Certain types of plants, such as dill, fennel, parsley, and sunflower can attract flies. Additionally, overwatering, poor soil quality, and decaying matter can also attract flies into your home or garden.
So, if you are constantly being bugged by flies in your, there area few things you can do.
Are Flies a Health Risk?
Buzzing flies are annoying, and might be responsible for transferring bacteria across surfaces and onto food. (Not all flies are attracted to food, drain flies prefer moist matter in drains and sewers!)
House flies are attracted to and eat rotting food or garbage. They bring a vast amount of bacteria and viruses with them everywhere they go.
Fruit flies can spread disease as well, but they pose less of a health risk. Finally, except for your plants, the flies that specifically attack them would not be a concern to you.
Do House Plants Attract Flies?
House plants are lovely, and many people can’t picture their home without a few scattered about the home and garden. Fruit flies, fungus gnats, and hoverflies, for example, may be attracted to house plants.
In reality, flies and other pests are drawn to high humidity and a lack of air ventilation, which means certain house plants can be appealing to them under such conditions. Thankfully, there are certain things you can do to get rid of those pesky bugs that buzz around your plants or crawl in their dirt.
Some plants that attract flies are Dill, Fennel, Parsley, and Sunflower.
Keep Flies Out of Your Home
A variety of aromatic plants can do an excellent job at fly control. Many of them flourish indoors and can be part of your garden indoors and outdoors. Below are some of the best.
The Basil Plant
The heavy fragrance and oil in basil repel common household pests, including flies. Basil has been used since olden times as a pest control. Along with the direct sun, basil needs daily watering and a spray from a misting bottle now and then.
Basil comes in many varieties, each with its own distinct fragrance, such as lemon, licorice, and cinnamon. There is another advantage to having basil nearby; you can also use it in your cooking.
Planting Tansy
Tansy repels flies and most insects and produces clusters of lovely yellow flowers to perk up up your home. Unlike other aromatic plants, the fragrance is produced by the flowers rather than the leaves.
Tansy only needs a few hours of indirect light and frequent watering.
Mint Herb
Mint needs lots of space to grow and needs at least 4 hours of bright sun. The best would be bright sun during the morning and shade in the afternoon.
Mint does not like to have dry soil.
Keep the plant pruned (excess leaves can be used in tea or cooking!) or it will soon outgrow its pot. You’ll also need to remove and re-pot every now and then. When picking a mint variation for a houseplant, go for the one with the best fragrance. Spearmint is a good choice.
We have mentioned but a few examples there are many more, such as Marigolds, Lavender, Rosemary, and Citronella.
Do Plants Attract Flies?
Fortunately, there aren’t many plants notorious for attracting houseflies, so you shouldn’t have to think too much about it. However, when it does happen, and you’re putting together a strategy to get rid of flies in your household, the last thing you want to do is invite them in.
Here are some of those pesky buzzers that you must watch out for.
Small Whiteflies
These small pests are drawn to your indoor and outdoor garden because they feed on plant sap. Hibiscus, tomatoes, and poinsettias are two well-known houseplants that attract whiteflies.
Fungus Gnats
Fungus gnats, also known as soil gnats, do not damage houseplants. However, gnat larvae, on the other hand, may cause plant damage when they feed on roots.
There are many ways to help control these small annoying pests. Read on for some interesting ways to do so.
How to Prevent Plants From Attracting Flies
House flies are easier to get rid of than you would expect. Here are some ideas to help you prevent plants from attracting flies.
Do Not Overwater
With houseplants, one of the most important concerns is overwatering, and it may lead to a variety of issues, including house flies. Before watering, make sure the surface of the soil is fully dry and do not overwater!
Remove Decaying Matter
You probably think that dead leaves on the surface protect the plant from drying out. Nope, remove all dead matter from the top of the soil.
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is made up of fossilized microalgae that can eat four times their weight of water and rapidly dehydrates gnats and larvae that come into touch with the diatomaceous earth (Amazon) crystals or powder. It also adds a coating on top of the plants potting soil, stopping larvae from moving to other plants.
Sprinkling Cinnamon
Sprinkling cinnamon on the soil of the pot plant helps. Larvae don’t seem to like cinnamon. Apparently, this does work; what is there to lose, you can try any remedy to keep flies out of your home!
Sliced Potatoes
Slice a potato and dig one side into the plant soil. Leave it for a couple of days, and then replace it with another slice.
Apparently, larvae are attracted to the potato rather than the roots of the plant. Bingo, so when you are throwing the potato slice away, you remove larva from the soil. Of course, this method is not as proactive of fun as others.
Conclusion
During the summer, fall months, and late spring, many of you have seen flies in your houses. It’s one of those things! Pests enter for various reasons, but the majority enter to feed on litter, ripe fruit, or excessive moisture in your plants.
People who understand what draws flies have a greater chance of preventing them. This is especially the case with drain flies. We hope these tricks and tips give you an idea of how to finally get rid of those pests!