Hi again, Daniel,

1) I was told by a representative that mosquito dunks and fish won't
co-exist happily with each other, as the fish may eat the dunks and
die from it. Even if the label says its safe for fish, although I
have little reason to doubt the store representative. I got dunks
anyway, though, and put them in because I have to wait before adding
fish anyway. What do you think? Will they also kill useful insects
like spiders and dragonflies?

First, don't always trust someone who works at the store... many of us have
horror stories to tell about bad advice that has been given at various retail
establishments.
The dunks will not hurt fish, or spiders or dragonflies. They take out one
other aquatic larva, can't remember which it is but believe me you won't miss
it ;-)

2) What can I place around the container to fight the mosquitoes? I've
read marigold can work (in my case potted, of course, if possible). I
placed the container near a fence, so couldn't I get a bunch of those
bug zappers/sticky tubes and line them around?

Your pond will attract dragonflies and damselflies and they can eat literally
millions of mosquitoes over a summer.

And how might I be able
to encourage spiders (one spider apparently was already constructing a
web on the Obedient Plant)? I think if I can get a fine line of spider
web wherever possible, the mosquitoes won't have a chance.

The spiders will come on their own. Watch for fishing spiders, they run on
water and snatch up bouncing gnats, very fun to watch!

Anything I
can do to work with nature, compensating myself for what the container
garden lacks as opposed to its real life counterpart, I think will be
benefecial. I believe the marigold can even provide some shade, as
right now I think the water garden has an O/D of afternoon sun.

3) I have a bird feeder many feet away. Is this and the container
water garden an explosive combo as far as West Nile goes? I'm not sure
if it would make much of a difference, because of the trees/shrubs I
have as well as the line of trees and shrubs across the street
frequently have a choir of birds anyway.

With dunks, fish, dragonflies and damselflies will not be a problem.

4) I read how-stuff-works.com articles about mosquitos. I'm going out
each day to watch the container. On the second day of having the
plants outside in water (this was Wednesday when everything was
seperate and the half whiskey barrel wasn't filled), I saw two black,
thin bugs mating in the water. Mosquitos?

No. Probably backswimmer bugs or boatman beetles. Not mosquitoes. They probably
flew in overnight as this is when these critters fly and watch for water by the
light reflecting on the water.

This evening I saw tiny
black gnat-like things congregating some feet away from the barrel,
but I think I've also seen them before near my driveway where there
was no water that I saw.

How will I know if the dunk isn't working? Can someone please tell me
what I should watch for and timetables, monitoring the water garden so
to speak? This is day two of having the barrel filled up with
water--the other two containers have had its contents scattered around
the lawn.

Mosquito larva hang out at the surface of the water to breath. When disturbed
they violently wriggle away and then will come back to the surface.

5) As a last resort, instead of giving up my plants I could simply
move them inside as there is a sun room, or just give them their
required sun time outside before bringing them back inside to keep the
mosquitoes at bay. If I go this route, do you think it'll work and
what schedule should I set for the plants? The lily I have is more
like a miniature lily.

I doubt you'll have to worry about mosquitoes. Growing plants indoor is a whole
'nother matter and not my area of expertise
;-)

6) I could of course also just drain the container weekly and refill.
Might take its toll on the water bill, but that'll be less expensive
than say, a hospital bill, lawsuit, or fine. Will this take a toll on
the plants as well? What if I want to recycle water, but filter out
harmful mosquitos?

No. Don't do that. Bad for fish. Use dunks, use fish, you'll be fine.

I've had ponds in my yards for years and actually can't remember the last time
I got bit by a mosquito!

I may have to invest in a field guide of bugs. I've read that some
bugs do look like mosquitos, but aren't.

There are some excellent books out there and very interesting! About 5,000
species of insects spend part or all of their life in water.




kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A