Millipedes are, despite their weird and creepy appearance, generally not dangerous nor are they poisonous. However, they can be a nuisance. Most of never really thought our homes can become infested with millipedes or that it could get out of control. Good thing pest control services in the Philippines to help us out with this problem. Here are four additional ways to prevent Millipedes from invading your own home and your life.
Seal All Cracks
The first thing you need to do is to make sure there aren’t any cracks in your house, especially in places near damp areas. Go around your house and inspect windows, doors, and the floor and seal any cracks you see with a caulk gun. Make sure to check around cables, wires, and most especially the plumbing entering the house from the outside. Do take your time doing this to be able to close up even the smallest cracks around your house. You may want to consider installing door sweeps as this will help keep millipedes out.
Control Moisture Inside and Outside the House
The reason millipedes are always associated with gardens is because they are attracted to the dampness. They thrive in environments where there is high moisture, just like your garden. Inside your house, this means your basement, maybe your kitchen, or parts of your house that is constantly damp. Dehumidifiers can help control the moisture in your house.
It may be a bit hard to control the moisture outside of your house, especially if you live in a humid area. What you need to do is to check if your gutters are collecting water whenever it rains and if they are diverting it away from the house. Constantly clean them so dry leaves or any other debris will not disturb the flow of the water. Check around the house and see if rain water is dripping down where it shouldn’t be. If it is, call a professional and have it inspected immediately.
Try to Make the Environment Less Habitable for them
Controlling the number of millipedes starts outside and one way of doing this is simply making sure that you don’t over water and over mulch plants in your garden.
We tend to give our plants more water than we should, in fear of under watering them. To prevent this, make sure there are drainage holes on your pot and water only when the soil is dry. To gauge whether you’re watered them correctly, wait for water to seep out of the drainage holes when you’re watering them. Also, millipedes are nocturnal. It is recommended you water your plants in the morning to have them dry by the time dusk sets.
Over mulching can also suffocate the roots of the plant. Mulch has moisture and too much of it means it encourages not just millipedes, but also other pests to live in your garden. If you can, try to find an alternative to plant mulch. Otherwise, you can always reduce the amount of mulch you use.
Establish a Perimeter Around the House
You might need help from your pest control services to do this and it could even be a last minute preventive measure. This is basically setting up a perimeter around your house so that millipedes will not have any way to get into your house if any of the previous preventive measures do not work. With pest control helping you out, for sure your problem will be solved in no time.
There really is no reason to kill them because remember, millipedes aren’t dangerous. However, they do have a habit of coming in big groups, making them invasive. Follow these simple preventive measures to keep a millipede-free home.