How do I get rid of these things?????????????? They are taking over my kitchen, I don't even have fruit out of the fridge now!!!!!!!!!! What can I do??? they are a pest!!! Help
If the flies are plump, they are true fruit flies, and will happily drown themselves in shallow cups of any sweet liquor (we use a poor quality creme sherry we got as a gift years ago). Be sure to stir in a few drops of dish soap to break surface tension or they won't break through the surface of the liquid.
Some people use cider vinegar, but that doesn't work nearly as well for us. Some people cover the cup with plastic wrap with holes poked in it; that doesn't speed up the catch rate for us either.
But check your little flies closely. If they are skinny little things, they are actually fungus gnats, and they thrive on damp potting soil, on the gunk that builds up in your drains, or on anything moldy. If you've got gnats, try plugging or covering your drains at night and then pouring a kettle of very hot water in as you uncover them in the morning. Let potting soil dry out between waterings, or put a layer of sand over the top. Wipe the walls around your bathtub/shower with a little borax in water to kill any possible mold growth; the slight residue of borax left behind is toxic to both mold and insects.
I got a thing from Fred Meyer that looks like a little spice shaker, but you put this stuff in and add water, and the bugs fly in there and die. Look for it in the garden center, I think?
I found some traps at Ace Hardware.
Best thing that worked for us is a cup with 1 inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap. You will be amazed how many you catch. I leave it out for a few days and they usually will be all gone.
We JUST did this .... A bowl of cider vinegar, cover it with plastic wrap...poke small holes, put a few drops of dish soap in the vinegar...our were gone within 3 days!!
Good luck!!
Hi Karina,
Fruitflies can come from the garbage disposal's also (gross huh?). If you have one, try cleaning it. Wal-Mart has some little balls that you can drop in super cheap.
Pour ammonia down your drains, too. They breed in the drains and apparently they breed every 90 seconds (Hee Hee!). We just conquered this same problem, though we did have lots of fruit in the house - it is that time of year for us and the deyhdrator has been working round the clock to get the fruit handled! I've won the battle - for now! Good luck!
Works for us:
small piece of fruit in cup/glass
cover cup with plastic w/small holes poked in it
flies get in, not out
freeze to kill or open outside to release
Hi Karina.....I took some small jars, put about an inch of "apple cider vinegar" and a drop of dish washing detergent in it. then put 2 layers of plastic wrap on top and secure with a rubber band, or tie with string, and watch them flock to it.Fruit juice will work if it's sweet.....
Good Luck
Charmaine
Somewhere in your kitchen is the originator ....thoroughly check bags of potatoes, onions, etc. for the culprit. Fruit flies do not just come from fruit! Even the 'juice' of something gone bad can attract them if it isn't thoroughly cleaned up. A good rule of thumb is to, 'follow your nose'. Good luck, Karina!
Don't bother with the home made traps. You will spend days waiting for those little suckers to go in. Put rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle. Leave out a little treat for them to get them all in one spot and BAM! Mass murder.
I forgot about some bannanas and had the same problem. The best and easiest is a small bowl with vinegar and two squirts of dish soap and then let it sit. you don't even need to cover. They will fly land on the bowl and eventually fall in. It is best to put the bowl where is won't be distrubed. You will find you catch more at night or when you are not around. Good luck. I did this for about 3 days and they were all gone.
We also have this problem, due to my son taking an apple and leaving it in the toy box without me knowing it YUCK!!!!
I was told to leave a ziploc bag with a peice of fruit (a bite taken out) or banana peel in it, they go in there, you zip up the bag and throw it in the garbage and they're gone. I also heard microwaving it, but i think the plastic will melt in there, so I didn't want that mess as well. Good luck!
thank you for posting this! we are having a problem with them too. hope you can get rid of them fast. i am going to try some of the suggestions you were given.
Thanks, Hillari
Oh I just heard of a good solution, haven't tried it yet myself, though. It's a little bowl with cider vinegar and some dishsoap, supposed to work great. I wonder why they're so prevalent this year!
The vinegar really does work. I currently have some sitting on my countertop with a mass grave at the bottom of the glass.
Balsamic vinegar seems to work better than apple cider vinegar, but use what you have of those two. I just put about a cup of vinegar in a dish/glass and then a bit of water (1/4C?) and a few drops of dish soap. Stir it up. The soap breaks the surface tension so that the flies can't land on it. They just sink after being drawn to the vinegar and then drown. Good times.
Two days later the army of flies is almost gone entirely.
Another kind of a trap is to put a piece of fruit or other bate into a jar or cup then fold a piece of paper into a funnel shape and put it on the jar. They fly in through the funnel but can't find their way out. Also I have to dry my sink everytime I use it and plug the drains, I hadn't heard of pouring amonia down drains to kill them before. I would pour it then plug them to be safe. I wish you the best of luck,they are horrible this year.
Somebody probably already told you this, but I've had to pour bleach down my sink drains to kill them too.
Good Luck!
so wierd. my sister has given me all of these "remedies" as well. she also has a fruit fly issue. i'm on the outskirts of Gresham and she's in Vancouver. these little pests are in full force this year!