How do you get rid of flies on the front and back porch?
My front porch and back patio are plagued annually by flies (not just 1 or 2, swarms). Some info, both face east, the front patio is covered, while the back is covered by a tarp hung from the roof to the fence for privacy between us and the neighbors. (our large glass sliding doors face each other and we can see directly into each others house, so we put that up for privacy). There are a couple of trees over the back patio, and a couple by the front. I have hung fly traps, sprayed bug sprays nothing seems to keep them away. Whats worse, they come inside whenever a door is opened and then my house is full of flies. How do I get rid of the house flies? Any help, thoughts or tricks would be appreciated!
Best fly trap!
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I also had cluster flies on my front porch. These three things made them go away
1.Vodka spray repellent:
make such vodka based fly repellents you will have to mix following ingredients:
1 cup vodka
2 tsp aloe vera juice
1 tsp lemon eucalyptus oil
1/2 tsp. essential oil blend
Mix them in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area. You can also use this on your skin. The flies hate the smell and will go away
Note: Only apply this repellent on your skin if you are comfortable with it. If you have any kind of allergies with any of the above ingredients then it’s better to avoid this method.
2. Using Lemongrass Oil as a Natural Fly Repellent:
Lemongrass oil has strong insect repellent properties and in addition to this it can also keep your home refreshingly aromatic. So, you can use the lemongrass oil to make a fly repelling spray that also works as a room freshener.
To make this spray you will have to mix following ingredients:
Lemongrass essential oil- 20-25 dropsHot water about 1/2 cup
Keep the solution in a spray bottle and spray it along your doorways and windows or any other fly infested area.
Note: In absence of Lemongrass oil you could also use other natural oils like Lavender oil, Citronella oil, Eucalyptus oil, Pennyroyal oil, or Peppermint oil. But with them you won’t achieve the results that you would get with Lemongrass
3. Using Clove based Deterrent:
Cloves are pleasurably aromatic for humans but flies (particularly house flies) cannot stand the scent of cloves. In this remedy, you would have to use cloves along with lemons to deter flies.
To make this deterrent, take a lemon and cut it into two halves. After this, poke 6-12 cloves into each half of the lemon.
And then, you can keep few such clove poked lemons in a plate as a beautiful centerpiece for your table, especially for the times when you have meals with friends outdoor like in a barbeque party.
Alternatively, you could also use clove oil as it works better than solid cloves.
We live in the country with many farm animals close by. My Dad swears by this and keeps flys away from his doors. He hangs a zip lock bag with water and a few pennies in it beside his doors. You never see a fly in his house.
Tried that, didn't work. :( And whats bad is I have moved since I originally posted this, and even at my new house they fly right around the back patio. I am cursed...
I would try the vodka repellent and wash the porch floor down in the lemongrass oil repellent. Let me know how that works.
I lived on the island of St. Croix for a number of years. Flies were horrible! Mix equal parts of balsamic vinegar with water, then add a little dish soap. The flies are attracted to the vinegar but when they go in for a sip, the soap removes the water repellentacy from their wings so they drown. Scatter a few bowls of this on each porch. The flies won't disappear but you will see a dramatic drop in their numbers.
I live in the middle of suburbia CT and every time the weather gets humid or just warm I get a crap ton of flies. Half my porch is covered and half isn't, they prefer to stay under the covered part and for some reason the bulk of them are in the corner opposite the door where I smoke. Obviously when I'm not smoking I do like to enjoy my porch with my almost two year old son and our less than a year old beagle puppy. Any recommendations that are toddler and puppy safe? It's been driving me nuts.
Try this get a sandwich ziplock bag and half fill it with water then put in about 4 or 5 copper pennies. Well then hang them up around your area. It has worked for me I live in the country and wow. So good luck Brenda
I bought some peppermint plants, have one outside each door and one in my kitchen. Within an hour of putting them around I haven't had any further problems.
In a spray bottle do a 50/50 solution of water and Pine Sol (only use the original Pine Sol) shake to mix and spray the porch area like the floor, legs of any outdoor furniture etc. flies are gone, they hate the solution. Of course you will need to do this every so often if it rains etc.
On Fort Sam Houston I walked into an entryway of a building and saw DVD/CDs hanging down from the ceiling. It causes the flies' vision to be refracted and they did not go into that area. It also didn't look bad overall.
This works for flies
I literally just five minutes ago put a mint plant and a basil plant on my porch. The flies were absurd. Where there were 20 easy 30 flies now i see maybe two. That fast.
I am having this exact same problem on covered porches. I have no food, garbage, or animals near them. This is driving me absolutely insane. I will try some of these suggestions.
Wondering if your porches let rain go through to ground. I have similar set up and had similar problem. Then I found my hisband had stored some water proof things under porch that were collecting wee pools of water. Made him take all out and after few days problem was gone.
That's roughly 2 hrs.... theres a fly bait called Quickstrike. I found it at a feed and seed place. It eradicates them BUT the numbers dont seem to decrease. Its toxic so be mindful of children and pets... and wash your hands (you should be doing that anyhow but I know there are some neanthrals still living in the pre-bacteria discovery age). I did also locate a tree that drops berries. The flies are all over the ground below it. It will be cut down in a few days. I dont think its possible to keep them away honestly
For every 1 killed 10,000 are born... hourly. Its ridiculous.
A few drops of essential oils and water in a spray bottle Works! I used eucalyptus, peppermint and lavender essential oils. About 5 drops each mixed in a water bottle with about 8oz of water. I sprayed the surrounding area of my porch.. the brick Walls, floor, tables and ceiling. The flies DO NOT like it and will leave The area, as well as other flying insects. I leave this spray Bottle on my porch and use it as needed. A plus is that it is non toxic and smells fantastic!
Fill a plastic bag with water (Baggie resealable) put a penny in the bag with the water hang it over back or front door or both. Worked for me.
If you have the space, place large (16-20" diameter or larger) planters full of Basil, Lemongrass, Marigolds , Citroenella and Rosemary on your porch. This virtually eliminated the yearly fly and mosquito infestation that prohibited sitting outdoors. If you wish, add an oscillating stand fan or larger ceiling fans with higher speed adjustments. Flies and mosquitoes dislike the moving air and stay away.
This also worked around the compost bin.
I would not advise planting Thyme, as it appears to attract a certain type of fly.
Having previously lived near a farm, I understand your dilemma.
I use OFF insect repellent. Within minutes of spraying down my patio furniture all flies mosquitoes and lovebugs gone. I live in the country in SE Texas so all 3 right now are a problem. I do have to retreat about once a month.
I really think they like a damp shaded area. It's not always easy to solve that problem, but we used to get them on our covered porch, it was a shaded area and the concrete always felt damp and cold. Once we removed a tree nearby and the porch got full sun, the flies disappeared.
We use organic pyrethrins to spray flies. When we've done it, it drastically reduces the number of flies that show up the next year.
Try spraying some peppermint oil and/or set up a fan in the area.
I heard putting bars of Irish Spring in a net bag repels them bit I haven't tried it.
A Ziploc bag about half full of water with a dozen or so new pennies hanging in the Fly Zone will keep them at Bay. ? I don't know a friend had this bag hanging from his porch roof by the swing his wife likes to sit in I asked what it was about and he told me it keeps flies away I hung one on my side porch and in a group of trees right out off my back porch worked miracles.
We live near an egg production facility and the flies, at certain times of the year, are awful.
In an effort to minimize the flies around our horse... we discovered the "Musca-Stik Stick fly trap" (at DoMyOwn.com and Amazon). Not the prettiest thing to have hanging around the house... but... THEY WORK
We have one outside the french doors, one hanging in the kitchen over the sink area and one in the (most used) bathroom.
The clips hold the one horizontal, are a conduit type clamp and it it normally meant to be mounted closed... we leave it open to make changing the sticks out easier. Over the sink we mounted a plant hook with a large split ring and hook the Musca-Stik on that.
PineSol and Water in a spray bottle .. I used a big bug spray container.. I rinsed it out good! Filled half pine sol / water.. cleared area wash/ rinsed porch all around front house and started slowly spraying (soaked it down) takes time , quick spray won’t do!! My son had been searching on UTUBE and seen this being used for flies. I had to see this
because I use pine sol for every kind of cleaning..
WIN WIN!! I also washed garbage can and sprayed inside , around and under all cans .. soaked it down !! Flies were so bad in front of our door it was gross!! We literally had to shoo or swat them just to get in house !! Unreal!! I would seriously recommend this !!! I still spray once a day and it’s not a heavy spray anymore, just a once over, and it smells good🤗
I wish I had a guaranteed solution for you. We live in Southern CA, where it is HOT in the summer. We have horses, but they are kept more than one acre away from our house. I've noticed that they congregate just before the rain, and they are pesky when it's hottest. This year I've not opened my house like I used to. I would open the windows as soon as it cooled down in the evening, and keep them open all night. Usually this helps so we don't need to run the HVAC. But I got solar this year, and it's been more humid than normal, so I have run the AC since late July. I've noticed that they don't come in with the AC on... so somehow they're getting around my screens. They are still annoying outside, though.
I finally tried the AVON Skin So Soft because I hate being bothered by them when I'm outside with the horses. That works like magic. I've often thought about slathering it on my poor horses. No more stomping my feet like one of the herd to get the horses off of my legs.
Here is a post I wrote that might help you https://chascrazycreations.com/irish-spring-soap-and-flies/
Some places the flies are so thick there isn't much but you can screen in your porch.
Here's a post that might help https://chascrazycreations.com/irish-spring-soap-and-flies/
Amazon has some great fly traps that you hang and add water to in order to activate them. Best part is that you don't have to handle and dead flies.
Move or search for Shuflicompany website. No traps nor.pesticides.patent # 11452287
Insect netting.