TreeHugger Tip: Eco-Friendly Way to Kill Fruit Flies
by Chris Tackett, San Francisco 
on 07.15.08
How do you get rid of fruit flies?
Recently, I've been suffering from a fruit fly invasion of impressive magnitude. And despite a few attempts at ridding myself of these flies, I haven't been able to get things under control. I'll swat and kill as many flies as I can see, but still the next time I turn around there are even more flies gently fluttering about my kitchen, in what I can only assume is some sort of fruit fly taunting ritual. How are there more? I've even begun to fear that these are possibly zombie fruit flies, returned from the dead to haunt my dreams and attack my organic bananas. I'm scared. Okay, I'm not really scared, but it is driving me a little crazy.
That's why I was so pleased to see this new TreeHugger Video Tip sent in from Jonathan over at Chelsea Green. If you don't have them or you already know how to kill fruit flies, this tip may not be new to you, but I wanted to share it for those that may be unaware. In the video, he shares a simple method he uses to rid himself of pesky fruit flies. More on his method and our other TreeHugger TIps after the jump.
To kill fruit flies, Johnathan uses a simple mixture of some common household ingredients.
TreeHugger Tip: How-To Kill Fruit Flies
1. Combine the following in a small cup or dish.
- 1 part water
- 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 or 3 drops of dish soap
2. Place cup and mixture near your fruit.
3. Head outside for a nice bike ride or walk
4. Return later to find your flies resting peacefully dead at the bottom of the cup.
5. Show the cup to the younger fruit flies as a lesson to think twice before messing with you.
Joking aside, what's good about this is that it isn't requiring any toxic chemicals or some plastic mass-produced contraption designed to catch the flies. It's a good solution with a limited impact compared to other options.
Jonathan says the water is just used so you don't need as much cider vinegar and the way it works is that the scent of the cider attracts them and the small amount of soap helps soften surface tension of the water so the flies sink.
I think I'll give this method a try!
Do you have any tips like this? If so, participate in our TreeHugger Tips series by sending in your own video explaining what it is you do that is good for the environment. And if you're new to this series, be sure to view all of our previous TreeHugger Video Tips.
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Old wine works well, too. Just something left at the bottom of a glass or the last little dregs in a bottle sitting on the counter the next morning.
I use this method and really like the results. The soap is essential, since it "negates" a lot of the surface tension which the fruit fly would normally utilize to stand on top of the vinegar. The one problem with this method is that if you have cats, they might be tempted to "accidentally" swat your fruit fly trap onto the floor.
This is why I now cover the cup with a perforated sheet of plastic wrap (held on by some tight rubber bands). This way, when your cat knocks the cup down, it will dribble - instead of splatter - onto the floor, giving you ample amount of time to clean up the mess if you're present at the time of spillage (or a smaller area to clean up if you're not).
This doesn't kill them, but it does contain them: Put a bit of fruit in a small jar. Fashion a funnel out of a piece of paper, place in opening of jar (pointy side down). The flies will go down the funnel but are too dumb to get back out.
We regularly empty the fruit fly jar along with the compost in what I call "The Witless Relocation Program."
I didn't know about cider and dish soap. Maybe I'll try it next time. The method I used horrified my wife. I told her I'd do anything that was cat (we have 5) and kid (we had 1 3 year old) safe but I was doing this until she came up with that idea.
1) Get a small microwave safe bowl that has a lid (I used a pyrex bowl). Place 1/4 of a banana in it.
2) Put the bowl out on the counter.
3) Every time you walk by and see flies, put the lid on and microwave the bowl for 15-20 seconds.
4) Remove the lid
5) Go to step 2.
Our infestation was gone in 4 days, with 90% gone in 4 hours.
Leave a half inch of beer in the bottom of the bottle. Leave for a few days. rinse. repeat.
I use the funnel and jar method, but instead of fruit I use cider vinegar, and I found an aluminum foil funnel works better than a paper funnel.
I'm more fond of my sundew. He also eats fungus gnats, mosquitoes, and other small flying insects. Even better - there's no clean-up!
Venus fly trap! Get a couple...
Couple of tips on fruit flies...
First off, look for them in places that they love to settle down which aren't fruit. The potting soil you have your houseplants in is the first place to look that isn't fruit. If you have an infestation of these buggers that you can't get rid of, I will bet you have a houseplant nearby. Another is open bottles of sweet stuff like Italian soda syrups. Those bar-style pourers don't all have a positive seal. Get ones that seal.
For fruit flies in potting soil, I've always had great success with just crumbling up a cigarette on top of the soil, and watering as usual. The tobacco juice kills them quick without hurting the plants, and it remains active for a long time.
For sugar ants, take a cup of water, a cup of honey and a tablespoon of laundry borax. Heat in a saucepan stirring 'til the borax is dissolved. Once cool, drizzle in sugar ant paths, trying to get as close to their entry point as you can find. It will take a day or two to knock out the first bunch, and then another application in about two weeks when the current crop of eggs hatch out. Keep applying this mix when the ants appear, and you will quickly knock out the nest.
glycerin should work too instead of dish soap..it might even work better.
Man! I always forget about carnivorous plants.
That's awesome!
OMG - I absolutely LOVE this remedy! I feel like an evil mad scientist, watching the fruit flies unwittingly crawl to their deaths! It's such a stress reliever after being swarmed by the little buggers for the last few hot weeks!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I just passed this idea on to about 150 people!
hey, just wondering where you live. where is this house?
what city? thanks.
I don't leave food out? I don't understand where they are coming from? I compost all the time and they aren't in my plants?????Its totally the weirdest thing.
I can't stand them!
This work beautifully! Within 35 minutes of putting on my counter I had 18 dead fruit flies. It is simple and works!
Note: My fruit flies were dead when they hit the solution. The soap I used was anti-bacterial, which may have made a difference.