MOSQUITOS, GNATS & OTHER BITING BUGS

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

A couple years ago our area had more than our fair share of mosquitos. Last year, slightly better. This year we are being bitten by some invisible bugs that leave welts ... they are definitely not mosquitos.

Did some research and went on the local Nextdoor site for answers. It seems very likely that the mysterious bug is the pesky gnat.

Question ......... does anyone have any experience or suggestions with how to discourage gnats on the terrace, etc? Any plants (such as garlic, lavender or whatever) that discourage these little monsters?

Any and all suggestions welcome!

TIA

jlkz · ‎12-02-2013

@Tinkrbl44

When at the Jersey shore, after 4PM the fierce, biting "no see'ums" come out. Even if I have a long sleeve shirt, socks and long pants, I get eaten alive. The itch requires a spray to deaden. DH gets left alone and he's sitting right next to me.

Go figure. I have learned to retreat into the house.

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Sir Winston Churchill

Annabellethecat66 · ‎03-12-2010

@Tinkrbl44 I have that thing that draws in bugs. I live on 1 acre lots. So I have one next to garage door and one near the back porch.

I keep them up until around November.

Recently I noticed a hornet on a screen. I'd had some work done in back (power washing) so it dawned on me the bug things had not been turned back on.

Sure enough...the one closest to the back porch was off.

I turned it back on...bug problem solved.

I gave a friend one of the smaller (1/2 acre) ones. His house and land is actually at least 12-15 acres.

He put it right near where he and his wife sit on their open back porch.

He has an amazing garden every year. I love, I mean really love tomatoes. His are the best I've ever eaten. He keeps me supplied with tomatoes. That was my way of thanking him.

His wife had not been able to sit on their porch or even be in immediately surrounded garden. She would be eaten up by bugs.

Every time I see her she thanks me for the bug thing.

Keep your eye out for when they go on sale.

I don't want to hear you are eaten up by bugs because you are too sweet.

I love reading your posts. Have a great day.

@Tinkrbl44 😘

Trailrun23 · ‎05-31-2022

Those are no-see-um gnats. You don't see them, but they bite and are so annoying. I keep no-itch cream around and have found mosquito bits ( Amazon )sprinkled around my flowerbed and foundation really helps kill them. I also sprinkle a few in my houseplants. Even if they aren't overwatered, the slightest dampness of the soil seems to attract them.we use soaker hoses, so that brings them out everywhere.

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

We have no see'ums. And we make sure to not go in our backyard, as @jlkz said after

4 PM.

It is such a shame we bought nice outdoor furniture. We intended to eat dinner outside once in awhile. Have not done it in years. Didn't want to spray anything in the backyard because of our dog.

And now that we no longer have the dog, we aren't in the habit of even using our backyard. We even moved our vegetable garden to the front of the house by the garage.

occasionalrain · ‎03-10-2010

I have bird feeders and the birds take care of the outdoor bugs. I wouldn't spray and chance killing bees and other desirable insects My issue this year is a hoard of fruit flies that have invaded my kitchen. I've not had them others years and no idea why they're here this year.

Jacie · ‎01-09-2011

We tried all the natural stuff and still would get bit. Mosquitoes don't care for me but gnats and nosee-ums are another story. We ended up getting Thermacell units and use them regularly. Can be purchased on Amazon. Home Depot and many hardware stores. They do work.

"Cats are poetry in motion. Dogs are gibberish in neutral." -Garfield

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@Annabellethecat66

Nice to see you on here ...... What's the thing you have called?

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@drizzellla wrote:
We have no see'ums. And we make sure to not go in our backyard, as @jlkz said after
4 PM.

It is such a shame we bought nice outdoor furniture. We intended to eat dinner outside once in awhile. Have not done it in years. Didn't want to spray anything in the backyard because of our dog.

And now that we no longer have the dog, we aren't in the habit of even using our backyard. We even moved our vegetable garden to the front of the house by the garage.

@drizzellla

When I was doing research for dealing with mosquitos in non-chemical ways, one suggestion that kept coming up was to have a small oscillating fan fanning the area the people are in.

Since even the Low setting can be much more wind than a small flying bug can manage, you don't need chemicals. The bugs just blow away.... nice thought, isn't it?

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@drizzellla wrote:
We have no see'ums. And we make sure to not go in our backyard, as @jlkz said after
4 PM.

It is such a shame we bought nice outdoor furniture. We intended to eat dinner outside once in awhile. Have not done it in years. Didn't want to spray anything in the backyard because of our dog.

And now that we no longer have the dog, we aren't in the habit of even using our backyard. We even moved our vegetable garden to the front of the house by the garage.
@drizzellla

When I was doing research for dealing with mosquitos in non-chemical ways, one suggestion that kept coming up was to have a small oscillating fan fanning the area the people are in.

Since even the Low setting can be much more wind than a small flying bug can manage, you don't need chemicals. The bugs just blow away.... nice thought, isn't it?

Interesting. But makes alot of sense, The no see'ums are so tiny, you can understand that they can't handle any breeze.

We put several birdfeeders in the back yard. There always seems to be various birds on the birdfeeders. So if we do go in the backyard we make all the birds fly away.