How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies

Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster) can be real pests, constantly tormenting your fruit and hovering around house plants and cooking surfaces, carrying bacteria and disease. In fact they are responsible for high percentage of food contamination. So how do you go about getting rid of fruit flies?

Like all fly management the best way to control a fly problem is with prevention. Fruit flies are attracted to fermenting fruits the older the fruit the stronger attraction fruit flies will have to it. Keep your fruit baskets and shelves clean, and stocked with fresh fruit. Fruits that are very ripe are more likely to split or spill juice which attracts fruit flies. Keeping good tabs on each stage of your fruit development will help you prevent old fruit from sticking around too long and attracting flies. Take notice that things as simple as bruising on bananas can attract fruit flies. A fruit fly can lay over 500 eggs and development from egg to adult takes less than 10 days which means keeping on top of a fruit fly problem can get out of hand quickly if you are not careful.

Additionally take special care to seal your home utilizing screens on windows and remove garbage and other rubbish that might attract them. Once you notice fruit flies in a certain part of your home, it is essential to thoroughly clean that area to help eradicate any chance fruit flies will lay eggs and increase the population in that area. Tips for cleaning problem areas that attract fruit flies.

1. No Dirty Dishes
Fruit Flies Dirty Dishes

Rotting and fermenting foods are one of the key things fruit flies are attracted to. Keeping on top of your dishes is essential to keeping fruit flies at bay. Leaving dishes around the home or in the sink will attract flies after just a few minutes. Make sure to clean dishes right after meals, at minimum rinse off and place them in the dishwasher. Keep Make sure there aren’t any dirty dishes lying around in the sink. Get in the habit of cleaning your dishes straight after you are done with eating a meal.

2. Trash Cans With Lids & Clean Trash Cans
As you can imagine keeping your trash covered can work wonders preventing fruit flies from reproducing. Use can with an automatic closing lid in your kitchen. This will help keep your kitchen free from turning into a highrise condo community for fruit flies. Wash out your can regularly with hot soap and water. Make sure to cover and clean the garbage can in your garage as well. Many homeowners keep a can in their garage for excess garbage before taking it outside. Due to the warm temperature food spoils faster and can turn your garage into a smelly fruit fly playground. Use a can with a lid washout your can regularly with antibacterial soap and you will be good to go!

3. Get Rid of Damp Areas
Look around your home, specifically in the bathroom and the kitchen, for any unnecessary damp area. Gnats, especially drain gnats, get attracted to these kind of damp areas so do your best to keep them as dry as possible. Check for leaking pipes, check areas in your home where water could be leaking in from the outside. Window seals air vents and doors. Find out where the source is and fix it. This will do wonders for preventing drain gnats. Is there a leaking pipe? Do you have water pouring in from the outside when it rains? Find out the source and fix it.

4. Plant Maintenance
Fruit Flies Succulents

Notice those little black bugs hovering around and breeding in your house plants. Not only are they disgusting but they are bad for your plants. All house plants including succulents attract flies. When it comes to succulents the most common issue is over-watering. Most succulent experts suggest that you should significantly cut back on how much you are watering your plant. Succulents are hardy plants perfect for new green thumbs. However they are often over watered, due to lack of understanding what the plant actually needs leading to soil that is a perfect breeding ground for fruit flies. Additionally covering potting soil with aquarium rocks traps eggs preventing them from getting away after hatching.

While prevention is the best method for management there are several highly effective ways to get rid of fruit flies if you already have a problem.

How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies: Naturally

Organic methods for fruit fly management offer not only the safest way to get rid of fruit flies but they are also the most effective.
Fruit flies are attracted to fermentation, which makes attracting and trapping them easy and safe. In particular they love apple cider vinegar and red wine and just about anything with high amounts of sugar. Trapping fruit flies is easy and a clean organic way to get rid of them.

Top 5 Homemade Fruit Fly Traps

1. Funnel Trap:
Fruit Fly Trap
Our favorite trap is utilizing the funnel method. Take some ripe fruit (bruised bananas, or even some apple cider vinegar or red wine and put it in a tall glass or bottle) If using fruit pour a small amount of water to cover up the fruit which should sit at the bottom of the glass taking up about 25% of its volume. Then use a paper funnel to place in the top of the cup which will prevent the flies from escaping. Once the flies are trapped you can pour in a small amount of water combined with dish soap which will break the surface of the water and cause the flies to drown. Wait 15 minutes and then discard the contents of the trap down a disposal washed down with hot water.

Supplies:
A: Bottle, Glass or Cup
B: Bait (Fruit, Wine, Apple Cider Vinegar)
C: Paper Funnel

2. Bowl Trap:
Organic Fruit Fly Trap
Our second favorite trap using the same techniques as the first. Utilizing fruit, wine or other sugar based substance to attract fruit flies and trap them. However rather than using a paper funnel and a tall glass you can build a simple yet highly effective trap using a bowl, rubber band and plastic wrap. Put the fruit or other bait in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. If needed secure the plastic wrap with a rubber band. Then poke small holes in the top of the plastic wrap which will allow the flies to get into the bait. Once all of the flies are captured drown them with warm water and dish-soap and then dispose.

Supplies:
A: Bowl
B: Bait (Fruit, wine, apple cider vinegar)
C: Plastic Wrap
D: Rubber Band

3: Sink or Swim Time Tested Trap
Milk Fly Trap

If you ask your Grandma what she did to get rid of fruit flies, she might tell you about this effective home remedy. Combine a glass of milk with a few teaspoons of sugar and some black pepper and you will be attracting and drowning fruit flies with incredible efficiency.

Supplies:
A: Bowl
B: Milk
C: Sugar
D: Black Pepper

4: Wine Bottle Trap
Empty Wine Glasses

This is the simplest trap on the planet. Take a nearly empty wine bottle and leave it out on the counter or near the area where you have fruit flies. Fruit flies love fermenting fruit which means they like wine more than you do. They will make their way into the bottle and get trapped. After you have caught the flies in your wine bottle dispose of it and you are all set.

5: 2 Liter Bottle Trap
Natural Fly Trap

The 2 Liter Bottle Trap works in the same fashion as the other traps on the list but has a huge capacity and is very cheap. Simply cut a two liter bottle in half and poke a few holes in the cap. Place the cap upside down inside of the bottom half of the bottle. Place some bait at the bottom of the bottle and watch as the trap lures in the fruit flies and then traps them from leaving the bottom of the bottle. This is one of our favorites for getting rid of house flies as well. Once the fruit fly problem is gone, just dump out the bait and recycle the bottle.

Supplies
A: 2 Liter Bottle
B: Bait

While all of these traps are very effective they can be a little unsightly which is a deterrent for some people. Luckily there are a host of incredible products that are not only very effective but are either very subtle so they go unnoticed or they are designed to be cute and blend into any kitchen. Here are a few of our favorites:

Fruit Fly Chemicals and Sprays

While we are big proponents of getting rid of fruit flies using natural methods we recognize there are other effective ways. One of the most popular is to utilize chemicals distributed via spray bottles. A pyrethrin spray is incredible effective at killing multiple types of flies.

Let us know how implementing these techniques work for you! Have a tried and true method that works in your home? Let us know in the comments below and we can add it to our list.