For as long as we’ve been together, my fiance has always insisted that we buy a citronella plant or two each spring to help keep the bugs off our porch and deck. From there we did what I think many people do, and set them up around the places we like to hang out and then kept them watered and expected that to somehow keep that mosquittos at bay.

Turns out we were wrong.

It was one of those things you stumble upon by mistake but once you realize it, it makes a lot of sense. But while researching how to propagate cuttings it made mention of how you had to rub the oil on your skin to make it work. Yes that’s right, you need to break a branch off and then rub the oil on yourself in order to ward off the bugs.

So there you have it folks, if you’ve been expecting the plant to passively repell mosquittos… well, you’re wrong.