They arrived courtesy of a gift of organic vegetables and now I can't get rid of them. I've tried hanging up one those old fashioned sticky fly papers but they're extremely adept at avoiding that. In desparation I've tried Fly killer and they're immune to that, too.
2007-03-03 01:11:15 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
Great tips I'm going to try them out. I don't like using fly sprays, so all the non chemical ideas are most welcome.
2007-03-03 01:46:50 · update #1
Any food like fruit is kept covered.
I never thought about the plant pots.
Thanks
2007-03-03 01:49:04 · update #2
I realize this is going to sound stupid, however, it works. Actually it works for not only fruit flies, gnats, but musquitoes and other small insects. Put one tablespoon of Liquid Ivory Detergent into approx 24-30oz. of water in a spray bottle. The sugar in a bowl of water is a great idea to attract them. Once there, spray at a mist level. This will suffocate the demons.
This is true story. I worked for a major university and we had gnats all over an interior courtyard. We could not spray pesticides due to the intakes of A/C units. You could not walk in this area for days. One morning we sprayed the entire area with just Ivory Soap and water and then again in the afternoon. By evening you could enjoy the courtyard again!
It is not a chemical and suffocates the vermin. They will swarm and you need to put either the sugar water or a ripe orange out to attact and attack.
2007-03-03 01:34:11 · answer #1 · answered by jerry g 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get rid of the fruit in the bowl that they might be flying around.
If they are hiding in the soil of a plant pot you have two options.
Put pot outside and let soil dry out at the risk of losing the plant or soak the pot in a bucket of soapy water (washing up liquid) water and suds covering the pot entirely - leave for 2-4 hours.
Lift pot and let dry out - if flies still roving around repeat the process.
Do not use fly killer - this is poisonous to humans too.
2007-03-03 09:17:35 · answer #2 · answered by Jewel 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This seems to work pretty good. Put out a small plate fill with red wine and a little lemon dish soap. Leave out over night. If there are some left in the morning just do again. They are attracted to the wine and the soap makes it so they can't fly out and they drown. Cheap and easy.
2007-03-03 09:19:21 · answer #3 · answered by chrissyintheam 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those all sound like great answers (except the first one! How rude and ignorant!!) Basically don't have any food items out and may be a good idea to put any pot plants outside for a while too. The buggers can't live forever but I know how annoying they are so good luck!!
2007-03-03 09:41:17 · answer #4 · answered by karalilsis 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've seen this in the past and have heard that lighting a sweet smelling candle will draw them in and kill them..... to spraying Lysol in the air. I've dealt with gnats before and have always somehow been able to trace it back to the Kitchen. Some people call them fruit flies/gnats. Good luck!
2007-03-03 09:24:07 · answer #5 · answered by texasfixit 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I watched some kinda show one time ,when i was bored ,, but any way it said to take a jar and poke holes in the lid,,'little ones',,and then put a piece of fruit in it or like some of the other people said something to attract them to it and then put the lid on it,,,and they are suppose to go in the little holes and not be able to come back out.
2007-03-03 09:36:19 · answer #6 · answered by lil momma 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i workd in a bar and we had an infestation at one end of the bar, we couldnt understand where they kept coming from.....so we stripped it bare. our drip trays are actually part of the bar(non removable) so we prised it out of the bar with a saw, and found thousands of maggots wriggling around, we blitzed it all with bleach,well,i didnt-i cried like a baby, and that got rid of the problem. so the moral to this story is u need to look for the maggots....u go get the little buggers!!!! good luck (it was a wetherspoons lol)
2007-03-03 09:25:13 · answer #7 · answered by mel a 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just place a bowl of ordinary soapy water near the fruit flies.
2007-03-03 09:22:41 · answer #8 · answered by travel_like_us 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats a good question, I have a smillar problem with fruit flies becasue I feed my parrot fresh fruit it obviously attracts them.
To the first answerer......It is nothing to do with clean house / dirty house - get a life!
2007-03-03 11:43:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Try some vinegar in a dish and just leave it near where they are...it worked for me! Just watch and see if they don't flock to that vinegar. Good Luck
2007-03-03 09:18:55 · answer #10 · answered by missellie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋