Mosquitos?

[Optimist]

I try to use rainwater to water with when I can. I am experiencing a lot of mosquito larvae in the water. I actually had mosquito dunks, but now do not and wonder if I spray something like neem oil into the water will it get the mosquitos and not hurt the plants? Any feedback? Thanks.

[rbarata]

mosquito larvae breed air by mean of a "pipe" that reaches water surface. Anything that breaks superficial tension and cover those "pipes" will kill them.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Mosquito Dunks and Mosquito Bits have Bt-I and are not toxic to wildlife or plants (just mosquitoes and flies). I use the Bits in an open drain that was giving me problems, it works well. They also work just fine for getting rid of fungus gnats--just sprinkle the granules on the surface of the soil or media, and water as usual. Effective and easy to work with, I recommend it.

[Leafmite]

Mosquitoes are a real problem where I live. I used mosquito bits in all the saucers of my plants and have not seen any mosquitoes. It does not harm plants. You could also buy a half-barrel pond liner and a comet goldfish and keep your rainwater in there. The goldfish will take care of the mosquito larvae and provide a little fertilizer. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) keeps the mosquitoes away. When I was raising Betta fish fry, I was actually trying to get mosquito larvae and I had no luck until I moved the garbage can away from the wormwood. After that, I had a ton. :|

[estación seca]

The dunks work fairly well but not 100%. You really have to cover any standing collection containers, and keep them covered. That includes the downspouts, if they are open to the gutters. We usually get plenty of warning of rain, so there is time to go uncover them.

Drain dishes under plants every 1-2 days, and refill.

Goldfish stop eating mosquito larvae when the water gets too warm, which is all summer here in Phoenix. Arizona Jeannie's summer nights cool down more than mine do, but I suspect her water is still too hot in summer for goldfish to control mosquitos. Gambusia will do the job (AKA mosquitofish.) The Maricopa County Health Department here distributes mosquitofish. Your county might, also.

I collect rain in stock tanks placed under where the rain runs off my roof. As soon as it fills up I pump it into plastic trash barrels I buy that come with covers, $15 at Home Depot. When the trash barrels are full I pump the excess water into my outdoor pond to reduce the salinity. I have mosquitofish in there; they survive our winters and eat mosquitos all year. I never let water stand in the stock tank for more than a day.

Sometimes when I uncover a trash barrel weeks to months after I've filled it, there are numerous dead mosquitos floating on the surface. I either pumped eggs or larvae into the barrel from the stock tank, or there were eggs waiting to hatch inside the barrel when I filled it. In either case the cover prevented a mosquito problem.

[rbarata]

Here in my country (and in most of EU, and probably in the US too) the genus Gambusia was introduced in lakes and smaller bodies of water to avoid mosquitoes.

They are easy to catch with a small net since they tend to live near the edges.

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------

After writting this I've noticed ES post about it.

[estación seca]

Gambusia are native to the southeastern US. They have been introduced into natural bodies of water all over the world for mosquito control. Unfortunately, they are an aggressive invasive species in many places. They are disrupting a lot of tropical fish ecosystems in South America and in Asia. If you have them in your artificial ponds, please don't put them into natural bodies of water.

[Subrosa]

Here in the US, a simple means of avoiding mosquitos is to run airstones in the container. Our mosquitos do not lay eggs in moving water. I've been told this does not apply in Australia.

---------- Post added at 06:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 PM ----------

Those of us into US natives call them "Damnbusia" because of their prevalence due to introduction for mosquito control.

[estación seca]

In the southern tier of US states we have several introduced Asian mosquitos. I don't know whether an airstone would inhibit them.

[Leafmite]

I have seen mosquito larvae thriving in fountains where the water is pretty agitated.

It has been pretty dry here. A few days ago, I saw the mosquitoes circling my little pond. My goldfish seemed excited.