Itty Bitty Fruit Flies

Published on October 14, 2006 By JillUser In Blogging

Has anyone else out there been plagued with itty bitty fruit flies? If so, how do you get rid of them? They are everywhere in my house and are annoying the heck out of me!

I don't know if they came in with my apples, bananas or tomatos. It doesn't matter now. I realized the were attracted to and drowning in a glass of wine that had been left out so I have placed it away from the kitchen hoping to kill a bunch of them. It's a start. They seem to be everywhere though!

I don't think they pose any harm of any kind but they give me the itchy scratchies and make me feel like my home is unsanitary.

Help!!!!!

Comments (Page 1)

Tova7

on Oct 14, 2006

We were invaded by them last year. They came in off our apple trees I guess. So this year we picked up all the apples every single day and wa-la no problemo.

You may want to check your house plants if you have any, especially if you recently got a new one or brought one into the house. Once fruit flys find soil they breed and you pretty much have to throw the plant out, put it outside.

After last summer, I threw out every plant in my house except one. I was bummed out.

Good luck getting them...I hate the little buggers.

MasonM

on Oct 14, 2006

Those things are very annoying. Bananas are the most likely culprit. The first thing you should do is to find out what food item they arrived in and dispose of it immediately as there is bound to be larvae.

Once you've gotten the future pests out of the house you'll be fine as the flies have a very short life span. They only live for about 3 or 4 days. Leaving some wine out or even some honey is a good way to trap and kill the little buggers. They will get stuck in either one and die.

MasonM

on Oct 14, 2006

Oh, forgot to mention this. If you have a dog, check the dog food. We had them last year and matter what we disposed of they were still there. We finally figured out that they had either come in the dog food or had taken it over. Either way, once we disposed of the bag of dog food they were gone in just a few days.

Locamama

on Oct 14, 2006

I have had them come out of my garbage disposal, I'm assuming they were in something that got put down there, peels or something. I filled my sink with bleach water and then ran it through the disposal and they were gone.

Spc Nobody Special

on Oct 14, 2006

Beware rotten fruit and overwatered houseplants. Find the source, and you'll stop the flies. The fruit is out there........

JillUser

on Oct 15, 2006

Wow, thanks all! I have a disposal, fruit and houseplants so I have no idea of where they are coming from. If I put my plants outside right now it will be certain death for them since it has been freezing here. We have a lot of plants so I can't imagine killing them all!

Aargh! I may have to resort to sacrificing the plants though. I think there are more of the buggers every day and they are driving me nuts!

Moderateman

on Oct 15, 2006

I use safer soap, it's a product with no poison, yet seems to make house plants inhospitable to most critters. you can spray the soil and the plant and not worry about killing yer kids.

Tova7

on Oct 15, 2006

Aargh! I may have to resort to sacrificing the plants though. I think there are more of the buggers every day and they are driving me nuts!

A good way to check it its the plants is to water them and watch closely for them to hover by the plant...water will displace the flying ones...but if you see them that means they have babies in your plants...and I've never had luck getting rid of them from soil, even with chemicals.

If you have plants by a window, check the windown sash or ledge and see if there are dead ones there...that is another way to know they are in your plants.

Good luck

Question of the Day

on Oct 15, 2006

JillUser -

This will absolutely work - I promise - even with fruit and plants still in the house!

Take a small bowl and fill it 1/4 full with white wine (I'm sure any fruit juice would work too but I haven't tried it). Add a few drops of dish soap. Leave on the counter and be amazed at all the flies it collects. They are attracted to the sweet wine(juice) but the soap changes the surface tension so they sink!

I'm not sure where I found this but it definitely does work.

Tova7

on Oct 16, 2006

I'm not sure where I found this but it definitely does work.

Yup tried it...but if they laid babies in soil then she will have to leave a glass out pretty much for the rest of her life. hah.

Question of the Day

on Oct 16, 2006

I can guarantee you that if she puts the glass out the little buggers will pick that over the soil. It make take a week or so but they'll figure out where the good stuff is.

jennifer1

on Oct 21, 2006

They are attracted to the sweet wine(juice) but the soap changes the surface tension so they sink!

sneaky

Tova7

on Oct 23, 2006

Well what's the update Jill?

Any luck?

JillUser

on Nov 13, 2006

Believe it or not, we still have a few flies hanging around after all this time. I eliminated all of the fruit that I had been putting out in fruit bowls, put wine out, got professional traps, and found out they had been breeding in the sink drains both in the kitchen and bathrooms so got professional foaming spray for the drains.

I found out they have a 10 day gestaion from egg to adult. Every time I thought something was working (like the wine), there would be another group a few days later. I hope I never get those things again!

Tova7

on Nov 13, 2006

Yup, those little monsters are tuff stuff. hahahaha.

I pour bleach and water down the drain a few times a summer to help keep them out of the sinks. Ew.

I tried for several months to get rid of them last year. They ended up breeding in an over watered plant, I let my kids water and "take care" of. So we ended up throwing out all the plants to be safe. Glad they didn't make it into yours.

Nothing like taking a big yawn only to have one kamakazi toward your face. hahahahaha.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!