Keeping the kitchen clean is the first step you should take if you want fruit flies to disappear. Flies will keep coming back if you do not observe hygiene. They will be constantly present even if you use the best method to get rid of them.
To get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen, wash dirty utensils and keep ripe fruits away. Mix 1 liter of hot water with 1 cup of white vinegar and pour this into the sink to kill fruit flies and their eggs. Then hang fragrant bags of lavender or peppermint herbs to repel them.
Alternatively, you can clean first, pour a cup of vinegar into the sink, and wait for about 25-30 minutes. Then pour 1 liter of hot water to completely terminate fruit fly eggs that are hidden in the kitchen drain. Those simple steps are enough to eliminate fruit flies in the kitchen completely.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in the Kitchen
The key to getting rid of fruit flies in the kitchen is to ensure that there is nothing they can feed on. This should be followed by cleaning any warm and moist place where they can lay their eggs and breed.
Getting rid of their breeding grounds helps to minimize the possibility of an infestation. Since their lifespan is so short, depriving them of food will ensure they die fast.
1. Clean vegetables from the market
To avoid infestation from the market, wash vegetables and fruits before keeping them. If possible, refrigerate those that you think will attract fruit flies.
Oranges, sweet bananas, pineapple, and tomatoes are some of the major fruit flies attractions in the kitchen. If you do not have a fridge to keep those, ensure they are clean and kept in a clean container that is aerated.
This can be a simple tin that has a very tiny hole in it. The aeration will help keep the vegetables and fruits fresh while keeping those flies away. Avoid buying too many vegetables and fruits.
Getting more than you need will only result in wasted food in the kitchen that is left to decay. This will attract fruit flies, and they will keep coming back. Just buy what you will finish and re-stock when you need more.
2. Refrigerate unused vegetables
Fruit flies cannot survive in cool temperatures, and there is no way they will go inside the fridge. The cool temperatures will also kill and terminate their eggs. Simply keep fresh fruits and tomatoes in the fridge to avoid an infestation.
Washing helps eliminate any eggs that may have been laid on the supply, while refrigeration ensures that those flies are kept off. Refrigeration will also help keep the vegetables and fruits fresh, and there will be no waste.
3. Home-made fruit fly trap
One of the ways to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen is by laying a fruit fly trap. Here are some simple steps you can use to trap house flies in the kitchen:
- Add some apple cider vinegar and a little dishwashing liquid to a small bowl or a glass
- Place this around the most affected areas of the kitchen
- Take a plastic bag and snip off one of its corners. Place this on top of the glass in such a way that the snipped end is at the center
- Push the middle part of the bag into the glass, so it forms a funnel-shaped depression
- The vinegar will attract the flies
- They will have their way in but no way out
How it works
Once the flies have no breeding ground and food, it is time to trap any that are left. Apple cider vinegar fruit fly traps are quite effective. They attract the flies into a trap where they cannot get out.
When the mature ones are gone, continue the procedure as long as some hover around. Since their life cycle is quite short, it should not take long before the insect has been exterminated.
You can also look for pest pesticides to eliminate them. However, this needs to be done after using the natural elimination methods because those chemicals may be dangerous in the kitchen if not used properly.
4. Get rid of what attracts them
Once the breeding grounds have been eliminated, the next step is to remove the flies from the kitchen by starving them. Identify what attracts fruit flies and eliminate all those from the kitchen.
Start off by removing garbage. Ensure that fruits and vegetables are well stored, and leftovers are disposed of away from the house. Also, ensure that no food is left lying around. This is more so sweet foods.
5. Identify their breeding grounds
For fruit flies to survive, they need a moist environment with a high population of bacteria. This normally is a place with sugary substances. Apart from the kitchen sink, fruit flies can breed in bathroom drains.
These could be fruits, juices, and vegetables that are ripe and rotting. For the extermination process to be successful, one has to get rid of all these potential breeding grounds for the flies. Keep the kitchen clean and dry as much as you can.
How to stop fruit flies from coming back
Note that the raps will only capture the adult fruit flies meaning that the young ones and their eggs will still be left to grow. These have to be gotten rid of as well.
- Start off by ensuring there are no breeding grounds
- Get rid of leftovers
- Clean the dishes regularly
- Properly manage your garbage
- Clean up any food particles and drinks on the counters and floor
- For fruits and vegetables that can be refrigerated, do so
- Ensure that damp rags and mops are dried and kept outside for aeration
The various ways there are how to trap fruit flies in the kitchen make use of different ingredients. Apple cider trap is common but not the only one. Ketchup, fruits, beer, and wine can also be used to make a fly trap.
Causes of fruit flies in the kitchen
These tiny flies can breed on any ground as long as there is moisture, warmth, and decomposing food. This is the reason why fruit flies in the kitchen are common. They can enter the kitchen through open doors, windows, or drains.
Here are the main causes of fruit flies in a kitchen;
- Decaying food
- Vegetable peels
- Ripe fruits
- Ripe tomatoes
- Dirty sink drainage
- Dirty unwashed dishes in the sink
If you have a dirty garbage bin in your backyard, be ready to find flies in the house. You can also carry fruit fly eggs from dirty vegetables because it is possible for them to lay their eggs on the goods that you buy at a busy market.
Once the eggs get into the house and are kept in a warm environment, they will hatch, and fruit flies will suddenly appear in the kitchen.
There are different reasons why one would have fruit flies in the kitchen. However, overripe tomatoes, rotting fruits, and vegetables are the main causes. Others include the presence of unwashed dishes, surfaces with sweetened drinks spilled on them, clogged drains, and moist spots.
Exterminating fruit flies in the kitchen
For you to exterminate fruit flies in the kitchen, consistency is important. Eliminating mature flies alone will not help.
All stages in the life cycle of the flies have to be eliminated. Once that is done, precautions need to be taken to avoid giving a habitable environment for the flies in the kitchen. This aims at terminating the flies and their eggs. This process has to be deliberate and systematic.
References: Live Science: Where Do Fruit Flies Come From? By Corey Binns and the University of Washington: Life cycle of fruit fly by Pete Geiger.