As summer is here, many of us love opening our doors and windows to cool down during the heat, enjoy the sun rays, the smell freshly cut grass and happy birds tweeting. While it can be lovely to enjoy the heat and blue skies, insects are more prominent during the summer months meaning that pests and bugs can fly into your home.
Pests can carry diseases, contaminate and eat your food, and be a nuisance by buzzing around and interfering with your daily life. Flies tend to reproduce at a higher rate over summer due to the warmer temperatures, which means you can quickly end up with a massive infestation if you’re not careful. This is particularly frustrating if you are growing fruit or vegetables in your garden, or if you plan on leaving food items, like fruit bowls, out on the kitchen counter.
Thankfully, Cory Rodriguez, a health and wellness content creator with a focus on natural foods and products, has shared a simple, cost-effective methods to keep pests out of your home this summer – without causing them harm.
First up, Cory, who boats over 3million Instagram followers, says that adding cinnamon spice and cayenne pepper to the bottom of your bins you can repel mice and flies. You can buy cayenne pepper from Tesco for £1. Plus you can buy cinnamon from Sainsbury’s for £1.10.
Secondly, Cory suggests getting a ceramic bowl and putting a good amount of apple cider vinegar in it, as well as a drop of washing up liquid, you can trap fruit flies. Fruit flies primarily feed on decaying organic matter, especially overripe fruits. They also lay their eggs on these surfaces, contributing to their rapid reproduction.
Plus, washing up liquid is an effective solution for deterring pets from your plants, according to Chowhound. Gardeners are advised to dilute a small amount of soap in water before spraying it on plants.
People are recommended to spray their infested plants every few days. They can do so more regularly if it’s particularly hot or windy. However, gardeners should never let the soap build up on plants between applications. This can cause the leaf or stem of the plant to burn and become damaged.
Cory also suggests, in a bid to keep spiders and ants away from your home, to dip a cotton ball into peppermint oil and leave it on your windowsill. Cory further shared a trick to keep pests away from your cupboard food. He said: “If you put bay leaves in your pantry then you can repel weevils and moths.
One commented after Cory shared the advice in a video on his Instagram page, and said: “The bay leaf is facts. I do this and it keeps them out of rice and my oats.” Another added: “I believe the bay leaves!! For pantry moths too.”
Another person suggested: “Honey water traps for fruit flies.” One other noted: “So the safest place to keep things safe is the spice cabinet got it.”
In other pest news, gardeners are being urged to sprinkle chilli powder on their lawns. Plus, ants will stay away if you use lemons; they hate citrus peels or lemon juice.
A lemon will distrupt the ant line because of the smell – and they will not come back.
Have you tried any of these methods? Comment below…