Fruit flies are one of the most common pests that you can find inside or outside of your garden. They’re small nuisances that form large swarms if your garden has too much scattered compost. Their name holds true as to what they are attracted to the most. If you’ve noticed a random swarm or even a few fruit flies it’s most likely due to organic material rotting or decaying somewhere nearby. Luckily, after you read this article you will be able to identify the source of these tiny pests and know how to get rid of fruit flies the next time this happens.
How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies In The Garden
If you are starting to notice a lot of fruit flies while you’re in your garden there may be some overripe produce somewhere around the area. Fruit flies are especially attracted to melons, grapes, squash, tomatoes, and bananas. Of course, they are attracted to just about any rotted or overripe fruit they can find. One of the best ways to get rid of fruit flies in your garden is to do a thorough inspection. Try to find any vegetables or fruits that may be hiding from plain view. If you do find any overripe produce you will want to dispose of it away from your garden as best you can. If you are growing a lot of vegetables and fruits you may want to do repeated thorough inspections of your garden. Removing any unwanted debris, rotted organic material, and anything else that pests love will keep your garden healthier and happier.
Some people who have compost bins are more susceptible to fruit flies. It’s ideal to keep your compost far away from your garden to deter fruit flies from swarming anything else. Relocating your compost may be a smart decision in reducing the number of fruit flies you deal with outside. It may also be wise to churn your compost heap after dumping more organic material into the pile. This will allow the fruits, vegetables, and yard waste to decompose a little faster without attracting pests. If your compost bin has a lid then you will want to keep it sealed as much as possible. Naturally, with all compost bins, you obviously want the pests to do their best at making the healthiest soil. However, they should be doing their jobs away from the healthier organic material. Keeping your compost away from your garden should reduce the number of pests you see whenever you’re outside. It’s also pleasant to not have any foul smells while you’re harvesting fruits and vegetables.
How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies In Your Home
Fruit flies act just the same way inside a home as they do outside in the garden. If you’ve noticed some fruit flies or even a swarm in your house, there is organic matter not being tended to or completely rotting somewhere. Most of the time it’s due to something being overripe in the kitchen or something that is unclean. This usually requires a thorough inspection of the kitchen. If you have a bowl of fruit on the table, that could be a good source for fruit flies to swarm. Having any fruit or vegetable out in the open for too long can result in fruit flies swarming your kitchen. Fruit flies also tend to love unclean sinks and drains. This is usually where the garbage disposal comes in handy as it breaks down and shreds all material that enters it.
However, it still may not be enough to deter them from finding something else. One of the best solutions on how to get rid of fruit flies in your house is to just clean everything. Usually, the kitchen is where the source of fruit flies comes from but they may be attracted to other things in your house. Sometimes it may be an unwashed coffee mug or a container that had something sweet-smelling inside of it. Fruit flies will cling to just about anything that’s sticky and sweet. Keeping a clean kitchen will not only feel good but will significantly reduce fruit flies from invading your personal space. However, if this still isn’t enough and you’re still frustrated, you could try making apple cider vinegar traps. There are also other pest control products that you could buy to help with fruit flies, but making your own is just as easy as well as cheaper.
Taking a container that has a bottleneck of some kind and filling it with just a little bit of apple cider vinegar is the perfect trap. You can accomplish the same by using a cup and filling it halfway with ACV then covering it with plastic wrap with big enough holes punched through for the flies to get trapped in. Whatever the method you choose, the apple cider vinegar will attract the invading fruit flies, trap them, and kill them all at the same time. This is a waiting game however and will take some time to collect fruit flies. Usually, this idea works best after you have cleaned everything and there are some residual pests you want to get rid of.
Hopefully, this information has helped you with how to get rid of fruit flies and leads to a healthier as well as pest-free garden or home.
