How To Get Rid Of Midges For Good:15 Easy Tips & Solutions

Here are some treatments and preventative measures to keep your home and garden midge free.

1. Inspection

   Inspection is the first phase of any good pest control plan. Once you know what the pests look like, check around your property to confirm their presence or find hotspots of activity.

2. Check around standing water.

   Midgies don’t travel far from their breeding grounds, so look where standing water can occur around your property and deal with it immediately.
   
   

3. Check for poor soil drainage.

   Check where the soil may be compacted in your garden. Check for spots that drain poorly and cause stagnant water pools. Aerate your lawn to promote better air circulation in your soil.

4. Check for man-made sources of stagnant water.

   Bird baths, swimming pools, fish ponds, garden buckets, pet water bowls, water butts, and paddling pools can attract midges to lay eggs. If you keep man-made water sources like birdbaths, drain them and store them upside down whenever they are not in use. Keep it covered if you have a pool so midges or other insects can’t access the water.
   
   

5. Check bodies of standing water for larvae.

    If you’re dealing with non-biting midges, you can check standing bodies of water for larvae. The bloodworms are small but visible, growing as large as a quarter of an inch in length.
   
   If you’re dealing with biting midges, you’re better off looking for the adults, as their larvae are hard to see with the naked eye. While a single adult midge can be hard to spot, you’ll often see them in swarms or resting on outdoor surfaces.

6. After identifying your pest and inspecting for activity on your property. It’s time to start treatment.

   Before beginning any treatment, wear your personal protective equipment or PPE and keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.

7. Treat the developing midges.

   To get rid of midges on your property, you will need to use insecticides like this one with Insect Growth Regulator –  keep in mind these products target adult midges and will disrupt the midge’s life cycle, reducing egg-laying and preventing larvae from developing into reproducing adults.
   There are larvicides labeled to treat developing images, but the amount of product you would need to use is not recommended for the environment, nor is it economical.

8. Apply the insecticide to outdoor surfaces.

   Apply the insecticide to where you’ve seen midges at rest. Sites of treatment include garages, tree trunks, shrubbery, and many other areas. Be sure to apply the insecticide on every surface that you see the midges rest.
   Also, focus treatment around outdoor lighting fixtures and windows as midges or other flying insects are attracted to these light sources at night.

9. Turn off all outside lights until after sundown.

   Prevention is essential to keeping pests in check, even after applying pesticides.
   Reduce outdoor lighting because midges, like many other flying insects, are attracted to light. Avoid turning on outdoor lighting until after sundown since most flying activity occurs during that time.

10. Keep up with pesticide applications.

    To stop midges from breeding on your property, you’ll need to keep up with regular pesticide applications as your property can quickly repopulate with midges coming into your garden from outside the treated area. Make applications as necessary when activity is noticeable. Midges can reproduce rapidly and become major pests.

11. Tidy up bushes, trees, plants and foliage.

    Trim back tree branches, bushes, and shrubs to reduce shade, and encourage evaporation to prevent midges, mosquitos, and other flying pests.

12. Use a midge trap.

    Midge traps like these ones work by mimicking humans. They release CO2, moisture, and heat.
     Once the midges are drawn in, they’re sucked into a glue trap.

13. Wear an insect repellant

    This midge repellant with deet blocks the antennal receptors of biting insects so they can’t smell you. This one will keep you protected from the midge’s bite for up to 9 hours and is safe for anyone over 12 yrs to use.

14. Burn a Citronella Oil candle

    If you are camping or sitting outside, try burning Citronella garden candles like these ones to deter the garden midges. You can also burn a Citronella incense coil like this one.

15. Make a homemade trap.

    You can make an indoor trap by putting apple cider vinegar in a bowl with a drop of washing-up liquid. Cover with cling film, then make a small piercing in the cling film. Place by doors and open windows to catch flying insects.