How do you get rid of fruit flies in your kitchen?
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Get rid of the stuff they like to eat, older fruit and garbage, even in the garbage disposal. run a lemon wedge or two in the disposal, the oil is good for the blades cleans out the bits and pieces of stuff and unless you don't like lemons, the fragrance is quite pleasant. If you don't have a disposal, put a tablespoon of baking soda in the drain followed by a cup of vinegar. The chemical reaction it dramatic if you haven't seen it before, it bubbles up and bubbles out any mess in the drain. (I actually do this regularly in all my drains to keep them clear of the sludge that collects in even the cleanest sinks)
Then clean the counter tops well with warm soap and water. And scrub out your sinks with some of that baking soda. That works great on any surface, including teeth and pyrex/glass cookware, because it doesn't scratch, but it cleans down into the smallest crevaces!
If they have moved into your plants, you can repot, but I usually pour coffee over the dirt, that nourishes the plant and kills the flies, another option is to put the plants in the sun for a bit.
Coffee grounds with the filter helps to keep the garbage disposal clean too,no kidding!
They are disgusting and can come on the fruit you buy and bring home, so be sure to wash all your produce when you get it home!
Have a great summer! You're not alone in this, fruit flies are an equal opportunity annoyer!
get rid of all trash and fruit on counters etc.
Get rid of all the old fruit in your kitrchen!
Get rid of all live plants...Take them somewhere and repot them, and then toss the dirt from the old pots into a plastic bag that ties!
Spray the plant with bug spray after repotting...and repeat every week until you see no more flies hatching..
they are using the soil nearby to hatch their "little ones!"...
Yes, I agree...don't leave ANY fruit or garbage or dirty dishes or anything that bugs like, laying around exposed! They don't like the smell of PINE-SOL!
You can try good old fashioned fly paper strips. If they just started you may get rid of them that way, but friut flies tend to get down in your sink drain and stuff. The best way I know is to get a bug bomb (Raid fumigator in the blue pack doesn't leave greasy residue) and set it off in the kitchen.
Put citronella oil on a piece of cotton wool, beside your dustbin or wherever the files accumulate. You can get it at herbalists or natural cosmetics shops.
check around for "lost fruit"--ie--behind the microwave--we once had a banana fall behind our microwave that no-one noticed until the fruit flies appeared.. check your potatoes-make sure they haven't sprouted. don't keep seed potatoes in the house. spray any house plants with raid. dump your compost bucket every day if you keep one
Flies in your kitchen-What can you do?
We use fruit flies to study human medical conditions. So we do our best to keep our flies alive. But most people are not as happy to see fruit flies in their kitchen as we are to see them in the lab. Below are some non-toxic and easy ways to get them out of your kitchen, or at least reduce their numbers.
Where do they come from?
Fruit flies have a keen sense of smell and are attracted by anything fermenting (not just fruit). They eat the sugars and vinegar produced by natural yeasts on fruits and vegetables, bread, beer, cider, wine, bread etc. So if your kitchen smells better than your neighbors (to them) they will invade your house in a flash. Occasionally, fruit flies can also be brought in as eggs (almost microscopic) on the skins of imported or local fruit or on vegetables.
Signs of Infestation:
A heavily infested compost bin. The arrow shows fruit fly pupal (cocoon) cases, the sign of a serious infestation. Another generation of fruit flies can hatch from these within a few days.
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How do I get rid of them?
This list is not exhaustive but may provide some ideas.
1) Remove all fruit fly food sources: i.e. refrigerate fruit and vegetables (the fridge is too cold for fruit flies), keep any indoor compost bins as clean as possible, completely dry, or put outside until the infestation dies down.
2) Set up fruit fly traps. These are simple traps shown below. They consist of an attractant like vinegar or cider in a container with saran wrap with a few holes or a simple funnel made from rolled paper to stop the flies from getting back out. While these trap the flies, they wont kill them. You can either shake the trap periodically to drown them, release them outside or add a drop of dish detergent to the vinegar so that they drown.
3)Another variant (not shown) is to use a bowl without plastic wrap but to mix vinegar and dish detergent in equal amounts.
Fruit Fly Traps:
To make a funnel trap, pour a little bit of vinegar or cider in an old bottle, roll some paper to make a funnel and tape shut. To make a bowl trap, pour vinegar or cider in a bowl, stretch a bit of plastic wrap over the top, attach with tape or elastic band and make a few small holes in the top with a fork for the flies to get in.
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4) Fly paper - sticky and ugly but it can cut down the number of flies.
5) Vacuuming flies. Use a hand held vacuum (dust buster or equivalent) or a hand held attachment on a regular vacuum. Be sure to empty the bag outside immediately! The flies will not die in the bag and can even breed there.
6) Finally, if you are feeling frustrated. Whack at them with a wet towel. This is relatively fun if inefficient.
What if nothing works?
Finally, if none of this works, remember that fruit flies do not bite or sting or carry disease. And they will die off in the winter. But the bad news is, if you have a serious infestation, you will probably have other, bigger, types of flies. And other types of flies pose a more serious health risk, in addition to being a bigger nuisance. So it is best to try to stop the infestation before it starts and if it has already started, try control it as quickly as possible before the flies living in your house produce the next generation.
For more information...
For more information try http://fly.bio.indiana.edu/getting-rid.h...
Remove the fruit that attracted them in the first place. Take out the trash that you threw the fruit in and clean out the trash can with bleach and water mixture. Clean off the counters and sink with the same bleach and water mixture as well. If you have a garbage disposal, you will need to clean this out as well. You can buy special products for this or you can put ice cubes and lemon juice down it and grind that up for a while to clean it out. If that still doesn't work, you may need to call a professional exterminator. They have a spray for this problem that works well but is harsh.
What's a fruit fly? Seriously, I have never heard of them. Are they prominent in a certain part of the US?
get rid of the fruit ,and you get rid of the fruit flies
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