Water fountains are excellent decorative items for your garden and indoor space. The soothing water flowing sound and the delicate lights that the fountains creates brings a touch of nature and beauty to any environmen
While, same as other artware or furniture that we purchase, we need to carry regular maintenance for the water fountains, so as to keep the fountains run at its peak and prolong its performance life.
As for maintenance and care, one of the questions that i am frequently asked is: How to keep mosquitoes out of the fountain or how to prevent mosquitoes breeding in water fountain?
If the water fountain stop running for some time, the mosquito will breed from the water, spoiling the outdoor and indoor environment and making the user experience bad.
This might stop people from purchasing one water fountain for their house. Here we will discuss how to keep mosquitoes out of the fountain.
Why Fountains Breed The Mosquitoes?
The life of a mosquito is closely associated with water. The life cycle of mosquitoes goes through four stages: egg, larvae, chrysalis, and then mosquitoes.
Mosquito tends to lay eggs in stagnant water. The eggs become larvae, which will live in the water. The larvae become chrysalis, floating on the water surface. And the chrysalis transform into mosquitoes after breaking.
After water fountains, especially the outdoor garden fountains, stop running for some time, the water inside it get dirty gradually. Mist, leaves and other impurities will get into the water, leading to eutrophic water.
Since the fountain is not running, its stagnant water is ideal place for mosquitoes to lay eggs and incubate.
The Plankton, fungi, algae, bacteria and other microorganisms that the germinate in the standing water are perfect food for the larvae as well.
Here are some strategies on keeping mosquitoes out of the fountain.
Clean The Inside Body Of The Water Fountain
The water fountain is made of polyresin or cement material. The material is laid into the fountain’s silicone mould, then several layers of fiberglass cloth will be added onto the material to make the fountain products more strong and heavy-duty.
Normally, some residual materials will be left inside the fountain body. As soon as the new water fountain is assembled, we should wash out the residual materials inside the fountain body, to keep off the residues polluting the water in the long term.
Watch Out! Wear gloves when doing this job! The residual materials inside the fountain could be sharp and harm your hands.
While we cannot prevent the water getting polluted, we can minimize the chance of water deterioration in the long run by cleaning the inside body of the fountain.
Grow Mosquitoes Repellent Plants Near The Fountains
Jasmine
Jasmine is a very popular plant, its flowers are fresh and beautiful, rich in aroma. And its pleasant fragrance makes people feel refreshed.
In the hot summer, jasmine flowers can be put indoors to kill bacillus of tuberculosis, dysentery, diphtheria. And its fragrance is natural mosquitoes repellent. Many mosquitoes repelling products on the market get the aroma of jasmine.
Jasmine flower, with strong fragrance, is important raw material for flower tea and perfume compound.
Mint
Everyone is familiar with mint, which is a major component in the cool ointment we use often. It gets a unique aroma and is refreshing. But for mosquitoes, that’s an entirely different situation, the mint’s scent will make them stun.
Mint not only can drive away mosquitoes and other unpleasant insects such as fleas, it can also help to sterilize the environment and refresh the air. In addition to that, the herbal teas made with mint has many healing efficacy, such as heat-cleaning, and stomach invigorating.
Lavender
Lavender is a blue-violet flower, with flower shape like wheat ears, usually blossoming in June. Planting lavender at home can add some romantic atmosphere to your environment.
Lavender itself has excellent insecticidal effect, so people often pack lavender into a sachet and put in the cabinet as mosquito repellent.
Have a pot of lavender growing on your bedroom is also awesome. It can not only repel mosquitoes, its aroma helps one relax as well if you suffer from anxiety and bring calmer night sleep.
Lavender prefers a cool, dry environment that does not require frequent watering. Make sure the soil is with good drainage, no water accumulates on the soil and ground. Otherwise, you will lose the whole plants.
Geraniums
Another excellent mosquitoes repellent plants,the unique scent that the Geraniums makes will drive the mosquitoes right way.
Generally, the higher the temperature, the stronger the fragrance of the geranium, and the better the mosquito repellent effect. In the hot summer, its scent is refreshing,, and can repel hundreds of insects.
Geranium is suitable for planting indoor. Its unique lemon scent makes the house suffuse with fragrance. It contains a plant DNA structure that can purify the air, helping to improve the air quality in the living room.
In addition to the above mentioned list, there are some other popular plants with certain mosquito repellent effects, such as marigold, rosemary etc.
Plant some mosquitoes repellent plants will sure help to drive away the mosquitoes, thus preventing the insects laying eggs into the fountains.
The natural plants combined with the soothing water flow from the water fountains definitely will bring more natural sense to your garden or indoor environment.
Use Natural Remedy Mosquito Repellent
Referring to mosquito control, the most direct or effective way would be chemical ways. Many insecticide or mosquito spray on the market could easily drive away the insects and keep mosquitoes out of the fountain.
The standing water in the fountain, when fountain stops operation for some time, will turn into a breeding bed for mosquitoes. Their eggs will be laid into the fountain water.
While the traditional mosquitoes control products will address the adult mosquito population, the larvae stay safe in the water. Obviously, in addition to the traditional mosquitoes repellent products, the larvicide product should be taken into consideration as well. It can stop the eggs growing into the blood-suck pests that we hate.
When purchasing mosquitoes insecticide products for your fountain, keep in mind that:
1: The repellent should be not contain any poisons. Except the mosquitoes or other insects, it should be safe to your pets and any child. As the pets or wild animals in the garden tend to drink waters in the fountains.
2: The repellent should not be acidic or even corrosive. As the acidic or corrosive liquid will significantly damage the finishing on the fountains.
Natural remedy mosquito repellent is strongly recommended to use to keep the mosquitoes out of the fountain. As it is made with natural ingredients, contains no poison and great around children and pets.
Reduce The Standing Water Near The Fountain
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. We recommend that aside from using mosquito repellents to keep the mosquitoes out of the fountain, it is better that you can remove, reduce or treat any stagnant bodies of water near the fountain, minimizing the breed spaces of mosquitoes to its utmost.
Regularly Exchange The Fountain’s Water
Taking care garden and landscapes in the yard needs consistent efforts. Apart from grow mosquitoes repellent plants near the fountain and apply mosquitoes repellent, it is better that you do your due diligence to exchange the fountains’ water regularly.
After running for a certain period of time, the purity of water in the fountain will deteriorate gradually in three ways:
1: The fountain body is not 100% clean. The residual materials inside the fountain body and the painting on the surface of the fountain will soil the water during operation.
2: The fountains, specially the outdoor garden fountain, will collect some leaves and dust inevasible.
3: The insects or other wild animals will affect the purity of the water as well.
The deteriorated water will become eutrophic, breeding bacteria and microorganisms. The stagnant water, as soon as the fountains stop running, tends to attract the mosquitoes to lay eggs in it.
Normally, it takes around 5 days for the larvae growing into the annoying adult mosquitoes. Set a sanitation routine, and exchange the water in the fountain every five days. Get rid of the biting insects before they growing into adults.
By the way, exchange the water in the fountain regularly is a job that should be done to ensure the optimal operation of the fountain pumps as well. As the impurities in the water will bring great damage to the pumps in some circumstances.
Summary
Water fountains are excellent decorative items for your garden and indoor environment. While the mosquito populations, attracted by the waters in the fountain, might change the way you enjoy the soothing water flowing.
To keep mosquitoes out of the fountain, it is our suggestion that you clean the inside body of the water fountain as soon as you purchase one from the store, preventing the residual materials inside the fountain polluting the water in the long term;
Exchange the fountain’s water regularly, getting rid of the larvae before they growing into the bothersome mosquitoes.;
And grow mosquitoes repellent plants, driving away the blood-sucking pests hanging around the water fountains;
Most directive method would be take use of mosquitoes repellent chemical products to stop the infestation of the insects. We strongly recommend the natural remedy mosquito repellent, to avoid hazards for the pets and other wild animals that might drink water from the fountains.
Hope the tips mentioned above will be helpful. If you have any questions or comments, we are more than happy to see you to leave below.
