Best Indoor Plants To Keep Mosquitoes Away

Mosquitoes are terrible. Not only are they irritating, not only do their bites cause irritation, but they spread serious diseases. Compounding the issue are certain corporations conducting experiments on these bugs. Oxitec designed genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil engineered to die young, and apparently they did not.

The hope is that some altered group of insects like this doesn’t become a scourge to society. However, the reality with scientific exploits is far from spotless. Such altered mosquitoes are cause for concern. Think about this: normal, “healthy” mosquitoes spread all kinds of diseases. Who knows what modified mosquitoes could do!

Thankfully, you don’t have to use synthetic means to get rid of mosquitoes; whether or not they be genetically modified. There are natural remedies that work perfectly well, don’t impact health, and even leave an area smelling fresh. Indoor plants represent one of the best natural mosquito repellents, and there are several that can do the trick for you.

Additionally, using natural remedies can have collateral health benefits. Certain aromas have psychological and physiological benefits. Have you ever heard of “aromatherapy”? Well, imagine using natural plants to both repel mosquitoes and help you keep an even keel mentally. It’s a simultaneous win-win through one solution.

Specific Indoor Plants To Consider

Everyone is going to have different preferences when it comes to plants which repel mosquitoes. Perhaps the most common is Citronella, which is often as oil from a tiki lamp in the backyard. You can additionally husband citronella indoors; just give it enough water and light. The smell may not be as therapeutic as other plants, but it works.

Something that cats like which mosquitoes hate is Catnip. This plant smells slightly minty and is relatively easy to grow indoors; but if you’ve got a cat, you can expect the animal to constantly be getting into whatever pot you’ve planted it in. This particular herb might be better to plant around the borders of your home. Then again, if you don’t have a cat, there’s no issue.

Rosemary is an excellent herb to have available for cooking—especially if you’re making lamb chops. It also looks pleasing and is relatively straightforward to grow. As with other plants on this list, mosquitoes don’t like it. They also can’t stand lemon balm or penny-royal, a plant that has purple blossoms and varieties both American and European.

Collateral Indoor Plant Repellent Strategies

Not everybody’s got a green thumb. You can still use houseplants that can be grown indoors to repel mosquitoes both indoors and out—but there’s a trick. You’ll want to use compounds that are derived from these plants. Other herbs and flowers than those listed here additionally repel mosquitoes, and you can find them in varying modes.

There are colognes and sprays which are made to mimic the aroma some of the plants listed here give off, but perhaps the best way to apply them would be to use them as available in oil form. If it suits you, it’s actually quite effective to repel mosquitoes through use of essential oils. Basically, you find the aromas that agree with you and rub a few drops on your open skin.

This can act as a perfume while naturally repelling mosquitoes. Additionally, essential oils have health benefits. Aromatherapy commonly incorporates essential oils. Also, you don’t have to apply them to yourself topically. Essential oil diffusers can spread the smell through your house naturally, making it so mosquitoes can’t stand the premises.

This is certainly a better option than using some insect repellent on your skin. Also, you can find essential oil compounds which have been specifically configured to repel certain insects. Many of these you’ll have to mix yourself. Essentially, you get a witch hazel base and put in other suggested essential oils that work for you or your loved ones.

Collateral Mosquito Repellent Strategies That Are Natural

Additional things you can do to help reduce mosquito populations around your home may involve some surprising tactics. Standing water should be eliminated, first and foremost. Mosquitoes breed in standing water. They’ll leave their larvae in little puddles, and those larvae usually complete their development cycle and hatch before the puddles dry.

If you’ve got even a coffee can that’s been left in the backyard during a spring or summer rainstorm, this can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Even standing water in a gutter can serve as a nursery for the little blighters. So before the coming mosquito season, carefully scour your yard for anything in which water could pool.

Find ways of either breaking up basins or draining them appropriately. Also, conduct brief investigations into your yard after a storm has come to see whether there’s any standing water mosquitoes could use to breed. This may not seem like a big deal, but you would be surprised how swiftly mosquitoes can compound if you leave water for them.

Pest Free Naturally

It’s much wiser to use natural methods of repelling mosquitoes than synthetic or chemical ones. While science has discovered many things about our natural world, and has made many breakthroughs, there’s a trial-and-error issue with new methodologies that just can’t be avoided. No one can really predict all variables.

Most variables can be predicted, but when some new technique is being explored, it’s to be expected that facts otherwise unknown and unknowable will present themselves. Thankfully, much science goes on in safe environments, but as has been seen in the example of the South American corporation referenced earlier, sometimes even safe environments just aren’t enough.

What makes more sense is finding known effective natural solutions, and putting those to work for you in a way that can be relied on safely. Whether you use plants grown indoors, diffuse essential oils through the atmosphere using varying diffusing arrays, or apply them to yourself topically, you can naturally repel mosquitoes without synthetic chemical solutions.

An additionally recommendable strategy involves diligently eliminating standing water.  That being said, plant-based options are going to be some of your best natural remedies. If you’ve got mosquito issues and haven’t looked into plants these bugs are naturally repelled by, or essential oils, you may want to.