How to get rid of Nasty Fruit Flies?

Fruit fly breeding in our kitchen is a common problem that can happen at any time of the year. But the most common season for them to visit our homes is during the late summer or early fall. According to my experience, the chances of getting fruit flies are high during the rainy season because of all the moisture in the air. During this time of the year, fruits and veggies tend to get ripe faster and start to ferment. And this is something that attracts these nasty fruit flies.

Which fruit and vegetable attract more fruit flies?

Fruit flies get attracted mostly to ripe bananas, apples, grapes, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, and other perishable food items. I have observed that they mostly get attracted to fruits or fermenting vegetables like potatoes, onions, etc. If you have freshly prepared meals in your kitchen vs a jar of jam, they will get accumulated to the jam and not on savory and salted meals.

Apart from the fruits, they even get attracted to cut fruits, peels, garbage areas, drains, empty cans and bottles, mops, cleaning rags, and clothes. All they need to grow and breed is some fermenting material.

They are the most annoying pests because they rapidly increase in numbers and start to contaminate food. They also make the place look very unhygienic.

How to prevent fruit flies?

The best way to prevent these nasty fruit flies is to cut all the sources of attraction. Eliminate all the breeding grounds so that they do not grow and breed in your home. Following are the prevention methods that you can take to avoid fruit flies:

1. Keep your fruits covered at all times. If you keep bananas and grapes open on the kitchen slab or dining table, chances are they will start attracting these fruit flies and become the breeding ground for them.
2. Eat, refrigerate, or discard cut and ripened fruits and other fresh produce.
3. If any portion of the fruit is damaged, cover it with a piece of cloth, put it in a closed container, or refrigerate. Also, cut away the damaged portion because it may have an infestation.
4. Keep your garbage bins clean and closed. Discard the waste regularly. During the summer season, the wet garbage starts to ferment faster and starts attracting the flies.
5. Keep your kitchen clean. Wipe the surface after use. Do not stack utensils in the sink. Wash and dry the kitchen clothes.

How to eradicate the fruit flies from your home?

Once the fruit flies enter your home, they breed at such a faster speed that it becomes difficult to control them. And they do not go away on their own. You can try below mentioned things to get rid of these annoying fruit flies.

1. Locate all the potential areas that are attracting and breeding fruit flies. It could be your fruit basket, your rack of potatoes and onions, your garbage bin, your mop, or kitchen clothes. Find out these places and eliminate them.
2. Cover or refrigerate fruits and vegetables. DO NOT keep them in the open.
3. Keep your dustbin covered at all times so that there is no further breeding and growth of flies. If you do not have a closed garbage bin, discard your wet waste in an air-tight container till the fruit flies are gone. Once they do not find any breeding ground or any smell of fruit, they go away. It would take a couple of days. So, have patience.
4. Wash all the used and dirty utensils immediately. Do NOT put them on the kitchen counter or in the sink.
5. Wash and dry the kitchen cleaning clothes every day. Sometimes, these clothes have certain smells or food stuck to them that may attract the flies.

Fruit Fly Trap

I read many methods to get rid of fruit flies like burning an incense stick or using some insect spray to kill them. I tried these methods but they did not help me. Even if you burn an incense stick or use an insect spray, some flies hide in a safe place and then return.

But by applying the prevention and eradication methods that are mentioned above, I got rid of fruit flies from my kitchen.

Recently, I came across a fruit fly trap method on Reddit that sounds effective. I never tried it but you can give it a try and see if it works.

1. Take a large bottle and place a banana piece or peel of banana in it.
2. Keep the jar open so that all the flies get attracted to it and go inside the jar.
3. Once the flies are inside the jar, quickly close the lid and discard the jar.

Hmmm…you will have to let go of the jar 🙂

There are plenty of other traps too to get rid of the fruit flies. I never tried them because I am just too lazy to set up the trap. For me, the better option is to keep everything covered and clean. That has an added benefit too – my kitchen always looks neat and tidy.

How long does it take for the fruit flies to go away?

The fruit flies breed rapidly. With just a couple of fruit flies, you will observe that within two days, there will be 100s of fruit flies taking over your kitchen. But I also observed that if you follow the preventive measures, they go away also quickly. It depends on how much is the infestation in your home.

Recently, I got a massive infestation in my kitchen, especially in the garbage bin. My garbage bin is inside a cupboard. Though the cupboard has a door but that was not enough to prevent the flies from entering and breeding. Despite cleaning and discarding the waste regularly and later every day, it did not stop the growth of flies. Then I started putting my garbage in an air-tight container, kept my kitchen clean, took care of all the breeding places, and within 3 days, the flies were all gone. But to make sure, I continued to do that for 2 to 3 more days.

Normally, it would take a few days to weeks to get rid of them completely.

It is always better to keep your food covered, your kitchen surface clean, and all your kitchen towels and clothes clean and dry. This not only prevents any kind of infestation but also make the kitchen look hygienic.

I hope it helps.

Richa