Fruit flies

Late October and I'm still getting those pesky fruit flies that you speak of. It all started in the Spring after I'd repotted the Monstera Deliciosa with some freshly purchased soil from B&Q. So I bought those sticky yellow traps from Amazon and had a good clean up in the house from top to bottom. That seemed to sort it for a while, but they've been back with a vengeance these past few weeks. I wondered if eggs are still lurking in the soil? I'm thinking of just discarding the Monstera Deliciosa which would be a real shame as it has grown so large. I just can't bear the flies however small.

I had lots of these little flies in my large leopard lily plants last year. I put bowls of vinegar and washing up liquid around the base of the plant pots on the floor.

It killed the flies, but all the lower leaves dropped off and the plants never picked up.

DH was sure it was the vinegar fumes that were responsible.

Touch wood, haven’t seen any flies this year, but it hasn’t been so hot of course.

Is it possible to kill flies or gnats humanely? Surely the priority is to use something non-toxic which stops them breeding. That's where the cinnamon comes in....... and it also smells nice too.

I seem to have a problem with them too though now I’m not sure if they’re fungus flies. Think I’ll have to read up on them and see if there’s a humane way of getting rid of them.

I've had fungus gnats (which sound so much worse than fruit flies ) around houseplants, and got some yellow sticky things from Amazon. They are very sticky, and you make flags with the spikes that come in the pack and stick them in the plant pots. The gnats are attracted to them and after a few days there are dozens of them stuck to the flags. You change them and keep going until they are clear after a day or two.

I thought I had fruit flies but they are fungus gnats which look like tiny mosquitoes. They also buzz around and are annoying. They lay their eggs in the soil around your house plants and the larvae feed off the roots. A really nice chap on You Tube says that cinnamon sprinkled around the house plants will repel them and break their life cycle, so I'm trying that.

The ninja traps work for me. I also have ramekin dishes dotted about with some Cider vinegar or white wine vinegar in. Add a little washing up liquid to break the surface tension. I catch loads. It's particularly bad where I live this year

Elless

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These are brilliant

They are filled with a vinegar and fruit nectar solution, very small. I have had one on the window sill for over a week, hasn’t trapped one fly whilst my homemade version as described above has caught plenty.

www.amazon.co.uk/Fruit-Fly-Ninja-Trap/dp/B089MB7VFZ?th=1&tag=gransnetforum-21

These are brilliant

multiple holes in the cling film

A bowl of vinegar with a couple of spoons of sugar, cover with cling film.

Make multiple holes big enough for the flies to get in, but not big enough that they can get out.

This definitely works.