Easy Trick for Getting Rid of Fruit Flies

[NJCher]

They're such a pain this time of year, what with gardeners bringing in the last of the tomatoes to finish ripening on the counter.

I looked up and there they were, on the ceiling! I didn't know they liked to congregate on the ceiling. Ran for the vac and got up on one of those folding ladders and in no time at all, I'd vacuumed up all 20 of them.

I've been trying for weeks to cut their numbers. We tried catching them, swatting them (they move fast) and I even Googled "fruit fly trap" and found plans for a trap. It used apple cider. In all that time, not a one of them fell in the trap.



Cher

[Kolesar]

1. I vacuum up these fake-ladybugs (an invasive species) and they make a horrible stink in the dust bag

Then every time I vacuum the stink comes back. Yukko

[LeftCoast]

2. Try one of these

This is a South African Cape Sundew. If you have a sunny place nearby they can help keep the gnats down. It won't kill all of them, but it's a nice way to control the population without chems.

Speaking of which, you can see a house-fly has met its doom if you look closely at the center-right of the photo. :evilgrin:

[japple]

3. Vinegar works. Put a few tablespoons full of balsamic or

apple cider vinegar in a small, shallow container, such as a baby food jar. I've often found 10 or so of the little suckers in the jar. You'll have to replace it every so often. And it's much safer than climbing up on a ladder.

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Boonsfarm Apple Wine

I just read about this in, of all places, the Lounge. Apparently you just place some out in a dish and they'll flock to it.

[midnight armadillo]

5. Ah, Boone's...the $2 buzz

That's what we called it in college. We used to have chugging contests with the Strawberry flavor. Ah, good times!

[piedmont]

6. I just hang a fly paper strip next to the fluorescent light over the sink when we have an outbreak.

That kills them all in just a couple of days. I also recently discovered quite by accident that a jar of saurkraut juice is an EXCELLENT trap.