Eco Friendly Roach Control Miami

Cockroaches are considered decomposers because they feed on dead or dying plants and animals. They are considered pests when they interact with people, invading lawns and gardens or entering your homes and businesses in Miami.

Cockroaches can affect human health by spreading diseases, such as Salmonella, and damage materials such as books, clothes and contaminating food.

Cockroaches secrete an oily liquid that has an offensive and sickening odor, this is why homes infested with roaches has that foul cockroach smell. This odor may also be imparted to dishes that are clean, food and clothes.

Excrement in the form of pellets or an ink like liquid also contributes to this horrendous odor. In addition, cockroaches produce allergens though their feces, shed skins, and body parts such as antennae and legs. In allergic individuals, contact with these allergens can result in mild to severe rashes, and other allergic reactions, in extreme cases death from asthma attacks.

Most common cockroaches found in and around Miami and South Florida homes and business

• Florida Woods Cockroaches
• American Cockroaches
• Smokybrown Cockroaches
• Brown Cockroaches
• Australian Cockroaches
• German Cockroaches
• Asian Cockroaches

The smallest cockroaches are the German, Asian and Brownbanded cockroaches.

The larger cockroaches are American, Australian, Brown, and the Smokybrown these are often called palmetto bugs. These are generally outdoors cockroaches, they can become indoor problems when they come indoors.

The largest cockroach, the Florida woods cockroach will also enter structures from outside. Outdoor cockroaches do not survive well indoors, and many times people overreact by a blood hurdling scream at the presence of these cockroaches. Usually the removal of these outdoor cockroaches from the house is all that is needed for control if you are willing to grab one.

How Cockroach Develop

Cockroaches have three life stages: egg, nymph and adult.

Cockroach eggs are deposited in groups in a leathery case or capsule called an ootheca. This capsule is usually dropped or glued to some surface by the female soon after it is formed. However, the female German cockroach carries the capsule protruding from her body until the eggs are ready to hatch. German cockroaches may have from 30 to 48 eggs in the capsule while American cockroaches may only have 10 to 28 eggs per capsules.

The newly hatched nymphs have no wings and shed their skins called molting several times before becoming winged adults. German and Brownbanded cockroaches may have several generations per year, but the outdoor cockroaches may require up to a year to develop from egg to adult.

Ways you can help prevent cockroach infestations

Prevention And Sanitation

Successful cockroach control requires prevention and sanitation. Frequent vacuuming will help eliminate cockroach skins and feces that cause cockroach allergies. Cockroach feces also contain a chemical known as a aggregation pheromone that attract other cockroaches to an area. Cleaning out the cockroach feces by scrubbing with hot, soapy water will decrease the amount of aggregation pheromone available to attract cockroaches to the area.

Four ways to prevent cockroaches

• Excluding them
• Eliminating water
• Eliminating food
• Eliminating harborage

Follow theses four recommendations as this will likely eliminate the most important factors that affect cockroach infestations.

Excluding Them

German cockroaches can initially infest a structure when infested grocery bags are brought inside. Inspect groceries for cockroaches before storing. Keep grocery bags in outside storage areas.

Cockroaches breed prolifically in corrugated cardboard boxes. Get rid of unnecessary boxes immediately. Don’t go dumpster diving for moving boxes.

Keep doors and windows shut.

Keep window and overhang vent screens in good repair to prevent cockroaches from entering your home.

Check your attic vents and make sure that any large openings around outside drainage lines and sewer vents are screened or sealed.

Caulk and seal cracks and gaps around frames of doors and windows and around plumbing pipes and electrical pipes and fixtures from the outside to help prevent cockroaches from entering your home.

Seal all gaps between your door frames and doors with weather stripping. Replace old or damaged weather stripping.
Children can transport cockroaches from school to home in book bags and lunch containers. Inspect these items regularly.

Dwellings such as apartments, condos and townhomes that are separated by a common wall are particularly difficult to control roaches in Miami. An infestation can move freely between apartments via the plumbing and electrical pipes within a common wall and through your outlets this is why new treat all the outlets in these types of dwellings. Therefore, cockroaches from one apartment can easily move to another apartment, infesting a “clean” dwelling. To help prevent this, caulk holes in common walls and around plumbing.

Eliminating Water

Water is the most crucial factor in cockroach survival. German cockroaches can survive only 12 days with food but no water. However, cockroaches can survive for about 42 days with water only. Cockroaches often come indoors during periods of drought because they are looking for moisture.

Repair plumbing leaks especially in kitchen and bathroom areas.
Do not let water stand in sinks for long periods of time.
Do not overwater indoor plants because accumulated water in the dishes.
Empty the pan under refrigerators used to catch water from condensation.
Avoid leaving pet drinking dishes.
Eliminate all the places outside where water can collect, such as cans, tires and tree holes, plant dishes.

Eliminating Food

Most cockroaches do not need large amounts of food to survive, especially if water is available, but availability of food can cause populations to increase rapidly. Furthermore, food sources compete with cockroach baits we apply, therefore decreasing their effectiveness.

The elimination of food includes:

Store and dispose of garbage properly. The most highly concentrated area of cockroaches in a home is usually around the garbage bin and around the refrigerator.

Place lids on garbage cans to prevent cockroaches from accessing the food. Also, keep garbage areas clean by cleaning them frequently.
Cleanout sink strainers frequently to prevent food buildup.

Wipe off counters tops often.

Wash your dishes immediately after using them. Unwashed dishes are a major source of food for a kitchen infestation.

Keep kitchen appliances such as toasters, toaster ovens, microwaves, stoves, ovens, and refrigerators free of crumbs and other food debris clean them out frequently. Also clean the areas around these appliances.

Place all food in a tightly sealed container or store in the refrigerator.

Keep pet food sealed tightly. Do not leave pet food and water out all the time. Only at mealtimes.

Vacuum or sweep regularly under and around all furniture where people eat, such as the dining room table. Vacuuming also removes cockroach egg cases that will not be killed by insecticides. Promptly dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag in an outdoor container.

Eliminating Harborage

Cockroaches require a place to live this is crucial to their survival. Cockroaches prefer dark, warm and moist. Places such as stacks of newspaper or cardboard, piles of clothing, or cracks and crevices that provide tight places in structures are ideal harborages for cockroaches.

Eliminate harborages by doing the following:

Seal off all cracks and crevices. Adult cockroaches can fit into cracks only about 1/16 inch and prefer spaces of about 3/8 inch.

Pull mulch away from the house. Do not allow mulch to pile up over 4 inches. Large, outdoor cockroaches breed prolifically in pine straw mulch.

Firewood should be stacked off the ground and away from the house. Never pile wood up against the house.

Tree holes should be filled with cement to remove any prime harborage area.

Keep shrubs and plants, palms and trees well trimmed away from the house.

Keep clutter such as newspapers, bags, and clothing from accumulating, avoid hording theses items.

If you have done all this and you are still in need of roach control in Miami we offer an affordable eco friendly option, if you cannot afford a professional pest control service and choose to do it yourself you need to read why baits are more effective than sprays for cockroach control and to avoid the mistakes most people make read this comical post why most people think pest control is so expensive you might be able to relate to it.