Mosquitoes

Rob Brisler (brislerr@ozemail.com.au)
Wed, 14 Aug 1996 01:01:17 +1000 (EST)

I have an ongoing problem with mosquitoes breeding in my CP trays and I only
know of two ways to successfully REDUCE their numbers.

Use mosquito eating fish. Usually small boring cheap species and therefore
difficult to obtain and they have no real retail value. If you can get them
and introduce them to your CP trays beware of birds damaging your plants
while they hunt for the fish. If you have a large enough CP tray axylotls
(SPELLING! - Mexican walking fish) will keep them cleaned up.

OR Add enough oil of citronella to the water to form a monolayer over the
top. All the mozzie larvae will die. The oil evaporates quite quickly on
hot days so more frequent applications may be required to kepp mozzie
numbers down. The oil DOES not harm _Sarracenias_, VFTs or _Droseras_
growing in trays so treated. I can't vouch for any other species of CP. On
the down side, oil of citronella is a reasonably efficient insect repellant
while it remains aromatic.

Regards,

Rob Brisler