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Greenhouse mosquito control

Hi I live in Melbourne Australia where we are currently in mid spring.  I am wondering if anyone might have a few tips on controling mosquitos as we head toward summer.  The obvious problem when keeping carnivores is that they must mostly sit in water which the mosquitos love!!

Photos of greenhouse a few weeks ago enclosed, it is amazing the growth between then & now!

Thanks.
 
sorry mu photo size is only 77KB but for some reason cannot post, I get an error message saying file size is too big??
 
well, multiple ways.

-If you have a large container or water sitting (like a tub of rain water), you could use the aquatic CP (cant remember name).. it will eat the mosquite larvae.

otherwise, not sure
-if it is small dishes under the pots, then try flushing the dishes every two days or so. that will prevent the water from standing long enough for the mosquitoes to lay and hatch larvae.

you CPs should keep the mosquitoes under control
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but if they cant keep up,
-there is citranele (sp?) that you can use to keep them out.
-either the candle form (not sur eif you want fire in your greenhouse)
-or the plant form (grow them amongst your CPs and plants in pots. you can find the plant form on ebay, etc.

otherwise tou can get a mosquito zapper and put it in the corner?

those are some ideas.
 
Hmmmm, I'll go out on a limb and suggest trying some kind of predator, like a fish, or some kind of dragonfly larva???
I am just throwing ideas out, I haven't had this problem yet but with the west nile virus being a "big deal" in our area, it wouldn't hurt to start thinking about this now...
There may also be some way of restricting access to air (by the larvae) in the pot itself.. the traditional oil may not work, but it's also an avenue to consider.....
Interesting question, though, and one I've considered recently,too, hope someone here has the fix
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In Monty Python they used bazookas.
 
The bazooka idea would work for sure! No need to worry about your plants either hehe.

Here in the US you can get the mosquito 'donuts' that float for pond use. It's basically a floating thing that slowly dissolves and releases Bt into the water. They could be broken up and periodically put into the water trays. I haven't tried them for this purpose but it should be safe for the plants.

You could just let the trays dry out for a short while between filling.
 
Hi whipster.

Another Melbournite here so good to see you. There is a few of us on here. Are you a VCPS member?

I don't have any suggestion over what has already been made, just wanted to say hi.

Let me know if you need help with the pictures.

Aaron.
 
Hi Whipster,

Another Melbournian here. I think you'll struggle to control them. The only effective measure is probably to empty out the watertrays regularly and refill. Not necessarily the done thing at the moment with the current water restrictions. Even if you manage to control them in your greenhouse they'll come from elsewhere in huge numbers anyway. You'll just have to grin and bear it I reckon.

By the way. What CPs do you grow at the moment?

Sean.
 
Um, current grow list as follows:

Drosera Capensis
Binata dichotoma & multifida
Spatulata
Peltata
Whittakeri
scorpioides
Aliciae
filiformis
Darlingtonia
Dionaea Muscipula
Ultricularia Reniformis
Dichotoma
Sarracenia Flava
Leucophylla
Psittacina
Rubra
Purpurea
Minor
several hybrids
Nepenthes Sanguinea
Ventricosa
Maxima
Cephalotus
I am sure there are more that I have missed, I currently have about 10 lots of seed planted, but forgot to keep a record of what I sowed DOH! I also keep some orchids & have a good Bonsai collection.
 
  • #10
Aquatic utrics may also work. I think the trays are too small for fish-which would probably kamikaze to the floor sooner or later anyway.

On the other hand, you could just place a lot of your D. capensis or a few pings in tiny pots in the water dish...so when the mozzies emerge and try to take off they get eaten by the Cps.

I've always wonder if you could use pots of sundews and a nep or to as a barricade for a war on ants...LOL
 
  • #11
why do fish do that?
i had a wonderful waterfall pot display in my front yard, and no matter how many or few fish i had in it, they always jumped out and commited suicide.

i thought temp, or bordom, or food...
nothing worked to keep them in.

mad.gif


and hope that skeeter problem is controlled.
 
  • #12
Whipster, seriously speaking, since you guys are heading into the warmer months, you may want to consider the Mosquitofish or good old guppies.

Patch, not so seriously speaking, perhaps... it is... you?
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  • #14
I vote for emtying the water periodically. I hate using chemicals.
or you could get an aquatic CP aldough for some reason my U. gibba always looses it's traps. grows like crazy but not traps! maybe too many nutrients in the water... after all, I DID have a fish there and snails which poop like crazy.
 
  • #15
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Patch @ Oct. 15 2004,11:50)]
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Aw, just kidding! I wasn't cirrosis.
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What DOES that second one mean?
 
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