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A bucket with mosquito dunks and instructions for making a mosquito control bucket

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: garden tour, gardening, pest control

How to Make a Mosquito Bucket

July 7, 2025 By Lucy Mercer Leave a Comment

Controlling mosquitoes in your yard is easy when you make a mosquito bucket. Often called the Mosquito Bucket of Doom, this homemade hack helps you keep pesky mosquitoes under control in your yard.

All you need is a bucket, water, a small bunch of grass and Mosquito Dunks. These pellets are made of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), an organic product that is not toxic to pets, wildlife or humans. Bt is a larvicide that kills mosquitoes at the larval stage, before they grow into buzzing menaces.

At the American Hydrangea Society garden tour in June, a helpful gardener shared her instructions for a DIY Mosquito Bucket project. You can set these up throughout your landscape, near patios and porches and places where you gather outside. Mosquito buckets are an effective, low-cost alternative to sprays and products that may harm beneficial insects.

Mosquito Bucket DIY

Supplies:
* Bucket
* Grass or hay
* Mosquito Dunks

Instructions:
* Place grass or hay in bucket.
* Add water and part of a Mosquito Dunk.
* Place bucket in your yard.
* Replenish water when level drops.
* Replace dunk tablet each month.

The decaying greens (straw, hay, weeds or grass) release carbon dioxide that attracts mosquitoes that are ready to lay eggs. They buzz into the bucket and lay eggs that are then killed by the larvicide.

Note: each dunk covers up to 100 feet of surface water. Make your dunks go further by breaking them up and putting a piece in each bucket.

Mosquito Dunks are Safe

According to the product information, Mosquito Dunks are harmless to honey bees, beneficial insects, pets and wildlife. The product kills only mosquito larvae. U.S. EPA labeled it safe for organic gardening.

More Tips for Mosquito Control

Mosquitoes breed by laying eggs in and near water. For this reason, one of the best ways to control mosquitoes is to eliminate sources of standing water. Common sources of standing water include birdbaths, pet dishes, toys, flower pots and saucers.

Personal mosquito repellents are useful when you’re going outside for extended periods of time. I keep bottles of my preferred brands on my patio tables.

Inevitably, you’ll get bit by a mosquito. Some folks aren’t bothered by mosquito bites. My skin is sensitive and mosquito bites are instantly itchy, red and swollen. I like to use a product like Badger Itch Relief to alleviate the itching and swelling. I reapply several times after a bite and by the next day, it’s usually gone.

Here’s a homemade tip, too: make a paste out of baking soda and water and apply to the bite. This will take the sting out. You may have to reapply a few times, but in my experience, it works.

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