Sunday, January 16, 2011

Getting rid of fruit flies

Ugh! They drive me absolutely insane, buzzing around my head, plunging to their drunken deaths in my glass of wine, burrowing and make more of their insipid breed in my house plants!

So, I did a little research (per usual).

Apparently, the little buggers love the constantly wet climate of the Northwest. They prefer humid areas in the home and places that stay wet (kitchen sink, sponge, bathrooms, houseplants, compost bins, recycle bins). And since my house is airtight, prone to humidity, and spotted with houseplants, this is absolute and utter paradise for them. Which means hell for me.

I do have a de-humidifier, but, I'm not going to "dry out" my sponge after I do the dishes every night (how would I even go about doing that?). I'm not going to stop watering my plants or throw them out. I'm not going to my kitchen recycling outside, or the garbage can. And I'm not going to stop composting.

Sooo....

Phase one attack: the houseplants, which are apparently their favorite place to breed. I found an old spray bottle (I keep them around for purposes such as this), filled it with 2 cups of water and several drops of environmentally friendly laundry detergent. I then used this harmless (except to bugs) pesticide to spray down all my houseplants, leaves and dirt.

The first time I did it, we saw a pretty noticeable decrease. About a week later, they were back. So, a second spraying. We are definitely seeing fewer of the little beasts, but, we still battle them in the recycle bin and the compost bin.

Anyone have any better ideas?

2 comments:

ruthrep said...

Try a shallow bowl of sweet wine that you have put a drop of dish soap in to break the surface tension. The are drawn to it, drink it, and drown.

Melissa said...

Yep, we've done that...and it IS very effective. Problem is...they are still around, which means they are somewhere breeding. Gotta find their source somehow.