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Science/nature/environment

Infestation of fruit flies

(28 Posts)
M0nica Tue 25-Oct-22 08:35:18

fruit flies are a normal part of life. They appear miraculously wherever a piece of fruit is not tree fresh, but this year we seem to be infested with them - and we are not the only ones. A friend living 5 miles away has exactly the same problem.

It started at the end of August, they were all over the kitchen. When we went on holiday, I cleared all exposed fruit away, put all the vegetables in the garage, wiped all surfaces and just before we left I sprayed the kitchen throughly with fly killer and shut the internal door. We returned home to a fruit fly free kitchen - for about a couple of hours - and they were back.

Yesterday I discovered about a couple of dozen black spots in the utility room sink - dead fruit flies. Now my UR is no where near the kitchen. 2 other rooms and two hallways intervene. Then when I went upstairs to the bathroom i found a dozen in the bath that had been used a few hours previously.

This morning, so far, no fruit flies. Anyone else afflicted with these little blighters this year? It is something I have never experienced before

CanadianGran Fri 30-Dec-22 18:11:49

Yes I would say houseplants are the culprit at this time of year. Be wary of newly acquired plants like poinsettias, I think the flies lay their eggs in the soil, hatching in the warmth of your home.

Let your plants dry out between watering, use sticky traps, or get an insect eating plant, like a venus fly-trap.

BlueBelle Fri 30-Dec-22 21:17:19

The other thing you can do which is pretty easy and what I did for my grandaughter is buy a bag of fine gravel the sort you put in aquariums and cover the soil with it then the little blighters can’t lay their eggs in the soil