I have a rain barrel to catch water for my garden, but there's mosquito larvae in it. How do I kill them?

Question

Obviously in a safe way that won't harm the plants or us when we eat them later.

Answer 1

Mosquit Dunks

Bti contains no poisonous chemicals and is completely ((((harmless to other living things!)))))

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/mosq...

Answer 2

you can buy "mosquito dunks" from garden centers or pond supply places.  A piece of one of those will kill the larvae, but will not harm fish or plants.

But you need to address the source of the problem...you need a tight screen on the top so that adult mosquitoes can't get to the water to lay their eggs in the first place.  Most rain barrels come with this feature.  Add it if yours doesn't have it.  And if it does - you must have a rip or hole in it.

Answer 3

Pour some oil in it, the oil will float, kill the bugs, and just draw the water from below the oil line.   Really takes but a bit of oil, not much.

  House hold bleach will also work,

  With oil, the adults wil not even bother to lay eggs in the barrel.

Answer 4

I've used mosquito dunks before, and they work really well. They don't harm fish and are used a lot by pond owners. Dunks include a form of bacteria that's harmful to the mosquito larvae. The only thing that worries me is the hidden ingredient that is not listed on the package (something like 3-5% undisclosed ingredient), so I don't use that water for my fruits and veg. I still have dunks, but I don't bother to use them anymore.

I've tried a cup and a half of household bleach before in a large water bowl, and I was shocked to see that the critters were still living. I checked on it every day over three days, and they were alive. It was an experiment.

Without adding anything, the water is fine to use on plants. I just use the water on my ornamental plants on a really hot day. The larvae laying on the surface of the dirt shrivel and die. I don't notice any mosquitoes in my yard, even though the rain barrel always seems to have mosquito larvae in it.

Here's another thing you could try: you could put some fine mesh around the spigot end and strain the mosquito larvae out as you're using the water. They will stay behind the mesh and your plants will get their precious rain water. I've used an old piece of nylon stocking before. Then, when the water is really low dump it out in the sun. The mosquito larvae will shrivel up and die. If the top of your rain barrel isn't screened off and mosquitoes are flying out, then you will just want to dump the whole thing without using the water. Hope that helps!

Answer 5

don't even do it. Take the water from your sprinkler.

Answer 6

pour cooking/vegetable oil in enough to cover the top layer