7 Plants that repel spiders keep spiders away from your home

7 Plants That Repel Spiders – Keep Spiders Away From Your Home

Although many spiders produce venom to capture their prey, most are not harmful to humans; they do not like humans and tend to stay away from them. The first thing to decide is, do you want to repel the spider or kill it.

In this article, we will try to concentrate on the specific plants that repel spiders.

Apart from being ugly, having eight legs, and covering your house in cobwebs, your everyday spider doesn’t do much except eat flies and bugs. In China, they are used on mass to protect rice fields by feeding on insects. The same in North and South America. So the best sort of insecticide would be the spider.

Some of them are poisonous, Black Widow, Red Widow, Brown Recluse, and Funnell Web, to name a few. Their bites sometimes only kill localized tissue and sometimes cause more severe allergic reactions. So if you should come across these beauties, get professional help.

Why Spider Prevention Matters

Prevention is always better than a cure. However, it is not always that easy with spiders. Don’t expect perfection in ridding your house of spiders; they will become resistant to chemicals and often avoid them. With their long legs, spiders can keep their bodies out of the way of sprayed insecticides; their feet do not carry the chemicals through to their bodies, so it is a wasted effort.

That leaves natural methods and common sense.

Common Sense Spider Repellent

Spiders like dirty, smelly places, so if you leave dirty washing all over the house, you will find spiders in it. Same with dust, garden rubbish, food debris, etc. So keeping the place clean will help prevent them in the first place.

Also, cobwebs and spiders use cobwebs to traverse your home and catch prey; the cobwebs are not exclusive to the spider that spun them; they all use each other’s webs. Clean the webs out as this will assist in slowing them down. You can lay glue traps on boards under furniture. Fill in or spray crack (this works because the spider crawls out of the damage, and it gets on their body) and use air vents that you can close. Most spiders are loners, so the usual and very effective method is to hit them with your shoe.

Although, you can use some plants to repel spiders and their oils. In the next section, we will look at some smells that spiders dislike. Therefore, you can either make a spray or use the plants. Keep reading for an explanation of how to make a spider-repellent spray.

What plant will keep spiders away?

Spiders don’t like smells that we as humans find friendly, such as; Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, Lemon Balm, Mint, Lavender, Basil, and Rosemary. All plants have worked on spiders because of their strong smell. They also keep other insects away. Therefore, it is a two-fold benefit: Fewer spiders and a lovely-smelling home!

Here is a list of seven plants that can keep sider away:

1. Eucalyptus

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The leaves of the eucalyptus tree are very good at keeping bugs and insects away from your house and therefore removing sources of food for the spider. You may need to plant the dwarf variety in your garden as they can grow to be quite large.

Alternatively, you may be into the art of bonsai, where you could grow a bonsai eucalyptus in your home. That will give you very decorative plants that repel spiders while at the same time looking beautiful.

2. Lemongrass

Although lemongrass plants may look like an ideal harbouring for spiders, they are pretty good at warding them off. The citronella oil, and the acids present in the grass, give out a distinctive lemon smell that spiders hate.

The lemongrass plant does not do well in winter. Therefore, if you are using them to repel spiders from your garden, you will need to bring them in or store them in smaller volumes in a greenhouse. However, if you already have them in your home, they will be excellent spider-repellant plants all year round.

3. Mint Catnip

Spearmint, catmint, and pennyroyal are all good spider repellents. Many claims that peppermint is a solid deterrent for spiders and other insects. They have the added advantage of being able to be spread all over the house.

4. Lavender

Keeping a lavender plant in areas where you seem to get loads of cobwebs will help to repel them. They do need lots of care and attention and sunlight, though.

5. Lemon Balm

Another strongly-scented plant is suitable for getting rid of flies and other bugs. It doesn’t need a lot of sunlight, so it is ideal for those who do not live in hot climates.

6. Basil

The aromatic and volatile aromas of basil ward off spiders very well. They do not require much attention but need sunlight and regular watering.

7. Rosemary

Keeping rosemary in a pot near areas of massive spider activity is a good idea, as spiders find the smell disgusting.

Nothing with a pungent smell will likely repel the spiders from your home if you haven’t noticed. Keeping one or more of these plants in the areas stated will help to repel spiders from your home.

Spider Repellent Plant Sprays

You have two options to create a spray from plants. You can either:

  • Create oil from the plant.
  • Buy essential oils.

To create essential oils, you need to buy an essential oil distiller and follow the instructions for your kit. I could go into the specifics of how to create it yourself. However, different apparatuses will require other methods. Therefore, we will tell you how to make the “spider spray” from oil once you have it.

  • Fill a spray bottle almost full with water.
  • Add 5-10 drops of your chosen essential oil. Any of the above will work, so use the one you find the most pleasant to smell.
  • Put a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent in.
  • Shake to mix the oil and water.

Now all you need to do is periodically spray the liquid in all areas where you may find spiders. Such as around baseboards, doors, and window frames.

Conclusion

Using these plants and sprays around the home is sure to repel almost all the spiders you will find in the house, so long as you position them correctly. Let us know if you have any other plants you have found to work well, and we will also feature them in the article.

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