#bug repellent

A YTP of an infomercial for BugMD. Part of the same series as Products™ and Goods™. Not posting an autoplaying video preview due to the presence of bugs and insects throughout the video.

8 DIY Bug Repellent Tricks for Household Bugs

Having trouble reading infographic here?

This is all from memory so may be a little inaccurate and I will not be citing sources, but I have written a paper on this (in high school so it’s not in any databases) and all my sources had to be from peer reviewed journals so this IS academically informed.

Okay

SO first off: most mosquito-repellent plants work by releasing chemical agents that may smell good to US but smell very bad to the mosquitoes. The problem with this is that these oils tend to be released as globules that cling to the plants with fairly high surface tension, so unless the plants are disturbed somehow (wind or animals/humans) the oil isn’t released into the air and it does fuck all to actually repel mosquitoes.

That said, the best accessible mosquito-repelling plant is a plant called LEMONGRASS. If you live in the states then Home Depot sells this usually. If you don’t live in the states then idk, check your local garden center. I live in Texas and our lemongrass dies every winter but tends to come back on its own in the spring, and it smells really good to humans. You can also throw the dead grass into the yard and mow over it to release extra scent.

The most EFFECTIVE mosquito-repellent plant is something called lemon-eucalyptus which is a lab-created crossbreed produced somewhere in either Australia or New Zealand. I don’t remember which I just remember being super mad that I couldn’t get my hands on it for experiments. Anyway there’s a special compound in the oil this plant produces that lemongrass shares. I don’t remember the name of it but mosquitoes hate it. Plant lemongrass :)

If you can’t get your hands on lemongrass, rosemary will also repel mosquitoes, though there’s not much academic literature about this one and various mom-blogs all contradict each other about its effectiveness. It’s pretty smelly (good to humans bad to bugs!) and will repel a variety of insects.

Citronella contains a compound used in current commercial bug repellent, so it is also good to plant! I could never get mine to be very big though. You can also buy torches (like decorative tiki torches) with citronella oil in them which are designed to repel bugs by releasing the oil in the smoke.

Mint will also repel insects and mice though I could never narrow down if mosquitoes were among the list of insects that mint repels! Pro tip: PLANT MINT IN POTS. DO NOT PLANT MINT DIRECTLY IN THE GROUND. It will take over everything <3

Lastly, basil and thyme are reported to be insect repellents! I have not tested these myself (I tried but there were Circumstances) but a variety of home-blogs say that these work. I found basil in an academically sourced list but found no proof of thyme working. I despair at the lack of academic literature on this topic. Anyway.

Also, did you know you can purchase mosquito larvae on Amazon? It’s about $10 USD for 100 larvae.

If you choose to disturb your plants yourself to release the oils then be ready to have very strong smelling hands. Also, if you get your hands on cheesecloth (lightweight) you can see simple sleeves and boil one of these plants, then dip the cloth in the boiled water. The oil from the plant will soak in and the cloth will smell like it once dry. Idk how long these last because I never properly tested them, but I kept some in a drawer for a year and they were still pretty smelly. If you wore them out and about they would probably last about a month before the small wore off. Cheesecloth is extremely light so it shouldn’t be much of a bother in the summer, however idk how well they would hold the oil if you got sweat on them.

This is my first post shared to Tumblr, hoping the witchy community will give it a read and make me feel welcomed!

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