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Thread: Fruit Flies

  1. #1
    Yekhefah
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    Thumbs down Fruit Flies

    They suck. And there's a swarm in my kitchen. They mostly hang around a bowl of fruits and veggies that don't go in the fridge (bananas, onions, etc). I have nowhere else to move this stuff to, so it needs to stay where it is. How do I get these fruit flies out of my kitchen?

    Damn K for leaving the screen door open all day last week. Grrrr. That's how they got in.

  2. #2
    God/dess virgoamm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I had that problem once and it sucked! A had a bag of potatoes in my pantry and one fell out w/o me knowing about it, and um yeah-it was bad.

    If I were you, I'd look around for something like that first (a food source) and a good but gross way to catch them is to put something like a blackened banana in a jar, cover it with saran wrap and poke teeny tiny holes in it. They can get in, but can't get back out.

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    God/dess sassysummer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    if you went to the farmers market recently, that's probably where they came from.

    you can also just set out a glass of wine, they get in and try to drink it and drown.





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    God/dess LoveyDovey's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I hate them. I finally just stuck my bananas in the fridge.

  5. #5
    Featured Member saphire123456's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by UltraViolet View Post
    We have this problem and have a bunch of flypaper rolls hanging from the ceiling. Haven't caught one yet though so it's been WW3 with the fly swatter.
    i used those for the bigger flies but i dont think it works on fruit flies, the glass of wine does though
    These days I like to count my money. I like to wash it delicately and iron it. Sometimes I dry it with some bounty to make it all nice and cuddly. I love my money... did I say that out loud?

  6. #6
    God/dess Lysondra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    You put bananas in the fridge???!

    They make banana hangers for a reason lady!

    (Yes, that's all I got out of this thread.)


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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Just get a glass cake topper (you can pick em up for cheap at a thrift store, even) and cover your fruit and veg with it. Then set out a glass of wine and they will go to it and drown since that is the only available food source.

  8. #8
    Veteran Member TheLioness's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    What I did was a combo of the fly strips & wine. I filled a jar half full with wine, and hung a fly strip over it to where the bottom of the strip was *almost* touching the wine. It was gross but it worked. And yes, they do like to hang around the sink so set it up near the sink. I also filled a jar half full of vinegar, put plastic wrap over it, and poked a few holes in the wrap. Both worked, but the wine thing worked better.

  9. #9
    God/dess Sirona's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I actually know how to make a fruit fly trap!

    Get en empty one liter bottle or something around that size.
    Cut three to four V shapes about an inch from the top; push them in.

    Now put about 2 inches of water in the bottle.
    Add to the water a goodish size squirt of honey, a teaspoon or so of cider vinegar and about a teaspoon of liquid dishsoap.

    The flies go in through the V shaped hole drawn by the smell of what they think is over ripe/fermenting fruit (vinegar & honey). They can't get back out because they hit the pushed in V shapes and fall in the water where the dish liquid kills them.

    Sounds totally ridiculous but it works amazingly well.
    You'll find little drifts of dead flies in the bottom of the bottle.



  10. #10
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I'm trying something I found on WikiHow. I covered the veg bowl with plastic wrap (ugh, hope this doesn't last for long) and then put some balsamic vinegar in a glass with just a tiny bit of lemon dish soap. Apparently the soap breaks the surface tension on the vinegar so they fall in, rather than walking around on the surface. I covered the glass with plastic wrap and poked a teeny hole with a fondue fork. Supposedly they'll go in to enjoy the lemon-balsamic, and then wind up trapped in there and drown.

    I hope this works! Stupid fruit flies.

  11. #11
    Featured Member teeth_of_the_hydra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    If your solution doesn't work, I suggest making a mighty effort to eat all your fruit. Then wait a day (they tend to clear out pretty quickly, in my experience) and go buy new fruit. We'd get them like crazy in FL, because it's a freakin' jungle, and because fruit ripens at warp speed. I tried to trap them but there'd always be more... eventually I'd just bake a fruit tart, peel & freeze my bananas and other smoothie fruits, and drive the flies elsewhere through deprivation.
    Drought was over. Where was I? Drinks were on the house.
    For mixers, my love, you'd poured--what?--even the rain.

  12. #12
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    They're not living on the fruit, I don't think. The bowl is full of onions and jalapenos, with one lemon (and it's not overripe). I covered it just to be safe, but I'm pretty sure they're not breeding in it. There's no cluster of them. They're just flying around everywhere in the kitchen, and my kitchen is tiny.

    I think the soapy balsamic is working. I only see a couple of them today.

  13. #13
    God/dess CKXXX's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by teeth_of_the_hydra View Post
    We'd get them like crazy in FL, because it's a freakin' jungle, and because fruit ripens at warp speed.
    You aint kidding! I never buy more then 2 or 3 bananas because they last like 3 days before they are overripe and the fruit flies show up...grrr

    I also put ALL other fruit and veggies in the fridge.Onions too. Nothing lasts on the counter here.

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  14. #14
    Featured Member teeth_of_the_hydra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by Yekhefah View Post
    They're not living on the fruit, I don't think. The bowl is full of onions and jalapenos, with one lemon (and it's not overripe). I covered it just to be safe, but I'm pretty sure they're not breeding in it. There's no cluster of them. They're just flying around everywhere in the kitchen, and my kitchen is tiny.

    I think the soapy balsamic is working. I only see a couple of them today.
    Is it possible that there are fruit and veggie scraps in the trash that might be attracting them? I thought that you only saw a bunch of them when they were breeding someplace nearby.
    Drought was over. Where was I? Drinks were on the house.
    For mixers, my love, you'd poured--what?--even the rain.

  15. #15
    Veteran Member VeraLynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I always just set out a ramican or two (a small glass bowl, usually used to make and serve pudding or Jell-O) with cider vinegar in it. Then I mix in a drop of dish soap with my finger. Viola... fruit flies dead at he bottom within a couple of days.
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  16. #16
    Veteran Member boxingdoc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    What about potted plants? I know you can get infestations of little gnat type things if you keep potted plants too damp. They frequently come pre-infested from the nursery or store. My mom recently had to throw out a bunch of African Violets because she just couldn't get rid of the things.

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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Be careful of leaving used coffee grinds/filters in the coffee maker too.

    I had an infestation after the ex left used grinds and I couldn't figure out where the buggers were coming from. The coffee maker, turns out; and I don't even drink coffee!

  18. #18
    Senior Member Miaowren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I HATE ROOT GNATS!! They got into all of my fucking ferns and they all carked it in the end. I liked those ferns, they were each handpicked for the happy and/or friendly quality to their leaves. We used to hang out while I did the dishes!!

    It was too late for mine too but - next time try eggshells. If the filthy things can't get to the soil then you should be sweet. Crunch the shells up a bit and let them sit out in the sun so there's no icky bits (otherwise you're back where you started!) They're weightless, interesting looking and more than environmentally friendly.

    Oh and a tray filled with water, filled with gravel to keep your pots up out of it is GREAT for drowning those fuckers. In the end I would hunt them while I did my dishes. Note- they are sneakier than you would expect. They scatter and hide.

    Tell your mum.
    ...never again

  19. #19
    God/dess LoveyDovey's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by Lysondra View Post
    You put bananas in the fridge???!

    They make banana hangers for a reason lady!

    (Yes, that's all I got out of this thread.)
    Yeah, I stuck them in the fridge so that the fruit flies wouldn't get to them.

    They're fine in there! I actually like em a little cold. They're great frozen too.

  20. #20
    Veteran Member VeraLynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by mollyzmoon View Post
    Also, pour vinegar down your sink drain. They breed in the drain. If you get enough of them, they start living down there, and keep coming back. Vinegar down the drain works well to kill that party.
    I will have to do that later when I get home... I think that's what they're doing in my apartment, now that I've read your post.

    Thank you!
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  21. #21
    God/dess virgoamm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Bleach works too.

  22. #22
    God/dess Paris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    They'll be gone soon. You can't really do anything about it, it's a seasonal thing. Your best bet is getting some fly paper and hanging it in your kitchen. Gross, I know. But it is only temporary, like a couple of weeks each fall. Also, make sure your house is closed up tight at dusk. That is when the flies are the most active.

    Worse case scenario, they won't harm you at all. It's just sort of gross to think about these teeny tiny things on your bananas and apples.


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    God/dess Nautilus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    Quote Originally Posted by boxingdoc View Post
    What about potted plants? I know you can get infestations of little gnat type things if you keep potted plants too damp. They frequently come pre-infested from the nursery or store. My mom recently had to throw out a bunch of African Violets because she just couldn't get rid of the things.
    or even your potting mix around.

    our fruit bowl was phloston paradise for fruit flies but it turned out they were lurking in the potting mix that someone was 'getting round' to putting in the window plants... and lo... fruit fly hotel.

    they have a home somewhere... hunt it out.

  24. #24
    Veteran Member omfgbarbie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    my mom has like a bowl with a net over it.... it sounds weird but its actually kind of cute lol

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    Veteran Member Flaka's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fruit Flies

    I'm glad this topic came up because right now I have a fruit fly invasion!

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