What Kills Mosquitoes In Stagnant Water? Here’s The List

Have you ever seen a yard that is free from stagnant water? Especially after a rain? No, right?

A wet and dirty yard with stagnant water is a haven for many pests, including mosquitoes. Mosquitoes love stagnant water, they live in it, and they thrive in it.

Standing water becomes the source of mosquito problem in your home, garage, and basement.

So, what kills mosquitoes in stagnant water? In this post, we’ve revealed a list of 7 items that are potent mosquito and mosquito larva killers in stagnant water.

You can use these mosquito killers in all places where you’ve water stagnancy problems – like catch basins, gutters, compost pits, and trash cans kept outside.

Killing the mosquitoes and their larvae in stagnant water (and in your yard) will tremendously solve the mosquito infestation problem in your home.

So, let’s check them out, one by one.

Kerosene

Kerosene is the most underrated yet most effective mosquito killer. The best part is that you don’t need to pour gallons of kerosene in stagnant water.

Research by USDA (the United States Department of Agriculture) showed that kerosene is a potent mosquito killer, especially for your outdoors.

All you’ve to do is pour 2-3 tablespoons of kerosene on stagnant water. It instantly kills the mosquito larvae and mosquito eggs on stagnant water. The smell of the kerosene all repels the adult mosquitoes.

Caution: 

Don’t use kerosene in places like swimming pools and flowerpots. Kerosene is harmful to you if you consume it, and it’s deadly for emergent vegetation. 

Dish Soap

Another lethal mosquito larva killer is dish soap. You can add one tablespoon of liquid dish soap too in stagnant water to kill mosquito larva.

Dish soap in water reduces the water’s surface tension causing the mosquito larva to sink in water and die. Dish soap mixed with water also kills fleas.

Caution: 

Never use dish soap on stagnant water near leaking pipes that supplies water inside your home. But you pour dish soap on stagnant water near leaking pipes that carry water out of your home. 

Bleach

A lot of people ask, “will bleach kill mosquitoes and their larvae?”. The answer is yes, bleach does kill mosquitoes.

But it would help if you never use bleach to kill mosquitoes inside your home.

Bleach is harmful to you and your pets. It’s also damaging to your furniture, upholstery, fabric, and wooden floor. It will help if you don’t use bleach on stagnant water near plants either because bleach can quickly kill your plants.

Instead, use bleach in places like catch basins, gutters, rotting woodpiles, and in old tires with stagnant water in it.

How much bleach should you use to kill mosquito larva? You can use 2-3 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water. That’s sufficient to kill mosquito larvae.

Larvicide Tablets

We don’t recommend kerosene or bleach in stagnant water covering a big and wide area in your yard or garden. It’s because you will need them in large quantities, which may harm you and the environment.

You can sprinkle a few larvicide tablets in stagnant waters covering a big area in your yard.

These tablets work great against mosquito larvae. They’re also safe for the plants but keep them away from your pet and children.

BTI Pellets

BTI (Bacillus Thurigiensis Israelensis) pellets contain BTI bacteria that infect the mosquito larvae and damages their digestive system, so they can’t eat.

In other words, BTI pellets starve the mosquito larvae to death. All you need to do is drop a few BTI pellets in stagnant water once in two-three weeks. The stagnant water treated with BTI pellets doesn’t poison the water as kerosene or bleach does. So, it’s safe for pets and plants.

But BTI pellet work only against mosquito larvae. It’s ineffective against adult mosquitoes.

Mosquito Eating Fish

Mosquito-eating fish are our favorite as they save a lot of money on mosquito treatment.

If you’ve got a pond or fountain in your yard or garden, then you can put some mosquito-eating fish like koi, guppies, mosquitofish, and gambusia. These fish love to feast on mosquito larvae, and they also eat other pests like mites and beetles.

But refrain from using these fish in a swimming pool.

If you’ve added chlorine to the swimming pool, then the fish won’t survive in the pool.

Mosquito Repelling Essential Oil Concentrate

Do you want to avoid mosquito repellents that can be harmful to your pets and plants?

If yes, then mosquito repellent concentrate is a great choice.

Plus, you don’t have to use it daily to get rid of mosquitoes. Using them once in two or three weeks is enough not only to kill mosquitoes in stagnant water but also in your entire yard.

The best part of mosquito repellent concentrates is that they’re pets, birds, and plant-friendly.

And they’re easy to use. They contain essential oils like Geraniol, Rosemary oil, Cedarwood oil, and lemongrass oil that are excellent mosquito repellents.

All you’ve to do is mix 4-6 oz of this concentrate in 1 gallon of water. Pour the mixture into a sprayer. And spray it across your yard and on stagnant water in your yard. That’s it.

Conclusion

Here’s the list of 7 items that you can use to kill mosquitoes and their larvae on stagnant water:

1. Kerosene
2. Dish Soap
3. Bleach
4. Larvicide Tablets
5. BTI Pellets
6. Mosquito Eating Fish
7. Mosquito Repelling Essential Oil Concentrates.

We recommend using larvicide tablets, BTI pellets, and mosquito-repelling concentrates because they’re safe for plants and pets.

You can check our post here to know more on how to get rid of mosquitoes in drains and catch basins.