Enough of the fruit fly plague? We have the best home remedies against fruit flies and show you how to get rid of fruit flies!
Strawberries, apples, bananas, melon - we love fruit! The more colorful the better! However, we are not alone in this. Fruit flies are happy when we come home with a bag of fresh fruit.
Within a few days they buzz across the kitchen. The mosquitoes surround our fruit baskets. They also seem to enjoy sweet drinks.
From initially a single fruit fly soon develops a whole population. Eliminate fruit flies is the order of the day! But what home remedies help against fruit flies? We have the best tips for you. This is how you can get rid of fruit flies and put an end to them for good!
You're probably familiar with this: unsuspecting, you make your way to the fruit basket. There they are, nicely stacked: sweet and juicy peaches.
Full of anticipation, the mouth is already watering. The sweet scent is in the air. One looks forward to a pleasant refreshment on this hot summer day.
With a purposeful glance, the most beautiful peach is selected. The fingers touch the piece of fruit. And suddenly dozens of small brown flies buzz out of the fruit. They spread all over the room. Appetite gives way to a feeling of disgust.
Tip: There are special fruit baskets, which have a very very fine mesh. Here the mosquitoes can not slip through.
Can you still eat fruit with fruit flies?
The answer is yes! You do not have to throw away the fruit despite fruit flies. However, it is important that you rinse it well. You should do this with every fruit!
Because often you do not even know if it is infested with fruit gnats. Sometimes there are only eggs on the purchased fruit. You can get rid of them with cold water. Problem solved.
Table of contents
Eliminate fruit flies: put an end to fruit flies
Do without fresh fruit because of fruit flies? No thanks! Eliminate fruit flies is the order of the day!
There are many ways and means to fight fruit flies. Not always you have to reach for the chemical club. There are many effective home remedies against fruit flies!
Fruit flies home remedies are often in demand, especially on warm summer days. No wonder - our kitchens are the perfect habitat for the little bisters.
1. build fruit fly trap yourself
With a few means and very simple you can build a fruit fly trap yourself. The ingredients for the DIY flytrap you have certainly at home.
If you have little time to fight fruit flies, you can easily trick the small brown-black insects with liquids.
Build fruit fly trap yourself with vinegar: how to do it
- Add 4 tablespoons Apple cider vinegar (alternatively, just any fruit vinegar) into a bowl.
- Mix in 2 tablespoons of water. Stir well.
- Now add 2 drops of washing-up liquid.
Your homemade fruit fly trap attracts the little beasts. The detergent ensures that the surface tension of the liquid is reduced.
The fruit flies can't stay on the surface of your water-vinegar mixture and will drown.
Build fruit fly trap yourself with wine: how to do it
Who believes fruit flies are not gourmets, is mistaken! If you give fruit flies the choice: red or white wine, you will have more success with red wine. Red wine attracts fruit flies!
- Put 4 tablespoons of red wine in a Glass bowl
- Mixes 2 tablespoons of water to the wine
- Add 2 drops of dishwashing liquid and place next to the fruit bowl
Here, too, the dishwashing liquid in the DIY fruit fly trap ensures that the surface tension is broken. The mosquitoes drown in the wine.
Fruit fly trap in a jar: how to do it
If you like to eat pickled cucumbers, you can also make a fruit fly trap from them yourself.
- Take a jar in which there is still cucumber vinegar
- Makes small holes in the lid of the pickle jar
- Add a few drops of dishwashing liquid and put the jar to the fruit basket
The mosquitoes drown in the cucumber vinegar. The advantage of this homemade fruit fly trap is that you have less vinegar smell in your home.
Fruit flies home remedy: With beer against fruit flies
Besides wine and vinegar, fruit flies also have a preference for beer. If you don't want your apartment to smell like a party, you can make this beer fruit fly trap yourself:
- Grab a bowl
- Pour beer into the glass bowl and put a cling film over it
- Makes small holes in the stretched film
- The fruit flies can not resist the smell of beer and can no longer find their way out of the bowl
Carnivorous plants against fruit mosquitoes
What is a real nuisance for us, is true feast for carnivorous plants.
Typical fruit fly fans are the butterwort or sundew. For the small plants fruit flies are a good source of protein. If you put the plants to the fruit basket, you are rid of the mosquitoes and your plants are a natural fruit fly trap :)
2. home remedy for fruit flies: Get rid of fruit flies with fragrance
If you are looking for fruit flies home remedies, you will be surprised to learn that fruit flies can also be driven away with scents and fragrances. So you don't necessarily have to kill them to get the fruit fly plague under control.
Sparkling wine against fruit flies: This is how it works
- Half fills a small glass bowl with champagne
- Places it right next to the fruit bowl
- Have a little patience
The fruit flies are not killed, but driven away. The smell of champagne makes them flee. You must give them the opportunity to leave your home. The best way is to leave a window tilted.
Lemon and clove against fruit flies
Fruit flies find the scent of lemon in combination with cloves at least as disgusting.
- Grab a small lemon
- Sticks the citrus fruit with Cloves full
- Put your fruit fly home remedy to or even in the fruit bowl
Attention: The lemon may soon become rotten. Then simply exchange it for a new one.
Build fruit fly trap with banana peels
Fruit flies love ripe bananas. If you do not want to kill fruit flies, you can make a simple trap from a bowl and a bag.
- Peels a ripe banana
- Put the banana peel in a transparent bag or in a freezer bag.
- Put the bowl next to the fruit basket for a few hours
- Approach very slowly. Close the bag and then either give to the residual waste or let the mosquitoes fly in the open air
How to prevent fruit flies
Ideally, you don't have to get rid of fruit flies at all. You can simply prevent fruit flies.
1. use up ripe fruit quickly
To prevent fruit gnat infestation, you should not leave ripe fruits and vegetables lying around. They love the sweet smell that is produced when the fruit ripens. To be precise, this is the gas ethylene. This gas ensures that other fruits also ripen quickly.
Especially much ethylene produce apples and tomatoes. Therefore, it is important to always store apples and tomatoes with a little distance from the rest of the fruit basket. Ideally, it should be 50 centimeters.
2. airing against fruit flies
If you air regularly and thoroughly, you can prevent fruit flies. The fresh air prevents ethylene.
3. empty organic waste to prevent fruit flies.
Fruit flies are not picky. If they can't find fresh fruit, they will snatch up our fruit and vegetable scraps. Therefore, in the summer you should take the garbage and compost outside more often and use tightly closed trash cans.
4. buy less fruit
Rather buy less fruit and every 2nd day than 1x per week a large amount. When buying fruit, make sure that you don't bring any fruit flies home with you. In many supermarkets, the mosquitoes are waiting to be packed into bags and to multiply at your home.
Often eggs and larvae can already be seen in purchased fruit. Better look twice to be on the safe side!
5. always close fruit juices well
Sweet drinks left standing open attract huge numbers of fruit flies. The delicious scent lets the little pests find their way into your apartment even from a long distance. Therefore, always close them well and store them in the refrigerator.
6. store fruit in the refrigerator
To prevent the fruit fly plague, it is best to deprive them of the basis: the fruit. During the warm months, apples, strawberries and the like simply end up in the refrigerator. Here it is much too cold for the mosquitoes.
Where fruit flies come from and what they do to our fruit
Once you finally have the plague under control, you ask yourself, where do fruit flies actually come from? The little pests are there without warning and make a mess of our delicious fruit.
So you know if they are really fruit flies: Fruit flies are about 3 millimeters in size. Black to yellow-brown and have bright red eyes.
Fruit flies are also called fruit flies, fruit flies, dew flies, must flies or vinegar flies. Attention: Now it's getting nasty!
In search of a good breeding place, fruit flies prefer to look for overripe fruit and also vegetables. They are particularly fond of pieces of fruit that are damaged. However, they are also fond of stalks.
This is exactly where the fruit flies lay their eggs. Thus, the larvae have enough food after hatching.
A single female lays up to 400 eggs after mating. This is also the reason why your kitchen will become the home of millions of little flies in a few weeks.
In their life, the larvae of the fruit fly go through three stages. This takes about 2 weeks. But this is not enough. Because usually develop several generations per year. The last - that is, on warm autumn days hibernates in the third larval stage. Thus, fruit flies ensure that they can get on our nerves again in the spring.
Incidentally, a fruit fly can live for 40 to 50 days, depending on the temperature and living conditions. Ideal temperatures are between 11 and 31 degrees Celsius. Below and above that, fruit flies cannot reproduce. So our kitchens are the perfect habitat for the little bisters.
Our conclusion:
Do not despair when eliminating fruit flies! There are many home remedies for fruit flies that do not require chemicals. Try which one is the best for you.
To browse further:
* Advertising & affiliate links: Our website is financed by advertising and affiliate links. As a partner of linked stores (e.g. Amazon) we earn from qualified sales.
Read more