Citronella Plants: A Natural Mosquito Repellent

Citronella plant is a natural mosquito repellent. These mosquito repelling plants can make your outdoor living experience much better without exposing yourself to harsh chemicals like deet! This pretty plant keeps mosquitoes away and looks nice on your patio or deck in a pot. It has a lovely citrusy aroma and is even deer resistant. This plant can be treated as a patio plant or an annual in cooler areas. It is an evergreen in tropical growing zones 9, 10, and 11. The Mosquito plant can also repel insects indoors as a houseplant. Citronella plant care and using citronella to repel mosquitoes is very easy.

Uses
The citronella plant is one of the best mosquito repellents out there. You get a pretty plant to decorate your outdoor living space and they actually work! They work best if you have several plants staggered around the area you are spending time. You can ‘activate’ the citronella plant further by gently running your hands through the plant to release the oils.

You can also try using them directly on your skin. Do this by removing a leaf or 2 and rubbing them on your skin. A great mosquito repellent alternative for people with sensitive skin. Be sure to try on a small batch on skin first to make sure you won’t get a reaction.

Care
Citronella plant care takes minimal effort. These mosquito repelling plants are extremely low maintenance. Just water them deeply when the soil dries. They do well in full or part sun. Indoor mosquito plants should be kept near a sunny window, preferably a south or west facing window. When indoors allow the soil to dry before watering thoroughly. This keeps citronella plants much healthier than watering a little bit every day. These plants do grow at a pretty fast rate so increase the pot size when the soil becomes unable to hold water. This means the roots have filled the container. Use organic planting mix to repot your citronella plant.

Overwintering
These bug repelling plants do not tolerate low temperatures or frost. But they can be kept indoors as a houseplant once temperatures drop. This extends the life of your plants and saves you money. If you have a sunny spot and think you’ll enjoy having these plants indoors, try bringing them indoors. Since these plants grow so fast and do tend to get woody as they age, trim the plant back to about 6 inches or so sometime before moving them back outside. If they are pretty overgrown when you are ready to move them inside go ahead and trim them back then. If you are happy with the size and shape of your plants just hold off and prune them back in spring before you move them back outside. They will quickly flush with new growth.

Information courtesy of PlantingTree.com