[littlelisa]

Hi all

I'm staying with my parents these days in Cape Town, in an area near the sea. I've started a compost heap in their garden, but they are complaining that it's attracting too many fruit flies, and that these are becoming a nuisance in the house (I think they're called fruit flies - the tiny insects that seem to hover everywhere). The rotting matter is housed in one of those hard plastic pyramid-shaped plastic composting bins that you buy from a nursery (plastic with holes). My mum has said I have a week to sort out the fruitfly problem, then she's getting rid of my compost heap. Is there a way to do it??

L

[Kiwi]

does it have a lid?
Ours is a black plastic one too - its a cuboid and has a lid on it - when I open it to put stuff in clouds of fruit flies come out, but when the lids closed they stay in.

[littlelisa]

Yes, it has a lid. And, yes, the clouds of flies come out when I open the lid worse than when it's closed... but there still seem to be armies of flies colonising the house :-(

[Kiwi]

poop!
ok I'm no help at all  :cry: sorry

[Dominic]

Not sure if it helps, but I get a lot in my garden, hose pipe on a misty setting seems to do them in quite nicely.

[mumofstig]

if they're in the house problem is probably IN the house. :shock:

I had this last month, thousands of the little horrors. Would wake up to find loads dead on the window ledge :evil:  :evil:

cleaned everywhere, bleach in drains etc(cos they can breed in there) tried everything...........driving me crazy.

Went to change water in flower vase and it was full up with babies so they got thrown.  But finally solved the problem....found 1 rotten potato fallen out of veg tray under sink full with maggots. urrrggh NASTY :oops:

So my advise would be look carefully inside before blaming the compost flies........they would rather be round the compost

[mor]

if they lids are cover well they should be a problem. hope some thing come up. sorry cannot help.

[richyrich7]

Compost accelerator is what you need if the compost gets hot enough it will kill them and their larvae.

Either that or a good blast of fly killer in there.  

[Old Whiskers]

I think Mumofstig is right. If fruit flies are a nuisance in the house, something in the house is attracting them - a piece of over-ripe fruit, a bottle with dregs of wine or beer, some rotting vegetable.... there must be something!

[PAH48]

Hi ....Ditto  Riche ....can't say ....more
Bye PAH in

[peterjf]

cover the waste with a layer of compost , or even dig it into the compost heap , as long as its covered

[littlelisa]

Thanks everyone... will be applying some accelerator and digging it over this weekend! Oh, and clearing out the fruit bowls in the kitchen!!

[Swing Swang]

Bury any fruit etc in the compost heap.
Spray em! Needs to be daily though.

Nothing worked for us though. Got to the stage where the neighbours complained (and they had just reason as we had them buzzing around our house and the only fruit that we had in the house was covered, unpeeled stuff and getting rid of that wasn't an option).

My solution was to move the compost heap. It's now as far from our house (and the neighbours') as possible. Hasn't actually solved the problem, but thy're too far away to concern anyone.

SS

[Dragonfly]

Hi,

If it is any use, the following is a great and cheap way of dealing with fruit flies in the house.

Take one open mouthed jar (such as a 1lb. honey jar) add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, few drops of washing up liquid and about 1/2 inch of malt vinegar. Swirl the liquid around to mix and to coat about 1 inch of the inside above the level of the liquid.  Leave the jar on a shelf, work surface, etc. and the flies home in to the smell of vinegar and sugar, will climb down the inside slip on the slightly soapy inside, plunge into the liquid and drown.  

Wash out and replenish jar everyday.

Enjoy,
Dragonfly

[mumofstig]

yup this does work as a trap but doesn't find the source of the infestation!

As i said when i had them i had more inside than on the compost :oops: