The best way to avoid fruit fly problem is to water wash all produce, especially bananas, as soon as possible. I put the wet produce on a kitchen towel or paper towel, blot it a bit, and let it sit out until its dries thoroughly. If I have a lot of produce, I use a large tray lined with a towel.
Fruit flies lay eggs on produce. The eggs hatch when the fruit and vegetables sits out on the counter. We usually have the problem when I forget to wash any produce or wait a day or two.
Use cider vinegar to trap fruit flies. I put some of the vinegar in a wide shallow bowl with a drop or two of liquid dish detergent for hand washing dishes. I don't cover it. You can smell the vinegar but we put up with it for a few days. At night, I put the bowl near the night light in the kitchen. Usually clears up the problem in a few days. Don't forget to keep any produce out of the kitchen until the problem clears up.
Source: My future son-in-law.
By it's.only.me from NE PA
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I do this but I also keep a spray bottle filled with water and dish soap and squirt the buggers whenever I see them flying around. They die within a minute.
I usually have fruit flies in the summer too. My friend stayed with me all summer this year and she uses a lot of bleach. I once read that bleach in the drains helps. Now I beleive it. I didn't have any fruit flies this summer.
All I have ever done is put 1 or 2 leaves of Bay Leaf in the bowl of fruit. Or even around my fruit laying on a paper towel in the kitchen (works great on my ripening tomatoes).
Put alcohol in a spray bottle and spray them they drop like flies!
Thank you so much for that info. I had never heard of that. I mean don't get me wrong I do wash my fruit especially the ones like strawberries, cherries, etc.
While I applaud the idea of washing fruit and vegetables which won't be refrigerated, it doesn't always do the trick.
Through trial and error (most notably after watering some of my houseplants with cold coffee and grounds: what a mistake THAT was), I've discovered beer bottles work wonderfully.
Add a bit of cheap wine to an empty beer bottle then top with a sticky trap. Amazingly effective.
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