We went out of town over Labor Day Weekend and when we returned we found that the bananas we left on the counter had become home to fruit gnats - thousands of them.
The internet offered up several ways to get rid of them and we’ve been trying several of them. Open dishes with either wine or vinegar and a bit of dish soap, the same dishes covered in plastic wrap with holes poked in it, open wine bottles with either wine or vinegar in them.
The verdict is in! By far the most successful trap is the open wine bottle with wine in it. They’re not all gone yet but we’re getting close.
Any other suggestions on how to get rid of the stragglers?
-------------------------------- Life is short. Play with your dog.
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 38014 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
We get an occasional fruit gnat in the kitchen and I've had fungus gnats around some houseplants in the basement. I've used stuff like this to deal with plant gnats, but I'm sure it would catch fruit gnats as well:
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 38014 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
Originally posted by QuirtEvans: I've always heard a combination of something sweet (even sugar water will do) and dish soap.
Alternatively, I had some flying things (nowhere near that many) in a bathroom after we were away a few days. A flea bomb eradicated them.
Probably drain flies. Kind of triangular with big wings for their tiny size. If you have a handheld shower, flush out the drain with it at full heat every now and then.
-------------------------------- "A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch
Gnats around houseplants! I usually have one or two in my office, where I have some succulents. We only have one other indoor plant, and it doesn't seem to attract them.
I drink sugary drinks and eat in my office all the time, and they don't seem attracted to them. This seemed weird for fruit flies, which we occasionally get in the kitchen and which are obviously attracted to fruit and foods with sugars in them.
My daughter moved her houseplants from NC to Nevada successfully but brought with them a few bugs. She bought a Zevo, which does a remarkably good job of eliminating them. You just plug it in and the blue light attracts them to a sticky place.
-------------------------------- "A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch
Regarding houseplant flies, you get them through overwatering. The easiest cure I've found is a bag of mosquito poison I bought at the local plant nursery.
You follow the instructions, which are to let the pellets soak in water for 30 minutes, then water the affected plants. It works well without harming the plant (but you have to remove the pellets and trash them before you water the plants).
Posts: 19765 | Location: A cluttered house in Metro D.C. | Registered: 20 April 2005
Oh, and for fruit flies, I like a bowl of something sweet, covered with plastic wrap with holes in it. It's kind of a fun experiment to watch, as the flies check in but they don't check out.
Posts: 19765 | Location: A cluttered house in Metro D.C. | Registered: 20 April 2005
Jodi
