Fruit flies | Imamother

acccdac

Sat, Mar 01 2014, 11:24 pm

I have oranges that I picked from a tree.

I don't really have room in my fridge fruit drawer for them so I've been keeping them in a basket on the counter. Problem is I have tons of fruit flies.

I know the apple cider vinegar trick but I don't have any at home. Someone told me to use wine and that is working but not as fast as I've seen the apple cider vinegar work.

Any suggestions for getting rid of them?
If I make room for them in my fridge will I have a flies in my fridge?
Is the fridge the only option?

simhat_nisuyyin

Sat, Mar 01 2014, 11:27 pm

We've only ever found getting rid of or refrigerating any food that's out helpful-- all fruit, veggies, bread, etc. The flies shouldn't go on living in the fridge in my experience.

busydev

Sat, Mar 01 2014, 11:41 pm

we once had fruit flies and were looking how to get rid of them. found a website that had some .great" suggestions like:
1. turn on a hair dryer and vaccum them up the back
2. put fruit in your oven and leave it open overnight the next morning tiptoe into your kitchen, slam the oven door yell gotcha and turn your oven on.

sorry dont have actuak helpful advice but your post title reminded me of this

acccdac

Sat, Mar 01 2014, 11:57 pm

busydev wrote:

Thanks for the laugh!
I'm happy to hear about all the intelligent people in the world

ImaMum

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 4:03 am

What works for me is I get a plastic cup (or other disposable pot) put in it a piece of fruit that's starting to go mushy, pour over with some honey and cover with cling film. Then poke a few holes in the cling film with a toothpick or fork big enough for them to get in but not out. Then when they are caught I get DH to let them free far away from my house and garden LOL

Good luck!

SS6099

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 6:44 am

We once were infested and called an exterminator. He told us that the life span of fruit flies is about 4-5 days. Getting rid of the source will get rid of the problem. So make sure to obliterate the source here and eventually it will stop. It really worked by us!

imasinger

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 8:23 am

Fridge works.

DH doesn't like to put some things in the fridge because they ripen and taste better out, so he bought these protectors. They keep most of the flies out, but don't get rid of them.
http://www.amazon.com/Handy-Go.....t_top

vet techy

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 10:13 am

If you dont have apple cider vinegar try balsamic vinegar. You need some thing with a very strong smell.

zaq

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 2:58 pm

Please don't waste balsamic vinegar on pest control unless you hate balsamic vinegar and have no one who will take it off your hands. The active ingredient in any vinegar is acetic acid, be it apple cider, wine, balsamic or any other fancy-schmancy type of vinegar. They each taste a little different because of the non-acetic acid compounds, but for household cleaning, pest control and so on, use the cheapest stuff you can find, which is usually plain distilled white vinegar.

But personally, I find that if I get rid of the source, I get rid of the ffs. It's usually a single overripe fruit sitting in the basket, and once I find which one it is, I discard that, wipe off all the other fruits with a dry cloth to get rid of flyspecks and any eggs, and all is well.

greenfire

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 3:44 pm

so long as you have fruit standing around - they will be inviting fruit flies to continue breeding

put them in the fridge and then you can work on ridding the problem

CPenzias

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 4:10 pm

sweet wine, soap and water. put it in a cup, leave it on the counter...make sure no one drinks it Wink

(I would do a few cups of that depending on how bad the situation is) 1/4 cup wine, 1/4 cup water, liquid soap

greenfire

Sun, Mar 02 2014, 4:22 pm

you could leave a drop of beer at the bottom of a bottle ... 'they can always check in - but they can never leave'