Fighting maggots in the home and kitchen: 9 effective home remedies

Maggots are the offspring of flies. They hatch from the discarded fly eggs and become flies after pupation. In the wild they are quite useful because they make the fertile humus by decomposing rotting or excrement. They are also a source of food for frogs, lizards, birds, spiders, wasps, praying mantises and shrews. However, they cause disgust in the kitchen and living room, and the question arises as to how best to control the small, white maggots.

Maggots

Behavior of maggots

Maggots eat any organic material that contains a trace of protein. Since tiny amounts of food are enough for them, they can quickly become a nuisance. They don't have a head or legs, but that doesn't prevent them from crouching around to look for food. Therefore, they can appear in the most impossible places, such as ceilings or walls. As a rule, however, you can find them where organic residues or waste can be found. A splash of sauce on the kitchen wall can be enough for this.

Note: Female flies lay several hundred eggs several times during the summer months. Therefore, in good living conditions, the number of maggots can multiply explosively.

If you find maggots in places where there is no food source in sight, it is also possible that the uninvited guests are looking for a suitable place for pupation. In this case, you should definitely look for possible sources of food for the maggots, i.e. the source of the plague.

Home remedies

Home remedies to combat

If you have discovered maggots, you should remove them immediately. It is best to wrap infected food in newspaper and dispose of the package in the garbage can. If you find maggots on the floor, the easiest way to do it is to have the nauseating guests with the Collect the broom and bring it into the garden with the dustpan, as far away as possible from the house or Patio door. If you don't have a garden, you collect the maggots and dispose of them in the garbage can. If the maggots sit in hard-to-reach corners or cracks, the hair dryer is used. Its hot air kills maggots and eggs.

Tip: So that the hair dryer works, set it on the hottest setting.

After the maggots have been removed, the infected areas must be cleaned thoroughly. If collecting the maggots with the broom is too disgusting, you can fight the maggots with pepper or vinegar water. These two home remedies kill the maggots and can then be removed with a vacuum cleaner or broom.

Tip: Apply pepper or vinegar water generously so that no maggot escapes.

Pepper water

All you need to make pepper water is pepper and a liter of water. Proceed as follows for “preparation”.

• Bring water to a boil
• add a tablespoon of pepper or more
• stir
• Let the pepper water cool down while stirring constantly
• Pour cooled pepper water into a spray bottle

To combat it, spray the pepper water on the maggots. After a few minutes these should be gone. After you have removed the dead maggots, the infested area or Objects on which the maggots were to be cleaned with the remaining pepper water.

Vinegar water

Vinegar water is used to destroy maggots and also has a preventive effect, as flies and maggots do not like the smell of vinegar. Proceed as follows to make vinegar water.

• add a few tablespoons of vinegar essence to a liter of water
• stir
• Fill into a spray bottle

First, spray the maggots with the vinegar water. To increase the effectiveness of the home remedy, sprinkle salt over the maggots after spraying. The maggots have died after just a few minutes. Remove the dead maggots and clean the infected area and all objects thoroughly with the remaining vinegar water.

Tip: Since maggots do not like the smell of vinegar, you should not wipe the cleaned surfaces and objects dry, but allow them to air dry.

Maggot infestation houseplants

From the perspective of flies, dying parts of houseplants are a good place to lay eggs. Therefore, the green roommates can also become maggots. But do not worry, the infected houseplant does not have to be disposed of, because there are home remedies for this case too.

• Soda-soft soap solution

For the soda-soft soap solution, mix in one liter of water:

• 2 tablespoons of soda
• 15 milliliters curd soap

To increase the effectiveness of the solution, add another 15 milliliters of alcohol. Then spray the houseplant with the solution or wipe the leaves with a cloth soaked in the solution.

Tip: The soda-soft soap solution may only be used for indoor plants that can tolerate the solution.

Primary rock meal

Indoor plants that cannot tolerate spraying with the soda and soft soap solution are best powdered with primary rock flour. This dries out the maggots after a short time.

Repot

If the maggot infestation comes from indoor plants, the substrate is often infected as well. Therefore, the plant must be sprayed or Immediately repotted in new substrate after powdering. If there is no new pot, the old planter must be cleaned thoroughly. It is best to use hot vinegar or soda water for this.

Tip: So that there are no eggs in the new substrate, it is recommended to disinfect the potting soil at 150 degrees Celsius in the oven.

prevention

To prevent fly maggots from invading, you should not offer the female flies any incentives to lay their eggs.

Scent against flies

The scents of various oils and plants are simple home remedies that help against uninvited guests without a special preparation.

Proven fragrance oils are:

• Let the peppermint or lavender oil evaporate on the stove or in a small smoker
• laurelPlace the oil and water in a small bowl or bottle with a wide neck

Indoor plants that do not like the scent of flies are:

• Indian incense (Plectranthus coleoides)
• Eucalyptus

The following are suitable for the balcony, terrace or the garden bed in front of it:

• Geraniums (pelargoniums)
• Marigolds (calendula)
• tomatoes
• Runner beans
• Nasturtium (Tropaeolum)
• Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
• peppermint (Mentha x piperita)

Tip: Scented sachets made of lavender are a protection in the interior of the house.

In the kitchen a pot drives away with basil To fly. Since not all flies can be deterred with scent, the following should be avoided in the kitchen and living room.

• Food that is exposed or that is only lightly packaged, such as meat, fruit or vegetables
• Leftovers in trash cans
• Leftovers in food bowls

Protection of food

So that flies do not lay eggs on food, they should be well packed or protected, especially on hot days. In the case of meat, fruit and vegetables, it does not matter whether these foods are fresh or already cooked, because the female fly makes no difference.

fruit and vegetables

A bowl of fresh fruit is not only good for your health, it is also a wonderful sight. So that the fruit does not become a breeding ground for maggots, you should remove the fruit or Vegetables can be stored as described below.

• Put in the fridge on very hot days
• protect with a special fly hood
• check regularly for signs of rot
• Fruit or Remove vegetables that are bruised or rotten

If the fresh fruit has been processed into jam or compote, clean the work surface thoroughly after preparation. Also make sure that jam or compote is always well sealed.

meat

To protect meat from flies, do not leave it lying around unattended. If it is to be brought to room temperature for processing, make sure that it is well packaged.

Leftovers in trash cans

Trash cans with leftover food are particularly popular with female flies for laying eggs.

Therefore you should:

• use a lockable trash can
• Empty the bin every one or two days on hot days
• Thoroughly clean the trash can after emptying it

Tip: After cleaning, turn the trash can upside down so that no water remains in the bucket.

To avoid liquid in the bin, just put a layer of newspaper on the floor. In the organic rubbish bin, it is advisable to put a layer of newspaper between the garbage so that the paper can soak up the liquid better.

Leftovers in food bowls

Only put as much pet food in the food bowl as your darling can eat at one time. Remove the rest of the food bowl and then clean it.

Maggots in the carpet

Maggots in carpets mostly do not come from flies, but from clothes moths. Therefore, strictly speaking, they are not maggots, but larvae. In appearance, however, they are very similar to fly maggots and can cause great damage to carpets with wool. In order to save the carpet, it must be vacuumed thoroughly immediately, preferably several times. This is followed by thorough wet cleaning. If the pests reappear afterwards, the carpet should be disposed of.

Tip: Smaller carpets can be placed in the freezer for a week. The cold kills all larvae.