The smell of lemons repels cockroaches to a great extent, keeping them away from areas that reek of the fruit. Hence, it is advisable to mop floors with water that has a few lemon drops in it.
Cockroaches have an incredible sense of smell that they use to find food. You can take advantage of this fact by using scents they dislike such as thyme, citrus, basil, mint, and citronella to repel them from your home.
Lemon. The idea behind this DIY roach control option is to clean your home using a solution of water and lemon juice, as cockroaches cannot stand the scent of lemon.
Lemons. Many bugs hate citrus smells and cockroaches are no different. You can use lemon juice and put it in dishes to ward off those pests. You can also take lemon peels and place them around your home where you might think the cockroaches are hiding.
Citrus. You may love the smell of fresh citrus, but cockroaches hate the scent. That means you can use citrus scented cleaners in your kitchen and bathroom to chase any lingering roaches away. You can also keep a few citrus peels around your home in strategic places.
This is excellent news for those who want to get rid of cockroaches. Simply mix lemon juice and water and spray it around your home. You can also add lemon juice to your cleaning product when mopping the floor to be even more effective. It's also safe and chemical-free!
It's a fact that cockroaches are afraid of humans and other mammals or animals that are bigger than them. They see us as predators and that fear triggers their instinct to scatter away. However, they dislike strong and distinctive scents such as citrus, peppermint, lavender and vinegar.
Upon seeing a cockroach, your first instinct may be to grab the bleach. But, will bleach kill roaches? Unfortunately, bleach is a very ineffective method for killing cockroaches. It has a very strong smell, so it doesn't work as bait, and cockroaches won't willingly go to it.
Results: Lemongrass essential oil was effective in killing German cockroaches through Contact Toxicity Test (LT90<24 h), lemongrass essential oil at sub-lethal concentration behaved as repellent to German cockroaches with 100% repellency values, observed effectively for 48 h of trial.
Household bleach is commonly used as a cleaning agent and gives off a strong smell that cockroaches hate. Filth and cleanliness don't mix at all, which makes the physical act of killing cockroaches with bleach very hard.
The most common places for a roach nest in the house are in kitchens or bathrooms, particularly behind refrigerators, in cracks and crevices, and under furniture. Roaches prefer a warm, humid environment, so these places should be considered first, especially if they are close to a food source and water supply.
The results of the investigation on what color will repel the greatest number of cockroaches, indicate that red light repels a greater number of roaches than the other five colored lights and the control group of no light. Green light deterred the second most roaches followed by white, yellow, and blue.
Cockroaches hate black pepper. Its spiciness drives them nuts.
The male bugs discharge pheromones during the mating season to attract females. So, when you kill a roach by crushing it under your shoes, it's glands bust and all the guts, fats, and, most importantly, the pheromones splatter out.
Citrus Attack
It's been said through the decades that cockroaches detest citrus flavor. They don't. Cockroaches would find themselves perfectly at home inside anything from an orange peel to a citrus grove.
Distilled vinegar does not kill or repel roaches, making it completely ineffective. Distilled vinegar will help keep your kitchen clean, giving cockroaches less to snack on. However, roaches can live for months at a time without any food at all, and they will eat almost anything to survive.
Add some food like a small piece of meat or some sweet stuff like chocolate on the roach bait in the bowl. Keep the bowl near one of the hiding places of roaches. To cover all the hiding places, you'll need multiple bowls with sticky roach trap and food. The smell of the food will draw the roaches out.
Fogging systems are great at killing roaches on contact, but foggers can actually push the majority of them further into their safer hiding places. Fogging or bombing roaches creates a long-term problem for you and your loved ones that will not go away.
The Natural Predators of Roaches
Toads and frogs. Lizards, such as leopard geckos, bearded dragons, monitor lizards, iguanas and even panther chameleons. Certain large species of beetles. Certain kinds of parasitoid wasps.
Myth #3: They can see me coming…
True: Why yes, they can. Cockroaches can see humans, and that is why they tend to run in fear when we are in their line of sight. The eye of the cockroach is like a compound lens, made of over 2,000 mini lenses that are photoreceptors and allow them to see in complete darkness.
Does Cinnamon repel cockroaches? No, cinnamon doesn't repel cockroaches. But there're are other essential oils or spices that can work against cockroaches. You can use bay leaves, garlic, and catnip to reduce some amount of cockroach activity in your home.