TV quiz icon and Oxford scientist, Darragh Ennis, shares his top tip for banishing pesky black flies from your houseplants, and it’s much easier than you would think
Fans of The Chase might know him best for outsmarting contestants. However, Darragh Ennis is now winning hearts for his latest piece of practical advice, tackling the tiny pests plaguing our houseplants.
Ennis, who appears as ‘The Menace’ on ITV’s hit quiz show, took to TikTok yesterday to share his surprisingly simple tip for dealing with those irritating black flies often seen hovering around indoor greenery. In a video posted to his 226,000 followers under the username @ bonesgiles, the Irish entomologist recommended using nematodes, microscopic worms that naturally eliminate the pest at its root.
“These little insects flying around your house can be really annoying,” Ennis said in the clip. “They’re so-called fungus gnats because they live in compost and stuff.”
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The creatures, also known as sciarid flies, are a common nuisance for plant lovers. While the adult flies are mostly harmless, it’s their larvae in the soil that can cause real damage to houseplants.
“Getting rid of them with chemicals can be really hard,” Ennis continued. “They just keep coming back, and who wants to spray their living room with pesticides?”
Instead, Ennis recommends a safer, natural solution: nematodes. These microscopic worms can be added to water and poured directly onto the soil of affected plants.
“They’re little microscopic worms that live in the soil,” he explained. “You just put them into the watering can, pour them on your houseplants, and let them get to work.”
The worms then seek out the larvae of the fungus gnats, invading their bodies and ultimately killing them, effectively cutting off the pest problem at the source.
“The best bit about this is it crawls through the soil and hunts the larvae,” said Ennis. “It’s a proper natural predator-prey thing, but on a tiny scale.”
As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford with a background in entomology and neuroscience, Ennis certainly knows his bugs. And fans are loving his science-led, no-fuss tip.
The video has quickly garnered views and praise from plant owners eager to try the method, many of whom have struggled with black flies in their own homes. With summer fast approaching and more people bringing nature indoors, Ennis’s timely advice could be just what the doctor, or in this case, the quiz master, ordered.
So next time you spot those pesky gnats circling your favourite fern, take a tip from “The Menace” and call in the worms.