Lovers of veggies and fruits are all too familiar with the swarming nuisance known as fruit flies. These little critters can hide on fruit and hitch a ride home from the grocery store. The eco friendly pest control experts of Planet Orange are here to help you not only get rid of fruit flies in a humane way, and prevent an infestation as well.
An Ounce of Prevention
Fruit flies have been known to cause intestinal problems and diarrhea when fruit containing their larvae are eaten, so even if you don’t bring home a lot of vegetables and fruits, you and your home can still benefit from the prevention methods used to keep fruit flies out of your house. The very first thing you’ll want to do is keep doors and windows closed whenever there’s rotted fruit in your garbage or outside of your home, which keeps fruit flies outside where they belong. This is an important step even if you have a screen door because flies can easily fit through them.
Keep the areas where you store fruits and vegetables clean by using an all-purpose cleaner. Be sure you clean the bottoms of your trashcans as well as the cracks in the floorboards. Not only does this help you maintain your home, it also gets rid of the decaying organic matter that fruit flies love. As an added bonus, taking care of the organic matter also cuts down on how much and how quickly fruit flies breed. In addition to developing a regular cleaning routine, you can also use an oscillating fan to prevent flies from landing on fruit, and keep drinks that contain fruit inside of your fridge.
Give Fruit Flies the Boot
If you have fruit flies that you want to fly right out of your life, you can put fruit inside of a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. If necessary, you can use a rubber band to secure the wrap around the bowl. Next, use a toothpick or some other equally sharp object to poke small holes in the wrap. The fruit flies are attracted to the scent of the fermenting fruit, find their way into the bowl through the small holes, feed, and are unable to find their way out.
Take the bowl outside, remove the plastic wrap, and let the fruit flies go free. Repeat the process until every fruit fly in your home has been successfully evicted.
In the future, be mindful of where you place fruit and carefully inspect your fruit before you bring it home to ensure you aren’t bringing bothersome hitchhikers with you. For more tips on taking care of pesky insect infestations, or if you’re in need of affordable and effective green pest control measures, get in touch with us here at Planet Orange.