50 drops of essential oils. Then fill the rest of the way with witch hazel. As far as the essential oils go, here are ones that may be effective: Citronella, lemon, rosemary, lemongrass, eucalyptus, tee tree, and clove. Right now in my bottle I have 15 drops of citronella, 10 drops rosemary, 5 drops lemon, 5 drops eucalyptus, 5 drops tea tree, 5 drops lemongrass, and 5 drops clove. 

For children 2 and older, this is safe (albeit diluted a little more by using less essential oils). For children under 2, there needs to be a few changes made. First, I would use Thayer's lavender witch hazel (it is alcohol free. I wouldn't use the rose witch hazel because perfume attracts flying insects and rose is a pretty sweet smell). You could also use an alcohol free unscented witch hazel like this one or an unscented witch hazel infused with aloe vera like this one. Secondly, you need to be careful when using essential oils on kiddos. This excerpt from Crunchy Betty explains a little more about using essential oils on children: "Children have much thinner, more delicate skin than adults have, and tend to be very sensitive to the potency of essential oils. In fact, even if you do use essential oil in a recipe for children, only use half of the essential oil recommended in the recipe. That’s all they’ll need, anyway". Some baby (6 months of age and older) safe essential oils that can help repel mosquitoes include: Citronella, rosemary, thyme, geranium, and lemon. You can read more about baby safe essential oils here. Citronella is safe for children over the age of 6 months when diluted according the the National Pesticide Information Center. According to the general guideline to use half the amount of essential oils when making something for children, use 25 drops of the EOs listed above. For example: 10 drops citronella, 5 drops rosemary, 5 drops lemon. 

So now you've gotten rid of the mosquitoes and you have fly issues?? Here is a site that was recommended to me by a friend. She tried the "vodka in a bag", and reports that it worked well for her. I have yet to try any of these tips, but I thought I'd pass them along! Let me know if you tried them and what you think!

Do you have any other natural tips for mosquito control? Let me know!