Guest guest Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 We have decided to start composting in a closed roller type container as opposed to an open pile. The open compost attracts mosquitos terribly here even with frequent turning. We get nice compost but can't spend time outdoors. The composters are expensive and I would prefer one not made of a petroleum/plastic product. Does anyone have a personal recommendation? Also, I want to use rain barrels to collect water for my garden. But, I am concerned about mosquitos. I was going to use the dunks (ok, technically not vegan but certainly self-defense) but have been told they do not work at all. Anyone with experience controlling mosquitos with rain barrels (or at all in a heavy mosquito area)? Recommendation for a proven non-petroleum based barrel? (I know not to use the rain collected from my rooftop as I have asphalt shingles.) Thanks, Carrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 As far as controlling mosquitos in the rain barrel, you need to get a cover on the top - very small diameter holes in the screen/mesh. You also need to be sure that the water does not touch/go over the mesh (like if it dips down into the barrel when on top of it). They can lay their eggs in it and I think it would go through even the smallest mesh if it touches or goes into the water. I think you need to leave a space of at least an inch or two. As for other stuff, I have a 'heap' for our compost, and we just burry everything, so it's just always dirt on top, and we have never had any problems with mosquitos. You could also maybe try a worm bin? I don't have issues with keeping them, unless of course someone is not keeping up with it and taking care of them...Other than that I have been wanting to get a Green Cone Solar Digester, but they are plastic, but I don't know what kind or if it's recycled or anything like that off hand. That's a tricky question otherwise, for both composters and rain barrels. I think metal would eventually rust and break down itself...but I know my grandpa used to use an old metal barrel (he found it, from somewhere, and cleaned it up and everything, I know it was stainless steel) and he had mesh covers that he made, plus another barrel to catch the overflow before it reached the top part, so it was a whole big setup/system. Hrm. Good question about finding these! I was considering putting in a rain barrel this year, they have them cheap if you're a resident in the county (which we are), and I know where I want to put it, too. Just have to get there when we have money to get one, since we've got our garden, and they just informed us that our water will be going up this year, I'd like to figure this out as well. We have sort of a grey-water thing in the bathroom, but I'd love to expand it to include the tub and maybe see about the sink in the kitchen, too. Missie On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 3:48 PM, rtillmansmail <rtillmansmail wrote: > We have decided to start composting in a closed roller type container > as opposed to an open pile. The open compost attracts mosquitos > terribly here even with frequent turning. We get nice compost but can't > spend time outdoors. The composters are expensive and I would prefer > one not made of a petroleum/plastic product. Does anyone have a > personal recommendation? > > Also, I want to use rain barrels to collect water for my garden. But, > I am concerned about mosquitos. I was going to use the dunks (ok, > technically not vegan but certainly self-defense) but have been told > they do not work at all. Anyone with experience controlling mosquitos > with rain barrels (or at all in a heavy mosquito area)? Recommendation > for a proven non-petroleum based barrel? (I know not to use the rain > collected from my rooftop as I have asphalt shingles.) > Thanks, > Carrol > > > -- http://mszzzi.zoomshare.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/mszzzi/ ~~~~~(m-.-)m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 I am in the Tampa area (very high humidity and lots of mosquitos) and have a rain barrel. We use a screen on top of the barrel and have had no mosquitos. Let me know if you need more info on how to set this up. A friend of mine put a goldfish in her rain barrel to eat the mosquito larvae, but I would worry to much about the little guy and whether it would be a complete enough ecosystem for him to thrive. ~Susan On Apr 24, 2008, at 4:48 PM, rtillmansmail wrote: > > Also, I want to use rain barrels to collect water for my garden. But, > I am concerned about mosquitos. I was going to use the dunks (ok, > technically not vegan but certainly self-defense) but have been told > they do not work at all. Anyone with experience controlling mosquitos > with rain barrels (or at all in a heavy mosquito area)? Recommendation > for a proven non-petroleum based barrel? (I know not to use the rain > collected from my rooftop as I have asphalt shingles.) > Thanks, > Carrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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