Repell-em Blog

How long does a Repell-em trash bag keep its potency?  Well, usually people don’t keep a filled trash bag around long enough to really tell, but this summer, I wrapped strips of Repell-em trash bag around my tomato cages.  That was pretty far back, more like late spring than summer.

Until last week, there was not a sign of an animal or insect in my garden.

Today, however, I did see some gnats out there.

So naturally, I put fresh Repell-em strips in my garden.  I figure, given the track record of the previous Repell-em strips, these new ones should last until after Thanksgiving.  Of course, the garden will be frozen by then, but you never know.  I can remember a few seasons when we still had tomatoes in the garden at Thanksgiving in Indiana, and this year, I’m ready for them.  No deer or insects will get my autumn garden, either!

Thank you, Repell-em, for living up to your name and lasting so incredibly long!

I will admit that I was skeptical when I first heard about Repell-em products.  After all, I lived out in the country and the insects and animals were just something I had to live with, right?  You set your trash outside too early, the animals tear it apart.  You put some fruit in a bowl, and the gnats go nuts.

But I learned after just a few days that Repell-em products really did what they claimed they’d do.  Ever since I started to use them, I’ve not had to crawl around in my yard, picking up garbage that had been scattered by raccoons and possums, neighbor’s dogs and my own cats.  I haven’t had to use any kind of vegetable or flower spray or dust; a little strip of Repell-em kept all the bugs away from my garden and my roses.  When we eat out on the deck, we are not troubled by flies or bees or gnats, because the pretty red Repell-em tablecloth keeps away all the pests.

I can recommend Repell-em products to all of you because I tried them myself.  I now use them exclusively.

You should, too.

I planted ten new Breakout rosebushes in the front of my house this summer, and tied a little strip of Repell-em around the “trunk” of each one.  All ten of those rosebushes are covered with blooms, and not a single leaf on any of them has been molested by insects.  Ten pristine, perfect, blossom-covered rosebushes, and I give Repell-em the credit for that.

There is one rosebush behind my house, right by the deck.  I forgot to tie a piece of Repell-em around that one, and today I noticed that while it’s still alive, and has a few flowers on it, most of the leaves are lacy and eaten.  It’s quite a contrast with the roses in the front of the house.  I feel bad for forgetting to tie the Repell-em around this one, but I did it today, and I expect a full recovery soon.  I’ll keep you all posted.

The point here is that Repell-em really does keep your expensive plants alive.  Flowers, trees, vegetables. . . you name it, Repell-em protects it.

Our tomatoes in the back garden are doing extremely well, and have not once been bothered by insects or animals.  We have never sprayed or dusted them with anything; the little strip of Repell-em around the stalk of each, and around the tomato cages, have done the trick.

It was such a simple, easy little thing to do, and it’s kept my plants healthy all summer.

Thank you, Repell-em.

I’ve had guests these past few days and we have been able to sit outside in absolute comfort.  We were not annoyed by pesky flies, or stinging mosquitoes, or chiggers.  We came inside not because we were driven by hordes of bugs, but because we wanted to.

Thanks to Repell-em, it’s comfortable in our yard now.  And back in the garden, all the vegetables are healthy

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be able to enjoy the outdoors like we are this summer.    With Repell-em, the outdoors is almost as safe as the indoors!  No bugs and no animals to bother you,  and nothing but a breeze, some sunshine, a lawn chair, and some lemonade.

No bugs.  Not even a trace.  Thank you, Repell-em.

I’ve been sitting out on the deck most of this afternoon, reading and watching the deer walk past my garden as if they couldn’t even see it.

The fact is, they can’t.  My garden is covered with Repell-em strips, and not only are my vegetables absolutely insect-free, the deer, possums, and raccoons are not bothering them, either.

Not only that, as I sit here on the deck, I have not noticed a single mosquito, gnat, or insect of any kind.  That’s because my upside-down tomatoes have Repell-em strips on them, and also because I have a Repell-em tablecloth on my deck table.

I haven’t had to spray smelly, dangerous insecticides on anyone or anything this entire summer, nor have I had to light citronella candles or use any other kind of repellent.

Citronella is one of the 100% natural ingredients in Repell-em products, but combined with the lemon, mint, etc, the final product smells as good as an expensive candle.  Minus the heat and the danger!

Thank you, Repell-em, for making my summer the most pleasant one yet.  I can’t remember when I’ve been able to sit outside for so long without being driven insane by the bugs.  And it’s also nice to just reach out and grab a cherry tomato without having to wash off the insect repellent.  Next year, I’m going to put Repell-em strips on my rosebushes.

I love summer.  And thanks to Repell-em, I can enjoy it.

I showed you my pest-free tomato garden last Friday. Today, I’m going to show you how I grow tomatoes on my deck - upside-down.

You read it right. I grow upside-down tomato plants on my deck. AND, like the tomato garden in my back yard, my upside-down deck tomatoes are also completely pest-free.

NOTHING bothers them. No insects. No animals. I’m not going to spray or dust any of my plants with anything, either; I’m going to depend on Repell-em to take care of any and all mites, fungi, and living pestiferous things of every kind.

Here’s a picture of the upside-down tomato. This is a really fun project; I wasn’t sure it would work, but I found the idea on Steve Spangler’s blog and it looked like it would be both fun AND easy, and so far? BOTH! If you look closely at this picture, you can see the big tomato garden in the distance.

Here’s a close-up of the upside-down tomato. Here, you can plainly see the strip of red Repell-em that I wrapped around the top of the bucket. Not only is that little strip of Repell-em keeping all the bugs and animals away from the tomato; it’s also keep the mites and flies away from the petunias - even when there’s standing water around them!

Item: honeybees are not affected by Repell-em products. The wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets are held at bay, but the honeybees don’t seem to mind Repell-em at all. This is, of course, a GOOD thing! We WANT the honeybees!

I suggest that you all do to your gardens - big gardens and the little deck and porch pots - what I did to mind, which is: wrap strips of Repell-em around them and watch your vegetables and flowers flourish!

I promised you all a picture of my garden with Repell-em woven all around the tomato cages, but I’ll have to pass on that until Wednesday.  I live in Indiana, you see, and the never-ceasing rain has really thrown a monkey wrench into any photo ops I may have had planned!

Surely by Wednesday’s post, I’ll be able to go back there and take a picture for you.  It’s really quite attractive!

In the meantime, I will give you this:  I feed my cats in the kitchen, and for the past two days, not one of the three has gone near their food OR water bowl!

I finally figured it out.  I had gathered up all the newspapers and put them in a Repell-em bag and set the bag in front of the patio doors, BESIDE THE CATS’S DISHES!

No wonder the cats wouldn’t go near enough to even grab a light snack!

Repell-em products really work.  I mean to say, Repell-em products REALLY, REALLY WORK!

Stay tuned for some pictures.

I put tomato cages on all my tomato plants this afternoon, and I decided to try another experiment with Repell-em trash bags while I was out in the garden.  I don’t have to worry about Repell-em products touching food, because Repell-em is 100% natural.
I already have a Repell-em bag on a stick, waving around in the breeze and scaring all the birds and animals away.   But as I was working, I thought,  it’s not always going to be breezy, and one Repell-em scarecrow in the middle of the plot might not be enough.  I need to put some Repell-em bags in my garden in such a way that each individual tomato plant will be protected against, not only deer, possums and raccoons, but also the bugs and worms.

So, I wove a Repell-em bag around and around each individual tomato cage.

The results was actually very pretty, and I KNOW nothing will bother my garden now!

On Monday, if it ever stops raining here, I’ll post a picture of my pretty, decorated tomato cages.  In the meantime, Bambi and his mother and all of his relatives, along with Thumper and all the pesky critters that never had names, had better steer clear of my garden.

When they get close to it now, they’ll turn tail and run away.  I’ve seen it happen.

Thank you, Repell-em!!!  You’ve passed every test I’ve given you!!!!

When the weather is nice, I like to drive to the high school and walk around the track.  I’ve been walking every night this week, in fact.

The problem is, I’m not the only one who loves this warm, breezy weather.  The bugs like it, too.  I came home from the track those first few nights covered with mosquito bites.  I hate that!

Then I thought, Hmmm, I put a little strip of Repell-em around my ankle and wrist when I work in the garden. . . I bet it would work for walking the track, too!

And it did.

I’ve tried smelly insect repellents for track-walking in the past, and I hate them.  Oh, they work, but at what cost?  A lot more than a strip of Repell-em costs, that’s for sure, but even more than that?

Repell-em smells good, and that little strip doesn’t drown out the honeysuckle! Don’t worry about Repell-em touching your skin, either; Repell-em products are made of 100% natural ingredients and will not harm you.

There are so many uses for Repell-em products.  And so far, everything I’ve tried with Repell-em has worked like a charm!

I read in a gardening magazine that putting a brightly-colored cloth on a pole and placing it in the middle and both ends of your garden will keep away the animals.  I’m going to try it this year, because last year, the deer ate almost everything!

However, my “scarecrows” won’t be made of cloth; I’m going to put Repell-em trash bags on poles and let them guard my tomatoes and green peppers.

Not only will the red Repell-em bag, flapping in the wind, keep all the animals away, it will also keep all the bugs away!

P.S.  I threw a Repell-em trash bag, full of corncobs and rib bones, in the back of our pickup truck three days ago, and nothing’s bothered it yet!