Are fruit flies a plague in your kitchen? With the summer heat coming (and kinda already here in some parts of the country!), plus ripe stone fruit, juicy tomatoes, and sticky cherries and grapes, tiny fruit flies can be an issue. Fortunately there are many ways to banish them from your kitchen — even before the first frost arrives. Here are our best tips and tricks to go fruit fly-free!
Fruit Fly 101: Know Your Enemy
But first, what are these pesky little gnats that float in front of your face and alight in clouds on your fresh fruit?
Fruit flies are tiny, quick-reproducing flies that either sneak into your house right on your fruits and vegetables, or flit in through minuscule window cracks and screens. Because they can grow from egg to adult in just over a week, fruit flies quickly set up well-established families in your kitchen and feed off any fermenting fruit they can find.
More about these pests: Fruit Flies! What They Are and How To Get Rid of Them
Is your kitchen clean enough? Watch the video!
How Do You Prevent Fruit Flies?
Unlike other larger pests, it’s tough to fight fruit flies by exclusion. They are so tiny and so prevalent in store-bought fruit that it’s quite likely you’ll deal with an infestation at some point in warm weather or stone fruit season. They die off when the cold comes, but if you live in a warm climate (or just can’t handle the little annoyances) and want to banish them, you’ll need to rely primarily on fly traps.
Having said that, I do find fruit flies are diminished when I keep the sink and counters clean of any drips of juice or scraps of vegetable peelings, and when I take out the trash regularly. We also eat up the fruit bowl quickly and don’t leave fruit sitting out for long. Don’t give them anything at all to eat — no mostly empty wine bottles or beer cans in an open recycling container, for instance.
Two Natural Deterrents for Fruit Flies
Besides general cleanliness, there are also some natural deterrents for fruit flies. We’ve posted positive reports on two natural spice and herb solutions that keep the population at bay.