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I have some young fruit trees,which I was given last Spring. I have moved them into the kitchen for the winter but they are attracting lots of fruit flies. How can I get rid of the flies without harming the young plants?
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Fungus gnats maybe? https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=804 -
"time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" Groucho Marx
I've had lots of small flies on things. Sometimes I've just thrown them away as it's not been solvable, but I've had a bit of luck by
covering the soil (wrap pot in a plastic bag)
fly paper
regular spraying with ecover cleaning spray (on the grounds that washing up liquid spray works on blackfly etc)
also try to make sure there is not other handy soil for them to infest.Comment
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Sounds like Fruit Flies to me. Reading your head line and the web search on similar experience:-
I went through to Kitchen on Christmas day. Ceiling was just covered with them. In that case went for the physical solution.... Rolled up paper... 10 mins.. no problem
Seems that if you have any fruit (or some types of veg) that are just past best and left, you could expect fruit flies. Yesterday found a piece of fruit in very bottom of Lemon and Lime / Citrus. Putting the invasion down to that.
One answer is said to be a bottle of wine vinegar - narrow top left off...
We had also just moved, so heating was on more, so that may have cause hatching from plant soil ?Comment
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Depending on the type of trees they are they might be better off outside - a lot of trees and shrubs don't react very well if kept too warm in the winter - of course if they are citrus or similar then they do need some warmth.Originally posted by Twynyrodyn View PostComment
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I suppose at this time of year you take their thermals off and let the cold kill them off, we don't heat the house overnight and it seems that it keeps the plants free from the compost flies, and you can put a strip of the bright yellow sticky tape that catches flies in the side of the pot as they can't seem to resist it..Originally posted by Twynyrodyn View PostComment
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What trees are they? You may find you aren't doing them any good by keeping them indoors ....
Sounds like fungus gnats...try to keep your compost on the top dry. If you need to water, place the plant in a tray rather than water from the top.Comment
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Unlikely to be fruit flies (drosophila m.) as they are attracted to sweet fluids such as rotting fruit, or beer (hence they are commonly called beer flies in the pub trade). If they are fruit flies its easy to tell, all you have to do is catch some in a glass container, knock them out (ether on cotton wool is my preferred method) then examine them. Incidentally while you're there you can sex them (males have a red dot on their back if memory serves) and you can start a breeding programme if you're so minded. After two or three generations you can get some very strange inbred little flies though so be careful not to breed within the same blood line for long.Comment
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They are likely better outside, they are not indoor plants. Also the cold is what will trigger things within the tree, you could cause them to not flower. The short days and cold acts to trigger events on plants.
In a similar vein people buy bonsai and as they are small they take them indoors and that invariably kills them. They are outdoor trees immaterial of size.Comment
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They are citrus trees, lemon, lime and orange. I am experimenting....I have pushed a split garlic clove into the gravel on top of the soil and I am spraying with garlic infused water. I will let you know if it works. Thanks for all your adviceComment
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So far, so good. ...It seems to have worked!Comment
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