Vinegar Flies with Jackie French January 30 2015, 4 Comments
Extract from Questions & Answers
Extract from Questions & AnswersEarth Garden No. 160
Hi Jackie,
Do you have any suggestions for getting rid of fruit bowl or vinegar flies? I have kitchen benches full of ripening tomatoes don't seem to be able to get rid of them – conventional fly spray simply doesn't work (and that stuff gives us all a sore throat so we don't like to use it) and covering the tomatoes in food covers only stops them from actually landing on the fruit, but is no deterrent. Any suggestions??
Love & Best Wishes,
Inga, Merriwa NSW.
PS Love all your books – we think of you often – there aren't many days go by where I don't do something the 'Jackie French' way.
Hi Inga
The vinegar flies will be breeding nearby and probably inside, so get rid of all mushy fruit or residue on fruit bowls. In grandma's day fruit bowls were covered with gauze, which keeps them off, or those tent like cover devices you can still buy, or just drape the ripening tomatoes with gauze or tulle or any other fine mesh cloth. But mostly they are just breeding in the mush and if it's kept mush free, they'll vanish. Or just ignore them – as Grandpa used to say 'extra protein' if you accidentally eat one. Strongly-scented repellents like peppermint oil will keep them away, but the scent has to be stronger than the scent of ripening tomatoes, which is one of life's good scents, so probably isn't something you'd want to do. Just open the window on a frosty evening and by morning the ferment flies will be gone.
Actually thinking it over – you can trap them. They love anything sweet, wet and yeasty, so a glass of fermenting home-made ginger beer, or even a pinch of yeast in a glass of fruit juice, will trap them. On the other hand, the scent may also attract more but as they'll be breeding close by or in the house, there shouldn't be too many more to attract.
All the very best,
Jackie
The vinegar flies will be breeding nearby and probably inside, so get rid of all mushy fruit or residue on fruit bowls. In grandma's day fruit bowls were covered with gauze, which keeps them off, or those tent like cover devices you can still buy, or just drape the ripening tomatoes with gauze or tulle or any other fine mesh cloth. But mostly they are just breeding in the mush and if it's kept mush free, they'll vanish. Or just ignore them – as Grandpa used to say 'extra protein' if you accidentally eat one. Strongly-scented repellents like peppermint oil will keep them away, but the scent has to be stronger than the scent of ripening tomatoes, which is one of life's good scents, so probably isn't something you'd want to do. Just open the window on a frosty evening and by morning the ferment flies will be gone.
Actually thinking it over – you can trap them. They love anything sweet, wet and yeasty, so a glass of fermenting home-made ginger beer, or even a pinch of yeast in a glass of fruit juice, will trap them. On the other hand, the scent may also attract more but as they'll be breeding close by or in the house, there shouldn't be too many more to attract.
All the very best,
Jackie
Comments
Leanne Martin on June 22 2015 at 09:36AM
Katherine Lucas asked:
“Is it true the vinegar flies help the vinegar mixture turn into vinegar? And if so, how?”
No it’s not true. The reasoning is that if there is an opening in your storage container big enough for a vinegar fly to get in then enough oxygen can get in to boost the fermentation of juices etc to vinegar.
Inga on March 05 2015 at 06:19PM
Hi Inga and Jackie,
I recently searched for an answer to this problem and came across the following article.
http://insects.about.com/od/insectssociety/qt/Make-A-Vinegar-Trap-For-Fruit-Flies.htm
Good Luck, they are very annoying little critters!
Inga, Melbourne VIC
Viv on February 06 2015 at 10:50AM
I think we might have to turn this question over to our Earth Gardener’s page and see what they come up with.
Katherine Lucas on January 31 2015 at 05:52PM
Is it true the vinegar flies help the vinegar mixture turn into vinegar? And if so, how?