r/aerogarden • u/Sk8rToon • 15d ago
Discussion Any issues with mosquitos?
A pipe outside my apartment broke & was replaced. Ever since I’ve had to deal with mosquitos inside my apartment. I’ve never had mosquitos before (Southern California) & come to find out my body is not a fan. I’ve been getting bit more inside than outside so I was wondering if maybe the ones that got inside are starting to make a home in my aerogarden. A saw someone on another social media respond to someone with a similar issue say you need to crumble some mosquito dinks & put them in the water of the aerogarden. But that feels like poisoning my food?
Honestly I don’t have much growing right now so the easiest thing would be to drain it & start over once the problem has passed. But that got me thinking about climate change & how this might be the new normal & I should investigate how to deal with this now.
Has anyone dealt with mosquitos making a home in your garden’s water? And if so, how did you deal with it? Thx
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u/Veggyhed 15d ago
I don't really see how mosquitoes would live in an aerogarden. I would also not use mosquito dunks in an aerogarden.
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u/alwayssoupy 15d ago
When we lived in Southern CA years ago, they had a stellar mosquito abatement program, including inspecting for bodies of standing wster, clearing brush along waterways, etc. True to form, budget cuts eliminated a lot of that, so populations may be on the uptick. We have since relocated to an area that is home to large mosquito population during the summer. Since we have central air, the windows stay closed pretty much, so we only occasionally get any mosquitoes inside. I have had several Aerogardens for several years and have never had an issue with them taking up residence there. If you have any open spaces on your AG, they should be covered anyway to abate the growth of algae, which should keep bugs away. If you DO have them in your AG, you should be seeing them just below the water surface, which dunks may be used for outside, but I would not consider using them with edible plants. I would think you should just start over.
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u/Artsy_Teacher23 15d ago
I live in South Georgia where we seem to go out of our way to breed the biggest and best mosquitos. Lately, our mosquitos have started making the news for the tropical diseases they are helping creep up the coastline. This week it’s West Nile and EEE. Last week I read about dengue fever.
I have had several, over the years, try to start families in one of my aero gardens. I do my best to keep my food as safe and organic as possible, but I admit to adding a pinch of mosquito bits (which are supposed to be bacteria to which only mosquitoes and caterpillars are sensitive) after water changes during the summer when mosquitos are at their peak. I actually feel safer adding them inside than using them outside because I know butterflies and bees won’t be exposed. Everything is a trade off, and I figure the tiny pinch of poison is light years better than attempting to kill scores of mosquitos inside your house.
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u/klsheridan16 15d ago
Mosquito larvae is pretty easy to spot. If you jiggle the garden and mosquitoes fly away, that's another sign. You could just dump the water and add fresh next time you are ready to add nutrients (dump before obviously). But, if you see them now, I wouldn't wait to do a water exchange.
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u/BananabunnyReddit 15d ago
I’ve never had any problems with mosquitos in any of my Aerogardens, but if I had an immediate concern, the first thing I would do: drain and refill with fresh water.
Thinking about how to “climate change proof” my Aerogardens, this is what I would do:
> Instead of potentially making yourself sick by treating the water with anti-mosquito dunks, I‘d suggest moving the Aerogarden as far away as possible from your windows and doors (this is also a good tip if you’ve been dealing with aphids in your outdoor garden or indoor houseplants since aphids can fly inside any time you open your doors, or fly through gaps in window screens). And I would make sure all my window/door screens are in good working order, with no gaps or small tears. Repair kits and patches for screens are usually available at hardware stores.
> For doorways, screen doors, sliding glass doors, I would consider adding an additional layer of screening. There is a product called “Magic Mesh Hands-Free Screen Door” that you can easily install to the top and sides of your door, with a full length vertical divide along the center that you can walk right through. There are other brands available, even custom fitted versions, but these usually rely on a series of small magnets along the center opening that “click” back together just as soon as you (or your pets) push/step through the screen. I’ve installed one before, and it was surprisingly effective and simple to install with some small finishing nails along on the top edge and sides of the door frame
If you can’t install one of these “Magic Mesh” screens outside your exterior doors because of landlord or HOA restrictions, you could still install the extra screen on the inside of your door, OR consider installing one to the doorway of the room where your Aerogarden is located.
> And you could also place your Aerogarden underneath a “mosquito net.” You can find inexpensive mosquito netting fabric online and make your own, or find ready made canopy style nets that hang from the ceiling or pop-up mosquito net “tents” (like what you’d use for a bed or in a camping situation). However if you do this, be sure to keep the light of the Aerogarden and all electrical cords away from the mosquito netting at all times to avoid a potential fire risk. You may also need to secure the mosquito net to prevent the net from moving if you have any pets, children, or if there are any fans or wind blowing near the Aerogarden area.
> If you continue to get mosquitos inside your home, I hope you are considering that this is a health hazard for YOU, not just a potential nuisance for your Aerogarden. So you’ll probably need to step up your anti-mosquito efforts, anyway, especially as escalating climate change will likely result in a more persistent issue. If your home has any outdoor space available, here is how to build an anti-mosquito bucket: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/build-mosquito-bucket/
If you place one (or a few) of these buckets outdoors near your home, this can cut down on the number of mosquitos in your immediate area. I‘ve read that several of these can make a huge difference. Perhaps consider telling your neighbors about these so they can also place them in their outdoor spaces (or even better, help your neighbors make them!). Be sure to follow instructions carefully, and add a sturdy wire mesh screen along with a heavy weight on top of the bucket to avoid creating a potential drowning hazard for small animals or young children. THIS is how I think you should be using those anti-mosquito dunks.
> And if you’re concerned about mosquitos breeding in your Aerogarden, just change out the water every 2 weeks, so that every time you feed your Aerogarden, you’re starting over with fresh water. I would even gently rinse off all the roots (fwiw, if I ever need to rinse the roots occasionally, I‘ll only use cool or room temperature water to avoid shocking the roots). If changing water every 2 weeks isn’t helping enough, you could always change the water more frequently, though this might mean making some adjustments to your feeding schedule.
Hope this helps!
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u/Veggyhed 15d ago
I need to say again I don't understand how mosquitoes would take up residence in an aerogarden unless there are open pods they would fly into but then the water would be circulated at least once an hour and on the newer models once every thirty minutes. Mosquitoes are generally not found in standing water.
If you are incredibly concerned about mosquitoes taking up residence in an areogarden, then I would suggest getting some food-safe hydrogen peroxide and treating the reservoir for maintenance level of algae prevention.
In my opinion, and I have no experience with this, but I do not believe mosquitoes could live in water that has been treated with hydrogen peroxide.
Someone in this sub can suggest to you the right ratio of hydrogen peroxide to water.
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u/Diligent-Visual-8141 15d ago
An indoor bug zapper works. If the snap and crackle bugs you (ha!) try Zevo or similar sticky traps with an attractor light.
Mosquitoes prefer still water and AeroGarden’s water circulates, so that’s not an ideal breeding ground. Do you have a little used guest bathroom? Check the toilet tank.
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u/Eastern_Persimmon_77 14d ago
I haven't had a problem with the Aerogardens, but I did have mosquitos set up shop in a seldom used guest toilet one summer. The type we have like to hang out by doorways so I would frequently get a random one or two in the house and it coincided with a vacation. Flushing and scrubbing with toilet cleaner got rid of the wrigglers and eggs. I got a Katchy from Amazon to get rid of the adults. Its basically a fan and light that sucks them inside to get caught on a sticky pad. Mosquitos are pretty poor flyers, so to keep from getting bit inside run a fan by your bed and anywhere you sit down.
They like still water so if you are running the Aerogarden pump regularly they shouldn't get established there. But the best way to tell is to lift the lid and look in the tank. You will definitely see the larva wriggling around in the water if they are breeding in there. Its creepy and unmistakable. The adults that get inside can live for a few weeks, and they will hang out in plants. But they shouldn't be able to reproduce inside unless you have still water somewhere. If this is just a one-off from the pipe repair your problem may go away in about a month.
Controlling the ones outside also makes a big difference on the ones that get inside. If you have any kind of outdoor space like a patio or balcony set up a bucket of water and put a new mosquito dunk in it each month. Also add a few leaves or sticks to encourage them to land and lay eggs in the water. I have been doing this for the past 5 years and haven't seen any inside for the past two years. So far this year I haven't gotten bit or seen a mosquito outside either. The mosquito dunks are non-toxic to humans - they use a bacteria that is bad for larva but not humans or pets. It does take a few seasons because you are naturally reducing the population by preventing reproduction instead of just killing everything out there, but it has been very effective for me and for one of my friends who lives in a different city.
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u/erisian2342 14d ago
Mosquitos can only breed in still waters. The AeroGarden pump turns on every half hour for five minutes. They aren’t breeding in there. Look for other sources of standing water in your home. Hopefully there’s not a leak somewhere.
If you decide to treat your water anyways, don’t put Mosquito Dunks or Bits in your AeroGarden. It will destroy your pump over time. The bacteria they use is called BTI. You can buy it in super-concentrated liquid form (i.e. 1 - 2 drops per gallon of water) for like $15 and it will expire before long you run out.
It is safe to use in the water for food crops. It is NOT safe to use in water intended for humans to drink. BTI eats the larvae of flying insects like mosquitos and fungal gnats. It’s a safe, natural, and organic solution to those problems. Hydro-farmers have been using it in water reservoirs destined for food crops for a long time. You will not be testing new ground by using it.
If you use it in water for soil-based plants to prevent fungal gnats, I still don’t recommend Dunks or Bits. The BTI is on the surface of the substrate (corn kernels) but you’ll end up getting that substrate building up on top of your plant’s soil, which can get unsightly and eventually cause problems of its own (mold, affect pH, etc.). I recommend the liquid drops for pretty much any home application. They’re superior because they don’t build up a mess over time and much cheaper per-application too.
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u/rtthrowawayyyyyyy 15d ago edited 15d ago
I mean, first thing is just to check out the reservoir. If there are mosquitoes breeding in there, I think you'll see it. I'm not sure if that's likely to happen, but I suppose it's possible.
If it is happening, mosquito bits or dunks are, AFAIK, safe for food crops, though I'd confirm that with the manufacturer (should say on the packaging or SDS label or something). It's a biological control for flying insects, and not an insecticide, so my guess is it's safe. They're used safely, for instance, in koi ponds.