Do Citronella Candles Work?

Series Summary

Landscaping the front or back yard doesn't have to be a professional job. Home gardens provide a tranquil area for reflection and relaxation. Tending to and enjoying a garden can lower blood pressure, ease anxiety and provide diversion in which to ponder various thoughts that have been lingering in the subconscious. Even with limited yard space, planting a small corner garden is a simple task that can be completed in just an afternoon. In this free video series on gardening, a sustainable gardener discusses completely natural ways to repel various garden pests. Find out how to repel insects, such as mosquitoes, fruit flies, wasps and houseflies, using fragrant oils, strong-smelling spices and fresh sprigs of herbs. Get ideas for keeping pesky winged creates out of the garden, like hanging old CDs in the trees or hanging plastic bags full of water near the porch. Eliminate annoying pests from outdoor living areas without harming the environment with a few simple home remedies.

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this segment we're going to ask the question do citronella candles really work? Now, citronella candles are a product that's found almost anywhere, and they're sold as mosquito repellents. They have citronella in them, and that's an oil that comes from the lemon grass plant. And there's other types of plants too, lemon balm, that produces some citronella. They take the oil and they put it in wax, and just like any other candle and then you can burn it. And if you're having a picnic, or you're having a get together, or a barbecue; especially in the evening hours when there's lots of flies and lots of mosquitoes around you put em' out there just like any candle and it puts out the citronella, and a lot of times the mosquitoes will not come near that area. So, in theory it really works well, but in actuality it only helps in the area right where the smoke is going, so any other area; it's not really covered. So, it can help a lot if you are having a get together, because near the food you won't have a lot of the mosquitoes. But it's not foolproof; they'll still get around you. And I still recommend always putting just some oil on your skin so that the mosquitoes don't bite you directly, because they might get away from the candle but a lot of times they'll still bite you. So, just putting any type of oil on your exposed areas, and that will stop the mosquitoes from biting you as well."