Baking Soda Makes the Best Mosquito Trap For Your Yard – Yes, Really
If mozzies are ruining your evenings on the patio, upcycle a plastic bottle and add two cheap pantry staples to trap the pesky critters, naturally.
I love a quiet evening on the outdoor sofa, glass in hand and chatting with friends or simply watching the garden birds. But that easy peace is quickly shattered by the whine of a hungry mosquito’s wings flapping 500 times a second. Did you know that humans can only detect this noise less than a foot away, so if you hear that high-pitched hum, the pesky skeeter making it is close enough to strike? Yup, and what’s more, insects can hear the screech up to 30 feet away and it’s used as a mating call – and that means a whole lot more mozzies might be about to join your patio party.
The solution, however, is simple: a mosquito trap that uses natural ingredients you’ve probably already got in your kitchen cupboards. Now, I’m all for encouraging a balance of garden wildlife to control pests, and the resident bats do a great job of keeping the mozzie population down. But even so, when it’s a lovely evening to sit outside and I hear that piercing whirr, I reach for a baking soda mozzie trap.
Ready for the science bit? When you mix bicarbonate of soda, which is alkaline, with white vinegar, which is acidic, a chemical reaction occurs that produces carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes find their human prey by detecting the carbon dioxide we exhale, which they can sense an astonishing 100 feet away. That’s why some folk are more attractive to mozzies: all sorts of factors, from stress to consuming carbohydrates, can increase levels of CO2 exhaled.
So, mosquitoes fly towards the strong source of the carbon dioxide – happy the trap, not you – and drown. But here’s the clever thing, especially if you care about your garden wildlife: the trap is at its most effective for the first few hours that it's activated, so you only get rid of mosquitoes when you need to. As part of your backyard mosquito control, it's an easy win.
You Will Need:
- a used clear plastic bottle, at least 1.5 liters in size
- scissors
- tape suitable for exterior use, such as this from Amazon
- ¼ cup baking soda, such as this from Amazon
- 1 cup white vinegar, such as this from Amazon
- measuring spoons
How to Make Your Mozzie Trap:
1. To make your natural mozzie trap, first remove the lid from the bottle and, using the scissors, carefully cut the plastic bottle in half. Turn the upper half upside down and insert it into the lower half. Trim any excess length.
2. Tape the cut edges together securely, folding down the tape edge inside the trap.
3. Tip ¼ cup of baking soda into the trap.
4. When you’re ready to use your natural mosquito trap, set it in place and pour 1 cup of vinegar into the trap, on top of the baking soda. Do this slowly as it will foam enthusiastically!
Easy, huh? It's handy, too, as you can prep the trap with the baking soda beforehand, then tip the vinegar in and start the chemical reaction when you’re ready to use it. Mosquitoes are very weak fliers and avoid windy areas, so it's important you position your DIY mosquito trap in a sheltered spot. A breeze will also disperse the carbon dioxide quickly, making the source much harder to find. Mozzies also prefer to stay out of the sun, too, so choose a shady position if it hasn't already sunk beneath the horizon.
The trap can be rinsed out and re-used many times over, too. It's tricky to get all the liquid out because of the funnel shape you've created, so it's easiest to remove the tape and reapply after rinsing. That fizzy reaction neutralizes the baking soda and vinegar, turning it into water and sodium acetate (salt), so it's safe to pour the liquid down the drain. Don't forget to count how many pesky mozzies you caught first though!
To further help keep your yard free of mosquitoes, avoid pools of still water – adding a cheap floating solar fountain to a water feature is a fast and fun solution if you have a pond, birdbath or dipping tank. There are numerous scented plants such as lavender and lemongrass that help to deter these pests, too. Making a mozzie bucket of doom is another effective aid to backyard skeeter control, but doesn't smell half as good!
If you've got any bicarbonate of soda left over, then it's very effective when used with vegetable oil, dish soap and water to make a baking-soda spray to prevent fungal diseases on tomato plants.
