# Mosquito Barrier / Garlic Barrier - does it work??



## delly (Oct 30, 2007)

Ok, so we have some wetlands near our property, and while we do everything we can on our land to eliminate standing water - well, the wetlands are protected of course. So of course we have too many mosquitoes to even think about going outside in the yard sometimes in the summer!







And this year I really wanted to garden with 4 yr old DS (with 2 yr old DD "helping" too) but it won't work if we can't go outside!

I saw this stuff - Mosquito Barrier - it's a garlic spray I guess? I mentioned it to DH and he looked at me like I was nuts and said, "I'm not wasting money on that! That's never going to work!"

Anyone have any experience with it? Does it work? Is it useless? I've seen both opinions on Amazon reviews.

We could also get the propane tank thingies - if we can find a brand that works. That's what DH wants to do... I'm a little afraid it'll just attract even more of them in our direction though!

We're not supposed to throw mosquito dunks into the wetlands, I don't think, but maybe if we're desperate...?


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## Adasmommy (Feb 26, 2005)

I don't have an answer (sorry) but I suffer from mosquitoes too. We are in Florida, and though I have friends whose yards I visit without any trouble, ours is full of mosquitoes!









As we do not have wetlands, I don't know where they are breeding.

Basically, I'm waiting for someone else to give you advice so I can use it too!


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## Ruthiegirl (Jun 25, 2004)

We used that exact product last year! We live in a low area near a brackish river and we have monstrous skeeters. The garlic juice did help cut down on some of them and we used it rather often according to the instructions.

We are going to use it again this summer. Anything to reduce the mosquitoes.

As a side note -- the garlic juice does has a scent. Not unpleasant -- kind of like marinated meat on the grill. It went away after a few hours.

I have been looking at the CO2/propane options as well. The ones that seem to work are the big units and I can't see shelling out the big money quite yet. I would rather move away from this briny river.







:


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## JTSmommie1 (May 25, 2005)

I have a creek running through my property about 30 ft from the house.

I looked at that and several similar sounding products last year, but I am sooo cheap.

What I ended up doing is finding a recipe to make my own and using a sprayer. It worked pretty well.

I will track down the recipe and post later. But mostly it was water, garlic cloves a little smushed and some smushed hot peppers, let it steep in the fridge for awhile and then strain before putting in the sprayer.

Be prepared, if you make a "big" batch it will stink up your fridge. I keep mine in the garage fridge.

Laura


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## delly (Oct 30, 2007)

So, it helps some but not a lot?
JTSmommie1, does the homemade version work ok for you?  Maybe I can get away with doing that if DH balks at the "real thing"... of course once I mix it up and he gets a whiff, maybe he'll want to buy the prepared stuff just to avoid the mixing process...


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## JTSmommie1 (May 25, 2005)

I finally found the recipe.

Yes, I would say it worked pretty well. But we also use Bite Blocker spray (which is awesome). So the combination of spraying this and the personal spray kept us pretty safe.

I didn't add the soap. And I didn't puree everything, I just made sure the garlic and peppers were really smashed. Actually I kinda liked the smell since in my opinion you can't have to much garlic. My garage fridge smelled like an Italian Restaurant.









I tried to spray the yard every week or so and no one ever complained of the yard being stinky.

6 or 8 large cloves of garlic
3 or 4 hot chile peppers, fresh or dried
3 cups water
1 tablespoon liquid castile soap (like Dr. Bronner's or Basic-H)

Put the garlic, chiles, and water into the blender and blend until the garlic and chiles are pureed. Let stand for at least 2 hours or overnight. Pour the mixture through a strainer lined with fine cheesecloth, through a coffee filter, or even a jelly bag. You can also use a wet paper towel, though this takes longer to strain. The idea is to get rid of all of the particles because they will stop up the valve of your sprayer.

Once strained, pour into a jar with a plastic lid (not metal), add the soap, and stir. The concentrate is ready to use, or it can be stored in a cool dark place for a few months to be used as needed. My spray bottle holds a little less than a liter, so I add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the concentrate to the bottle and fill it with water.

Laura


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

We do have a proprane one. It helps but isn't a cure-all. You have to make sure to get the right attractant if you have asian tiger mosquitoes, the all day ones not the ones that just come out at dawn and dusk. The propane one helps keep the immediate area somewhat free (should be placed a little away from where you hang out). I'm under the impression that mosquitoes mostly stay within a hundred yards of where they hatch so, theoretically, the mosquito catchers don't attract that many new ones from other areas. But I'm tempted to add the garlic spray to the battle.


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

I wonder if the garlic spray will keep dogs from defecating on the lawn?









I've heard of chili powder as a dog inhibitor...


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