Mosquito barrier – liquid, garlic-based mosquito repellent
It’s mosquito season again, and the perfect solution to keep the little bloodsuckers away has yet to be found. Many chemical or electric repellents are either ineffective or harmful to people or the environment. This Mosquito Barrier, although not perfect, at least has the merits that it’s effective and environmentally sound. It’s an organic, liquid solution that’s based on garlic and that can be sprayed around your premises.
Why It’s Clever
Many mosquito repellent devices are being advertised as effective and green, but close scrutiny shows that they’re either ineffective or that they kill other species than just mosquitoes. Chemical products tend to work well, but most are based on some poisonous substance that can be harmful – at least to a certain degree – to the people that use them or to other animals such as pets. This Mosquito Barrier solution is based on 99.3% garlic extract, which not only keeps mosquitoes, ticks, or fleas away, but even kills them on contact. The manufacturer specifically states that the product does not kill bees or butterflies, on the other hand.
The product must be mixed with water and can be applied by spraying it on plants and grass. People can smell it only for a couple of hours, while the odor keeps warding off mosquitoes for several weeks. The mosquito’s odor-detecting antennae are as high as 10,000 times better than the human nose – that’s how they can find their lunch (you) so effectively. It can also be sprayed on standing water such as puddles, where it suffocates the mosquito larvae. Supposedly it does no harm to the rest of the aquatic life, but I’d still be a bit cautious about applying it in that way until I was completely sure about that.
I was quite skeptical when I first read about the Mosquito Barrier, but their website features so many convincing testimonials that I might give it a try myself.
Summary
- 99.3% garlic-based mosquito repellent
- Effective for several weeks
- Spray on grass and plants around premises
- Keeps mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and grasshoppers away, but doesn’t bother bees or butterflies
- Harmless to people and other animals and insects
- Animals such as horses can still eat treated grass
- One quart covers about 1.25 acres.
Tips
Mix the solution in the garden, not in the house. If you spill some, your house may smell for weeks.
Maybe you're a vampire or you have another kind of aversion to garlic? Check out our overview of mosquito repellent solutions.
Where to buy
You can buy it from Amazon.com, where it gets good reviews.
Approx. price: $23 per quart, $85 per gallon (August 2010)
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Categories: garden,mosquito repellent,health,green
