Fruit flies

I've only seen a very few in my kitchen this year and I kill them by damping a scrunched up piece of kitchen paper and homing in on them from slightly above. 8/10 it works.

You can use wine instead of cider vinegar. I always have a jam jar with a small amount of wine in covered in cling film with holes in the top next to my compost caddy.

Cover all fruit and vegetables left out in cotton cloth, or put them under a fly net.

It is much easier to prevent fruit flies getting in, then to get rid of them.

Good idea annie . I've got some apple cider vinegar so will try it.

Fruit flies are attracted to apple cider vinegar. Put a few tablespoons in the bottom of a cup with a drop of dish detergent (which will help in wetting them). They will drown themselves. Clean out the cup and repeat every few days until they are gone.

I know this is an old thread, but we've got the fruit fly problem 'in spades' at the moment.
I think Stansgran has got it right:
"Stansgran Tue 03-Jan-17 18:20:31

No one,else said it so I'm going to
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
Husband leaves his bananas out to get ripe, but insists he wants some fly spray.

Fruit flies, small in size, but they can cause major havoc. They can indeed become nuisance pests and particularly difficult to co-exist. Therefore, take the immediate steps!

I was plagued with fruit flies when my local council introduced a waste food collection. I moved the kitchen caddy to outside the back door and the flies followed, so now I bag everything (in bio-degradable bags available free from my local library) straight into the kerbside bin.

At my previous house I had a garden compost bin which occasionally had a surfeit of fruit flies. I used to give them an alternative diet of shredded paper which seemed to do the trick!

I had a similar problem during the summer and I repotted, tying the old compost into several layers of plastic bags. And literally washing the plant roots under the outside tap. Scalded the flower pot etc. No bother since.

I was plagued by fungus gnats all last year, I think it was the compost in one of my houseplants causing the problem. I repotted every one and cleaned the roots as best I could and washed all the pots before repotting them with a layer of gravel on top of the compost. I then bought sticky strips from the garden centre and cut them into smaller pieces to stick in the plant pots and a few other key places e.g. on the window ledges. It took ages but I think I've one the battle at last, I'm hoping so anyway!

I discovered them breeding in the compost caddy beside the sink. I gave it a thorough clean and changed the filter. The colder weather seems to have got rid of them at least for the time being.

Thankyou so much everyone for your suggestions-it is much appreciated.I will go through them & give them a try.

You are quicker off the mark than I am Jayanna

They also like the food recycling bin .....

Snap!

No one,else said it so I'm going to
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. Sorry I'm feeling silly.....

I posted on the other thread which has been deleted!

Now, what did I say?

Fruit flies are small flies but I wouldn't say they are 'tiny'.
We used to get them hovering around the demi-johns when we made home-made wine, hence the need for a trap.
They will also home in if there is any fruit going off or perhaps if there are any wine bottles waiting to go out (wqe always wash ours before recycling).

They may be looking for somewhere to breed so you need to find the source of them and get rid of it and them.

I'm very pleased to be told that Elegran because I have fruit in the kitchen only andtheoccasionalfruit fly seems to circle me elsewhere. I thought I was rotting. Blame the peace lilies.

Are you sure it IS fruit flies and not those fungus gnats that you get in the compost around the roots of pot plants that flitter around the place looking drunk? They are attracted to carbon dioxide so they fly into your face too. www.smallfootprintfamily.com/controlling-fungus-gnats-organically

They can live on the compost of some house plants.

I ve only had them when I ve had fruit ripened in the house

We've often had them and the only way I found works is to get rid of the source where they're breeding.

I have one of those electric pest killers similar to what you often see in food shops. It attracts all flying pests and its only fault is the noise it makes when one is caught!

Does the peppermint extract just send them away ?

We are plagued with the darned things all summer. I am definitely going to try the peppermint extract. Thanks.