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Post by armjr on May 9, 2021 22:08:12 GMT -5
Rains a little over a week ago. We can't even go outside for longer than it takes to get to a vehicle. It's really incredible. #1 wife wanted a few carrots to make slaw today. I think I'd rather battle bees than what happened to me down at the garden today. As long as I was walking I didn't see a one. I stopped to pull carrots and was literally covered in seconds. I couldn't even see. I grabbed a handful of tops, pulled, and ran back to the house. It took me at least a minute to get them off of me to the point where I could come in the house without bringing hundreds in with me. I've never seen anything like it.
Alan
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 9, 2021 22:25:51 GMT -5
I'm not going to jinx myself. The only reason I haven't had any is due to the cool weather, plus dryness. They will find me...
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Post by desertwoman on May 9, 2021 22:40:51 GMT -5
I may have posted this pic before but here was my solution for keeping mosquitos off of me when we lived in the orchard, along the Rio Grande
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Post by armjr on May 9, 2021 22:51:11 GMT -5
desertwoman, It would have to be a fully enclosed body suit here now. pepperhead212, yes they will find you when they have sucked all the blood from all living creatures in South Texas. The wind has been blowing average of 20 mph for months now. It doesn't seem to bother these mosquitos at all. They just fly around in it. I'm going to build smoke fires along the SE property line tomorrow and see if that will drive them off. There's a big soggy creek bottom about 200-400 yards East of the fence and I think it is probably the culprit. Alan
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Post by armjr on May 9, 2021 22:52:04 GMT -5
Going to start blowing up the County Commissioners phone tomorrow morning to get the fogger out here SOON!
Alan
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Post by Mumsey on May 10, 2021 3:52:01 GMT -5
Mosquitoes haven't been bad here the last couple years. Knock on wood.
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Post by gardendmpls on May 10, 2021 5:35:56 GMT -5
Even in our cooler temps last week (40's-50's), I was out dumping water collecting in containers and found a lot of mosquito larvae. At least my yard was cleaned up when they put in the fence last year, so there aren't as many places where water can collect unnoticed.
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Post by emmsmommy on May 10, 2021 9:08:05 GMT -5
My parent's home is located along what are now the backwaters of a lake. They are thick this year, hovering at ground level. I've never witnessed anything like it! Mom has already been reading up on insect repelling plants and concocted some Paul Harvey spray which seems to work for a while.
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Post by armjr on May 23, 2021 22:45:43 GMT -5
emmsmommy, I used what I think was the Paul Harvey spray. It seemed to work. Blue mint non-alcohol mouth wash, epsom salts and stale beer. I left out the stale beer and just use the other two. I just added 64 oz of water in place of the beer. One large bag of ES and a big (I think it was 50 oz) bottle of mouthwash. I sprayed it all around the house and the mosquitos have stayed away. These last rains probably washed it all away, but I have more! Alan
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Post by emmsmommy on May 24, 2021 5:35:26 GMT -5
armjr, that sounds like the recipe she used. She used the beer in hers but you really couldn’t smell it. I told her that if it didn’t get rid of the mosquitoes (it actually did) they’d have minty-fresh breath.
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Post by armjr on May 24, 2021 19:54:28 GMT -5
emmsmommy, I think it worked too, but since it's raining every day....It's all getting washed down the creek. Weather guy said we've had 19.5" of rain in May. Probably had another 1/2" today. #1 wife went down to pick a few tomatoes and came running back screaming help me. I thought bees were after her. I ran out and found her covered in mosquitoes. She said she'd put on OFF but evidently not enough. I carried a can with me all day and probably had toxic levels soaking into my skin. It was that or stay inside. I had to pick squash and will pick beans in the morning. I'm going to build fires again tomorrow. It's like some apocalyptic movie or something. I'm going to get out my old beekeeper veil for tomorrow. 70% chance of rain again and we'll have grandkids all day. Lot's of coloring and block building in my future... Alan
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Post by armjr on May 27, 2021 21:17:36 GMT -5
The bloodsuckers are still horrible. I finally mowed. It was still too wet and it left mud tracks everywhere but we've been held hostage in the house for two weeks it seems. I bought a new fogger and some permethrin fog juice (I know, I know, but immediate health concerns outweigh long term effects....) and fogged as I mowed. Then I fogged the gardens. With a Healthy (or unhealthy) layer of OFF covering my body, I was able to pick squash, green beans and a few tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. I had a big box of squash (yellow and zucchini) that we couldn't possibly eat. So I got on the mower like Bobby Bushay and made the block. Found two guys outside, one working on his car and the other mowing. They relieved me of al the squash. Didn't know people who don't garden like it so much.
Anyway, as soon as the wind died this afternoon the mosquitoes came back with a vengeance.
The potatoes are completely dead and everything else can't take another drop of water.
Forecast is for possible two more inches on Tuesday.
I may have to go hydroponic....
Alan
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Post by armjr on May 28, 2021 15:15:09 GMT -5
Sprayed, fogged and have two smoke fires going downwind. Had them pretty well knocked down, then the wind picked up and blew a new hoard in from the swale. Tried to pick some veggies but they drove me inside at 2:30 PM. My back looked like I'd been flogged. The dog and cat won't even go outside.
Alan
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Post by armjr on Jun 4, 2021 23:06:09 GMT -5
Well, it didn't rain today. It poured yesterday. All I can figure is that we finally got enough rain to drown the mosquitos.
In direct contrast to the last several weeks there were none to speak of today. It was really kinda bizarre. I went looking for them and couldn't find any. The weather was mild and the sun was out most of the day. We were able to take the grandkids outside without OFF. It was a "regular" day.
The garden at the far end of the yard has water running through it. I tracked the flow back to where it was running out of the hillside. I've lived in South Texas for my entire adult life and I've never seen anything like this year.
Alan
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