Water economy v. midge larvae

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Would the 24hour darkness not hinder their development within the butt?

Not if they are anything like the insects in the film I am watching ............Jon

[Airehead]

Well, I should have said - there is a lid on it. The first water in it was from small rainfall 2 weeks ago and I was surprised when I removed the lid yesterday to find it alive. My main use of rainwater is for my orchids, indoors, and for which I warm the water in a saucepan - but not enough to kill the bugs. However, I don't suppose they will succeed in hatching from the orchid compost as it dries. And please note re my point about it being insufficient, since winter I have already run out of rainwater once from a 4 gallon store (before the dustbin) using it only for my 6 potted orchids - and they don't use much water.

The possibility of them having been collected from the gutter is interesting but in this case unlikely because of the unlikely way I collect the water. It is from the greenhouse gutter, which is small and usually dry. Since there is no room for the barrel by the greenhouse and nothing to direct the flow which by default runs down the greenhouse frame, I collect by letting it run down a string 'wick' into a bucket which is emptied the fopllowing day into the dustbin (lidded).

Anyway, I don't suppose they will do any harm.
(scratch, scratch).

[henrya]

A thin film of oil on the surface of the water will stop mosquito larvae breathing - problem solved. Use something innocuous like olive oil. Works best, of course, if you can draw the water off with a tap - if you have to dip, you might need to replace the oil regularly - but it does only need to be a thin layer.

As for the quantity problem - well, all I can say is "Every little helps". If every household saved only four gallons a year, that's a lot of water.

henrya


henrya

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by henrya

A thin film of oil on the surface of the water will stop mosquito larvae breathing - problem solved. Use something innocuous like olive oil. Works best, of course, if you can draw the water off with a tap - if you have to dip, you might need to replace the oil regularly - but it does only need to be a thin layer.

As for the quantity problem - well, all I can say is "Every little helps". If every household saved only four gallons a year, that's a lot of water.

henrya


henrya

Nice one Henrya, good tip

[nightshade]

Henrya s idea is excellent I used to put a single drop of detergent in to break the surface tension then they cannot hang by it to breath

[eeyore]

Or you could just encourage lots of bats as these will eat the midges

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by eeyore

Or you could just encourage lots of bats as these will eat the midges

only once they're out of the water - unless you know of some semi-aquatic bats?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

only once they're out of the water - unless you know of some semi-aquatic bats?

yeah but while they are in the water they arent bothering anyone anyway.

[Airehead]

I will try the oil and the detergent ideas, but I think I will have to start 2 separate cultures.

As far as bats are concerned, we have plenty thanks to a few neighbours' accessible lofts (actually, we have had bats in and around this town during my whole 60 years and I have never understood why all bats are protected). But I don't have much faith in 'green' solutions. Look how many midge-eating butterworts and sundews there are on the Scottish moors. They don't have much impact on the midges.