Rain barrels are large water receptacles used to collect rainwater from downspouts around the house. Gardeners commonly use rain barrels as an environmentally friendly way to water their plants. Rain barrels can attract mosquitoes because they are a source of standing water. Organic mosquito control, which would be control that requires no chemicals and only all-natural products, includes proper barrel construction and the use of mosquito dunks. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Cover any openings in the rain barrel with hardware cloth or another fine metal mesh. This includes the opening in the top of the barrel through which the water enters the barrel from your downspout. Cut the hardware cloth with a pair of sharp scissors so that the edges overlap the opening by at least two inches.
2. Place the hardware cloth over the opening and use an electric drill to insert screws into the edges of the cloth, spaced every two inches, to secure it over the opening.
3. Empty the rain barrel once a week to prevent the standing water from becoming a mosquito breeding ground.
4. Remove the lid from the rain barrel and drop in a portion of one mosquito dunk. One whole dunk generally covers 100 feet. Mosquito dunks contain an all-natural bacterial agent that the larvae of the mosquitoes consume, which kills them. Add a portion of the mosquito dunk every 30 days.
Tags: hardware cloth, rain barrel, mosquito dunk, over opening, portion mosquito, portion mosquito dunk, standing water