fruit flies... how to get rid of them

[KarenO]

due to an abundance of produce from the garden, at this time of year, every year I have lots of fruit flies in my house. I am sure most gardeners do too.
What do you do to control/trap/repel/ murder the little buggers?
KarenO

[Labradors2]

I have some little glasses with malt vinegar (can use apple cider vinegar) in them. Add a splash of liquid soap and stir it with your finger. This breaks the surface tension so that they are attracted to the vinegar, fall in and drown.

I put all my tomatoes on trays in the kitchen, and try to examine each one daily for cracks or rot. F. Flies are a good indicator of problems as they tend to congregate around cracked fruit.

My composter is FULL of fruit flies this year. Usually, I keep a bin full of old leaves and put a layer on top when the F. Flies get bad, but I missed out on the leaves this year.

Linda

[bcday]

I put wine vinegar in an empty yogurt container to about 1/8" - 1/4" deep and add just a couple of drops of dish soap. Once or twice a day, strain out the dead fruit flies through a fine-mesh strainer. If there are too many dead ones in there, it won't attract any more live ones. You can re-use the vinegar/soap mixture. Cider vinegar works too, but I seem to catch more with wine vinegar.

This won't get rid of all of them but it does put a dent in their numbers.

[kath]

Fruit flies in the house really bother me. What I've found works the best is to take a tiny bit of whatever is attracting them (overripe fruit, like banana) and put it in a tiny dish, cover it with a small piece of plastic wrap held in place with a thick elastic band, poke some holes in the plastic with a round toothpick, and wait. They get in but can't get back out. I keep the wrap a little loose so that I can have the pleasure of being able to squish them against the side of the dish with the wrap still in place. When it gets too gross, DH takes it outside and wipes it out for me so I can refresh it. It's more work than the vinegar/soap but it catches more of them and doesn't smell as much.

kath

[MissS]

Originally Posted by bcday

I put wine vinegar in an empty yogurt container to about 1/8" - 1/4" deep and add just a couple of drops of dish soap. Once or twice a day, strain out the dead fruit flies through a fine-mesh strainer. If there are too many dead ones in there, it won't attract any more live ones. You can re-use the vinegar/soap mixture. Cider vinegar works too, but I seem to catch more with wine vinegar.

This won't get rid of all of them but it does put a dent in their numbers.

I do the exact same thing but I also dip the edges of the container in borax so that those that sit on the rim also die.

[Farmette]

I use the apple cider vinegar and drops of soap. Last yr I used the plastic on top, this yr no plastic. I caught a lot more without the plastic...worked like a charm and then all of a sudden days later the fruitflies seemed to have caught on and could not be trapped. The few that were left have now multiplied and their offspring seem to be resistant to the temptation of the cider also. Time for me to try something else.

[Got Worms?]

Rotten bananas and vacuum cleaner.

[spacetogrow]

Fruit flies are guaranteed by late summer in my house. I used to try to kill them but found that a kinder, gentler solution is more effective and less stressful for me. I put "the bait" in an open yogurt container, and keep a clear plastic cover for it about 4 feet away. 2-3 times a day, I grab the cover and quickly sneak it onto the container. If I've trapped any fruit flies, they'll quickly fly up so I can see them bumping against the lid. Then I pop the door open, pull off the lid and release them back to the wild.

One year, the best bait was banana peels, another it was apple cores. This year, it's tomato trimmings. It seems to change from year to year depending on the specific strain of fruit fly I accidentally introduce into my house, so I need to experiment with "best bait" each year. Whichever bait gets used, I keep it in the house for little more than a day or it will start breeding more new flies.

It doesn't get rid of all of them, but it can greatly reduce their numbers - as long as I do "catch and release" at least twice a day - until autumn, which in my area at least, seems to kill them off for the year. I find that they get my ire up much less if I remember that I was probably the one to blame for getting them into the house in the first place, so it's about liberating them and their offspring more than about punishing them for having the gall to be in my house.

[ContainerTed]

Around here, we refer to them gnats, fruit flies, and a bunch of expletives. When the sun gets low in the afternoon, you can see them gathered in "clouds" of several hundreds or even thousands. We live in the country and they are thick at harvest time. It becomes so bad sometimes that you have to check your drinking glass each time you intend to take a sip. They are literally everywhere in large numbers. I've done a lot of experimenting with everybody's recipes. We've even turned down the temperature on the air conditioner trying to freeze them out. We've even sprayed the yard. In the end, we've not found anything to get rid of them totally. But this year, I found something that works better than all the things tried before.

I use large clear plastic jars recycled from peanut butter or Miracle Whip. And I've tried a lot of different things. This works the best and catches more than twice what the others do.

!. one cup of water
2. two drops of Dawn (unscented)
3. one cup of stale beer (I know, guys. It's still a waste.)

Over the years, I've tried all kinds of vinegars and other fruity liquids and the stale beer is the best. Fresh beer foams on the top of the mixture and delays the beginning of catching them. The more of a "HOP" aroma the beer has, the better it seems to work. I've even had moderate success with leftovers from mixed drinks that have a fruity aroma to them.

Now, I know that there are many folks who have serious objections to having an alcoholic beverage around. But, can you think of a better use than bringing comfort without consuming it???

BTW, I was fussing at everybody about standing in the door too long and letting them in. Then, I happened to be at the kitchen sink. Something outside got my attention. I looked out and that was when I saw some of the gnats light on the screen and then just come on thru. I quickly realized they were babies because the screen was stopping the larger adult sized ones. After apologizing to everyone, I sprayed the screen with bug spray. They still came in, but it slowed them down a bunch.

I use three jars of my formula in a fairly small kitchen/dining area. I place the jars as close to any fruit they may be after. I'm not sure as yet, but there seems to be a connection with having the opening of the jar very close to the level of their target. I put my tomatoes in recycled plastic one gallon ice cream containers. This gets the openings very close to the same level. It just seems to work better when you do this.

Hope my formula and methods helps some folks.

[ljp]

I use Ortho Home Defense Max. I have been using it for decades, since trying worm composting and Shell was selling it as Vapona no pest strip. It's up to $15/strip. I buy one a year and move it to the highest concentrations of flies. This year I put the packaging in my indoor compost pail.

There is a definite mild odour when the package is opened. However, there is no noticeable odour after a couple of days.

Control is almost 100% for the whole season. I decided I didn't want to know what was in it that killed little flies all through the house.

[Riceloft]

While some of the ideas presented above sound easier, I use this method:

Take a mason jar with only the ring portion of the lid and put some cut up fruit in the bottom (I usually put a strawberry and a couple blackberries). Screw it down with a piece of saran wrap covering the top. Finally, use a toothpick to poke about 8-10 holes in the saran wrap. The fruit flies will be attracted to the fruit and be able to climb in, but they cannot climb out 99% of the time. Needs to be changed out every 3-5 days but unless you've got a zillion of the suckers, once or twice is enough to clear the house.

[tlintx]

I've discovered the easiest way ever. Ok, my spouse did, accidentally. But I'm claiming credit.

Leave an empty bottle of whiskey (with a narrow neck) on the counter overnight. The next morning, recycle.

Just a variation on the above (trapping + sticky liquid) but even easier because it takes no effort at all except drinking the whiskey. Drawback (?) is you'll have to drink a LOT of whiskey over the season to keep up.

[PaulF]

Amazing, all our fruit flies disappeared when the temperatures dropped into the 30s last night.

[ContainerTed]

Here's the apple cider vinegar plus beer in a large peanut butter jar after only 60 minutes on the counter near some tomatoes, grapes, and bananas.