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With summertime here, many will be experiencing the annoyance of flies flittering around their homes. There is a way to stop that, however, and Irish The Chase Star Darragh Ennis has a “genius” method of doing so.
Darragh, who is best known for his performances on ITV game show The Chase, studied entomology which gives him a particularly impressive level of knowledge on the subject of insects.
Nicknamed The Menace while quizzing, Darragh recently shared a video on his popular TikTok account that revealed a sure-fire way of keeping flies away, especially if you have houseplants that insects are drawn to, The Express reports.
The 44-year-old explained how in the warmer months of the summer, small black flies may get into your home and pester you with their constant flittering. Darragh admitted it can be “really hard” to get rid of the flies, which often live on people’s houseplants.
In his video, Darragh explained: “If you’ve got little insects flying around your house, it can be really annoying. Now, I’m an entomologist so I love insects, but I still don’t want those tiny little black flies all over my house, and they’re really hard to get rid of – especially when they live in your houseplants.
“They’re called fungus gnats because they live in compost and stuff, and they’re a big pest in mushroom growhouses and things. Getting rid of them with chemicals is really hard.”
Rather than giving up and getting rid of your houseplants altogether, there is a way to keep them and eliminate the scourge of flies in your home. It may be a new method to you but Darragh recommends using nematodes.
He continued: “You’ve probably never heard of them, but they’re little microscopic worms that live in the soil. They’re probably the most common animal on the planet, but we can’t see them. There’s billions upon billions upon billions of them.”
He added: “One type of them crawls inside insects and kills them. Now, it’s a bit gruesome, but it’s a natural way of killing them.
“You can just order these online. You just put these into a watering can and then pour them on your house plants. The best bit about this is that they crawl through the soil and hunts through the larvae and everything so they’re gone.
“So if you want to get rid of those little flies and you don’t want loads of chemicals, buy some nematodes. I studied them for my PhD, and now they’re useful in my house.”
Darragh then showed his followers a packet of nematodes that he bought online. These were labelled as Sciarid Fly Nematodes, which can be bought online on Amazon for around €15.
Other remedies
Other natural remedies that can help keep flies out of your house includes using herbs and plants that insects are not attracted to such as basil, lavender, mint, bay leaves and marigold.
You can also make an essential oil spray by mixing one cup of water, 10-15 drops of an essential oil like peppermint, lemongrass, citronella, or lavender, and one tablespoon of vodka (optional, but helps oils mix) into a spray bottle and spraying it around windows, doors, and other entry points in your home.
Another common way to deter flies, particularly small ones like fruit flies, is to make a homemade trap. You can do this by mixing apple cider vinegar and dish soap in a bowl, covering it with cling film, and then poking a few small holes in the top.
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