Will garlic repel mosquitoes and keep them away for long? Find out.

When it comes to the most deadly pests in the world, mosquitoes easily top the list due to the number of deaths they’ve caused.

Garlic And Mosquitoes

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 400,000 deaths are caused by malaria of which mosquitoes are carriers.

A majority of such deaths occur in children below 5 who are considered the most vulnerable. Malaria infection is majorly transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito.

With such knowledge, you’ll need to keep these pests off your surroundings.

This is where the use of mosquito repellent sprays comes in handy.

How To Use Garlic To Repel Mosquitoes [FACTS]

Speaking of repellents, a wide range of items are touted as having repellent properties. While such claims are common, the question lies on whether they’re indeed true.

One of such is garlic. It’s a great nutritional product that also has medicinal properties.

Although it is believed to repel mosquitoes, does it have such a repellent effect? This is what we’ll be discussing. Does eating garlic repel mosquitoes?

You only need to read through for answers.

Will Garlic Keep Out Mosquitoes?

A lot of people want to know how to use garlic as a mosquito repellent.

By its nature, garlic is known to give off a pungent smell. This feature is what some people believe has the potential to mask the scent of lactic acid and carbon dioxide given off through breathing.

Mosquitoes will home-in to a victim through their sensitive sense of smell.

This is one effective characteristic of repellents. They tend to mask the normal smell given off by humans which attracts mosquitoes. Speaking about strong smells, garlic should easily work as a repellent right?

There’s some degree of truth in that.

Allicin contained in garlic is known to be effective in repelling mosquitoes especially when garlic is ingested or rubbed on skin or feet. However, there’s no scientific proof about the repellent effect of garlic.

All these remedies are only assumed and hinged on one experience or the other.

  • Garlic Smell Can Be Repulsive to Some Persons

Whether you decide to ingest garlic or rub it on the skin to serve as a mosquito repellent, you should know that it’s likely to keep others away from you.

Some people are likely to avoid you due to the garlic smell in your breath or its pungent smell on your skin.

You don’t want your presence to become a distraction to some people simply because you want to repel mosquitoes. You’ll need to find a scientifically proven mosquito repellent that works.

If Garlic Isn’t A Reliable Mosquito Repellent, What Is?

Because garlic is a natural product, we’ll need to dwell on natural mosquito repellents that work. If you love to have plants around, you’ll find these mosquito repellent plants a great addition to your home’s surroundings.

Some mosquito repellent plants include marigolds, lavender, catnip, citronella, and basil. Others are rosemary, bee-palm, scented geraniums, floss flower, mint, allium, and sage.

Also, the essential oils from certain plants have a similar repellent effect on mosquitoes.

Examples of these essential oils include neem oil, geraniol, tea tree oil, soybean oil, citronella, thyme oil, Greek catnip oil, lavender, cinnamon oil, and lemon eucalyptus oil.

How Mosquito Repellent Plants Work

Having mentioned some mosquito repellent plants above, the logical question to ask is how these plants repel mosquitoes. This repellent effect is obtained from the natural fragrances possessed by such plants.

Mosquitoes are only attracted by certain smells but repelled by others.

The good thing with having these plants around is that the pleasant scent given off permeates your surroundings.

At the same time, it’s detestable to mosquitoes. Ideal areas to locate these plants are seating spots or entryways into a home.

Essential Oils Also Work in Similar Fashion to Plants

Essential oils are extracted from plants.

This includes some of those listed. So, just like those plants will repel mosquitoes, these essential oils will have a similar effect on mosquitoes.

You only need to have these applied on the skin or sprayed around your surroundings.

One thing with essential oils is that their repellent effect wanes. As such, you’ll need to apply repeatedly after intervals of one hour or more.

This is more work compared to growing mosquito repellent plants around your yard.

Let’s Consider Some Mosquito Repellent Plants

Having listed some effective mosquito repellent plants to grow around a home, let’s briefly discuss a few of these as follows;

  • Marigolds

Whether potted or grown on a flower bed, marigolds will give you the relief you seek from mosquitoes through their scent. With marigolds, you also get to repel other bugs like tomato hornworms and thrips among others.

  • Lavender

Another easily grown plant that helps to keep mosquitoes at bay is lavender. The essential oil contained in lavender gives it its repellent effect.

It thrives on well-drained soils and can be grown around targeted areas around your property to create an invisible barrier to mosquitoes.

  • Catnip

Have you ever considered growing catnip around your home? It’s not a secret that these plants are invasive and will need to be curtailed from time to time.

However, they help keep mosquitoes at bay. It is much more effective than chemical pesticides such as DEET.

  • Citronella

Citronella is also scented and effective in repelling mosquitoes.

Having these planted around your yard and garden will serve as a deterrent against mosquitoes and other pests. It also requires low maintenance which is a great characteristic to have for a beneficial plant.

  • Basil

Like garlic, basil herb plants give off a pungent smell that’s known to be repulsive to mosquitoes.

These can be grown in pots or around your garden and can be mixed with other plants with no problem at all. Well-drained soils are best for planting basil plants.

  • Rosemary

Rosemary plants give off a woody scent that’s pleasant to humans but disliked by mosquitoes.

Having them grown around your yard creates an impenetrable barrier that effectively keeps out mosquitoes and other pests.

  • Bee Palm

Apart from being colorful, bee palm plants serve to attract beneficial insects such as butterflies and bees. However, these will readily repel mosquitoes and other harmful pests.

Garlic has the potential of repelling mosquitoes but isn’t scientifically proven. Plus, there could be issues with its application as the smell can be repulsive enough to make people avoid you.

Does garlic repel mosquitoes? I hope you have been able to sieve facts from myth.

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