House plants are beautiful, and many people simply can’t imagine their home without at least a few green companions. However, house plants can attract flies and other pests such as fruit flies, fungus gnats, whiteflies, scale insects, thrips, and mealybugs.

As long as you have house plants, they can attract flies. In fact, flies and other pests are attracted to high humidity and lack of air circulation, which means that they can find many house plants attractive in certain conditions. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to get rid of those annoying bugs flying around your plants or crawling in their soil, and to prevent an infestation.

Different plants, herbs and flowers can attract flies to your garden, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many types of flies are predators to insects that can be harmful to your garden, so it’s a good thing to have them around. While some flies are welcome in your garden, you definitely don’t want any flying bug inside your home. If the problem becomes too severe, you will need a pest control professional to exterminate these flies.

You can learn more about six different types of plants that attract flies in your garden and home:

Plant #1: Dill

People plant dill in their garden because they love the aromatic seeds and leaves of this ornamental plant. Dill is also known to attract ladybugs, hoverflies, and ichneumonid wasps.These insects or their larvae will eat and destroy aphids, and other pests that can weaken plants and even kill them. Therefore, if you have an aphid problem in your garden, planting dill could be a good solution.

Dills need to be watered regularly, but make sure you don’t overwater your plants. Your plants need water, but be careful not to overwater them, as this would only create perfect living conditions for insects.

Plant #2: Fennel

Another plant that attract flies is fennel. It is an interesting flowering plant that produces strongly flavoured leaves and fruits that are used in many delicious dishes. Fennel can attract butterflies, ladybugs, and different types of flies that will also be beneficial to your garden by destroying aphids and other harmful pests.

When planting fennels, don’t forget to empty the saucers collecting water under your plant containers. Standing water also attracts bugs. After watering your plants, be sure to empty the saucers that collect the water draining out of your plant containers.

Plant #3: Parsley

Parsley is a flowering plant that represents a popular addition to any garden for its leaves that can add flavour and colour to many dishes. The flowers that grow on parsley plants attract hoverflies and tachinid flies. Tachinid flies look like house flies. They are natural enemies of many pests, and they usually lay their eggs on host insects.

For parsley plants, remove any dead leaves as soon as possible. Dead leaves are not pretty to look at, but they can also attract bugs. Remove dead leaves and decaying matter from your house plants and their soil as soon as possible.

Plant #4: Sunflower

Sunflowers are big, beautiful yellow and orange flowers that look like the sun, which is why they are called this way.

Sunflowers will instantly add beauty to your garden or your yard, but on top of attracting the attention of onlookers, they can also attract hoverflies and different species of predatory wasps.

Some homeowners like to adorn their house with bright and chipper sunfloewrs, but make sure you inspect these plants before bringing them home. Before you bring a new plant into your home, take a moment to inspect it. You don’t want to end up with an infestation of flies or other tiny pests.

Plant #5: Lavender globe lily

Lavender globe lilies are beautiful purple flowers that grow in dense clusters. They are known to attract many hoverflies. Adult hoverflies are great pollinators, and their larvae are predators that destroy aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other pests.

Lilies will need a sufficient amount of air circulation for growth, so try your best to add some ventilation around your plants. If there is no air movement in a room where you keep house plants, you could open a window, or use a fan to add some much needed ventilation.

Plant #6: Tansy

Tansies are bright yellow flowering plants that are part of the daisy family. They have long been cultivated for different medicinal purposes.Tansies repel mosquitoes and some types of flies, but they do attract tachinid flies which are useful to fight and destroy different pests.

Don’t let your tansy plants touch each other. If the air can’t circulate around your plants, this will increase the humidity of their soil, and attract bugs. Be sure to not let your plants touch each other to allow air circulation between them.

If you notice some flies hanging around one of your plants, or if you see something crawling on its soil, keep it away from your other plants by moving it to another space. To get rid of bugs, you can mix water and dish soap together in a spray bottle, and spray it on your plant and on its soil.