8 Ways To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies In Compost | Will It Compost (2024)
One of the best ways to permanently eliminate fruit flies is by avoiding providing them with the food they like so much – rotting fruits and veggies, beer, wine, dried fruits, sugar molds, and more.
Are you worried about the annoying little pets in your compost? Well, you’re not alone. Fruit flies are a common problem for composters.
These tiny flies are the larvae of the vinegar flies (Drosophilidae family), which is why they are so attracted to things like banana peels, oranges, and apple skins that tend to accumulate in composting bins.
Once you get them started, it becomes a vicious cycle. The fruit flies lay their eggs on the decomposing kitchen waste, and when those eggs hatch, you end up with even more adult flies ready to lay more eggs on your compost pile.
What’s worse is that they can quickly spread from your kitchen into other rooms of your home, where they can feast on other sources of rotting fruits and vegetables.
So, how do you get rid of fruit flies in your compost?
To help you deal with fruit fly infestations, we’ve put together some of the important details you need to know and tips to help you squash the tiny flies in your compost. Read on to find out more.
Table of Contents
Why Are There So Many Fruit Flies in Compost?
Although fruit flies are only a nuisance in compost bins, they’re a sign of too much rotting organic matter.
If your compost bin is heavily populated with rotting organic matter, expect it to attract these tiny visitors. Fruit flies are usually attracted to the sweet smell of decaying fruits and vegetables in your compost heap.
Another reason flies might infest your compost pile is the moist and warm environment in your bin, which provides favorable conditions for laying eggs.
Is It Normal to Have Fruit Flies in Compost?
Yes, it’s normal to have fruit flies in your compost. It’s also possible for the fruit flies to be present even when there are no issues with your compost pile.
Fruit flies are a common problem in the summertime when warm temperatures and high humidity cause them to breed quickly.
Are Fruit Flies in Your Compost Good or Bad?
Generally, no one wants these annoying flies buzzing around their ears, but the truth is that they’re harmless and good for your compost. This is because their poop can add nutrients while their maggots feed on organic matter, speeding up decomposition.
However, studies have shown that these tiny critters can be a hazard for humans because of the spread of disease-causing pathogens.
How To Get Rid of Fruit Flies in Your Compost Bin
Did you know several DIY solutions only call for standard home goods that can make getting rid of fruit flies in your compost pile hassle-free?
Well, here are some of the methods you should try:
1. Get rid of the food Source
Getting rid of the food source? Yes, you read that right. There are reasons why this tops our list as one of the preferable ways to get rid of fruit fly infestation.
Obviously, these tiny cl*tters need a source of food to survive; therefore, starving them means permanently eliminating the problem.
All you need to do is remove any food source—kitchen waste, especially fruits and vegetable peelings—from your kitchen counters and compost bins.
2. Use a Vinegar Trap for Adult flies
To efficiently eliminate or stop fruit flies from infesting your compost heap, kill the adult flies in the first place to prevent them from breeding readily.
One of the best ways of eliminating adult flies is using a vinegar trap because they can’t resist its smell.
Here is what you’ll need to make this trap:
Apple cider vinegar
A glass jar
Warm water
Dishwashing soap (preferably citrus scented)
Plastic wrap
Pour about 1 cup of apple cider vinegar into a glass jar with warm water. Add a few drops of dish soap to the mixture to remove surface tension so the flies can drown inside it.
Cover the glass jar using plastic wrap, and poke a couple of holes in it using a needle or toothpick. Then place the glass jar near the fruit flies and watch them flock into it.
Extra Tip: Because vinegar loses potency over time, you should replace it at least after a day or two.
3. Make a Fruit Fly Trap
Don’t have vinegar? Worry not. There are other ways to use homemade fruit fly traps to eliminate the little buggers in your kitchen compost bin.
These include:
Rotten fruit trap: Place some finely chopped rotting fruits in a bowl and cover them tightly using plastic wrap. Make a few holes (which should be large enough to enable the fruit flies to crawl through but not escape) on the wrap using a toothpick.
Wine bottle trap: The little critters love the smell of wine because it shares the same characteristics as fermenting fruits. Place a bottle with a few drops of wine close to the fruit flies to catch them.
Beer trap: Like vinegar and wine, beer acts as a fruit fly attractant. Put roughly a half-cup of beer in a mason jar, make a few holes on the lid and place it near fruit flies. The buggers will gulp down the booze, and before you know it, they’ll be drowning.
Banana peel trap: Taking advantage of the fact that fruit flies love bananas is yet another way to use your kitchen waste properly. Put the banana peels in a plastic container and cover them with plastic wrap, poking holes in the wrap as you go (large enough for the flies to zero in).
4. Freeze Kitchen Waste
The groceries you purchase at your local food store may be already infested with fruit fly eggs and larvae.
For this reason, store food scraps you intend to compost in the freezer. The cold temperatures will eliminate the fruit fly eggs.
You can store the scraps using a plastic bag or buy a freezer compost bin.
5. Consider Hot Compost
You’re probably aware of how essential hot compost is to accelerating decomposition. Well, it also comes in handy when dealing with fruit fly problems.
Research by Cambridge University suggests that temperatures above 45 °C kill any fruit fly eggs and larvae (maggots).
Therefore, if you keep your compost bin temperatures operating between 45-60 °C, be sure that the little visitors will not survive inside your pile.
6. Add Brown Material to Your Compost
Typically, there should be a balance between green and brown particles in good compost. However, in this instance, the greens (fruit and vegetable waste) in your compost pile are what the fruit flies are attracted to.
To make your compost pile less alluring for the fruit flies, you might choose to add more brown materials like shredded paper, sawdust, leaves, and hay.
7. Seal Your Compost Bin
Sealing your compost bin every time you add food scraps is another easy yet efficient approach to dealing with fruit fly infestation.
This will not only assist you in getting rid of the undesirable company, but it will also keep off odors.
Remember that the organic material in your compost heap needs oxygen to decompose. Therefore, you need to seal your composter to permit air to flow inside the bin.
8. Wrap Scraps Up
Before throwing any food scraps into your compost bin, wrap them in old newspapers to keep flies away.
The newspapers will eventually decompose and add value to your compost because they’re a component of the brown material in your compost. This technique aids in controlling the rotting-material odor that draws fruit flies.
Are Fruit Flies Harmful to The Compost Pile? Fruit flies are generally considered harmless even to your compost pile. The tiny little critters do not have teeth and do not bite. They are only a nuisance although cannot harm your composting pile.
Are Fruit Flies Harmful to The Compost Pile? Fruit flies are generally considered harmless even to your compost pile. The tiny little critters do not have teeth and do not bite. They are only a nuisance although cannot harm your composting pile.
If the compost is too wet, the flies are more likely to be attracted to the rotting material. If this is the case, you should add more browns such as shredded leaves, cardboard or newspaper. I hope that this information will help you with your fruit fly problem.
Yes, vinegar can go in the compost. Vinegar is made from a variety of diluted alcohol products, the most common being wine, beer, and rice. It is an alcoholic liquid that has been allowed to sour and is primarily used to flavor and preserve foods and as an ingredient in salad dressings and marinades.
Mix four parts water with one part hydrogen peroxide and soak your soil with the solution. Neem oil can also be diluted with water and applied to the soil to kill larvae. You can also use neem oil as a spray to kill adult flies on contact.
These little flies are vinegar flies or drosophila, and the reason why they're found in the compost bin or worm farm is because they feed on and breed in rotting fruit and vegetable matter, and their larvae (maggots) feed on micro-organisms. They're short-lived, with a lifespan of around 50 days.
If you're dealing with an infestation on your indoor plants, you can make a strong solution of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and four parts water. You can then use this mixture to saturate the soil the next time that you water your plants. Let the soil dry for a few days and the infestation should be taken care of.
Fill a bowl with vinegar and add a drop of dish soap, mixing well. The stale sweetness of the apple cider vinegar tempts flies, and the dish soap works to decrease the surface tension of the liquid, causing the flies to become immersed immediately upon investigating the solution and unable to escape.
Fill a small bowl with apple cider vinegar and 2 drops liquid dish soap. Mix well and leave on the counter (away from pets). Fruit flies will be drawn to the bowl and meet their demise.
The microorganisms in compost need both nitrogen and carbon to work. If there is too much carbon, the process will slow down. To speed up the process try adding 'greens' – items that are high in nitrogen, such as grass clippings or manure.
In laboratory scale experiments using a microcosm thermally contained system, hydrogen peroxide exerted a triggering effect on the composting process. Upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide the temperature in the composting mass increased at a significantly faster rate than in the control.
Most pests and houseflies appear in compost piles because they are filled with their natural food. Once they eat, they lay eggs in the same area, trying to guarantee a food supply for their young. These eggs hatch into larva, or maggots, in a few days, compounding the “ick factor” connected to flies.
In fact, they play a role in breaking down plant and animal tissues. Often, these maggots are the larval life stage of compost-dwelling soldier flies, according to Linda Brewer, Oregon State University Extension Service soil scientist. This European insect (Hermetia illucens) is found everywhere in North America.
As a rule of thumb, actively decomposing materials should be turned every three to four days. Materials with slowed microbial activity can be turned less often. In tumblers, turning two times a week resulted in higher temperature and faster decomposition than turning once a week or once every other week (Figure 1).
Do you have a fruit fly problem but hate using the sticky traps. Put a few drops any dishwashing liquid in a small dish of water and place it by the fruit on your counter. Fruit flies are attracted to it and will fly into the water and die.
What kind of vinegar kills fruit flies? Actually, the vinegar is not what kills the fruit flies. Vinegars like balsamic or apple cider work as bait to attract them, but you have to add something like alcohol or soap to the bait solution in order to kill them.
Cinnamon is a powerful natural fungicide, which kills off the gnats' primary food source, therefore making the soil inhospitable. You can also use a cinnamon stick, just pop it straight into the soil. You can grab either cinnamon sticks or powder next time you're doing your supermarket shop.
The first and best way to keep flies off your compost is to make sure that the lid is nice and tight on your compost bin. This will not only keep the rain out, but it will also dissuade any vinegar flies from landing on or feeding on your fruit scraps.
These white stringy elements appear in hot compost, especially when that compost has a woody component. These are called actinomycetes, and should be considered a normal part of the hot composting process.
The easiest way to kill them is boiling water, but we obviously don't want you dumping boiling water into your compost bucket. We've had some success spraying them with standard household white vinegar (5%).
Pour Boiling Water Down the Drain- Fruit flies can usually survive typical water flow down the drain, but boiling some hot water and pouring it down can kill flies and their eggs. Peptanks points out that this may be done a few times a week for a couple of weeks to make sure you kill any future generations of flies.
A drain fly, also known as a sewer fly, has a moth-like appearance with fuzzy wings, antennae, and black or brown coloring. A fruit fly has red eyes and a body that can range from brown to yellow with dark stripes or spots.
These antennae are specially attuned to sniff out chemicals like acetic acid let off by rotting fruit, and once they're locked on to the scent, it's nearly impossible to keep them out of your home. That's because fruit flies are about the size of a sesame seed, so they can slip through almost any crack, screen, or gap.
Pour apple cider vinegar (ACV) into a small bowl, then mix in a few drops of dish soap. Apple cider vinegar works better than white vinegar for fruit flies because it smells like fermenting fruit. Red wine vinegar will also work, but it tends to be more expensive than ACV.
Bleach is an effective product to use in drains to help get rid of fruit flies. The bleach will help get rid of the clogged decaying organic material that is attracting the fruit flies. Pour bleach into the drain, following label instructions, and then flush the drain with fresh water.
If you find your fruit flies impervious to your plastic wrap or paper cone traps, try adding three drops of dish soap to a bowl of vinegar and leave it uncovered. The soap cuts the surface tension of the vinegar so the flies will sink and drown.
Several natural enemies can contribute to the suppression of fruit flies. Major natural enemies are parasitic wasps (parasites the maggots of fruit flies) and predators such as rove beetles, weaver ants, spiders and birds and bats.
Fact: Fruit flies are attracted to and feed on decaying fruits and vegetables, drinks (including beer and wine), spills, coffee grounds, drains, trash cans, dirty mops, towels, damp clothing, moist pet food and indoor houseplants.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
Mix some isopropyl alcohol and water together and pour into a spray bottle.Spray it all over the area where the fruit flies are located, and they will die on contact. While you're spraying down the area for fruit flies, the mixture will also rid your kitchen of mold, bacteria, and other unwanted substances.
Fruit flies especially think vinegar is good—particularly apple cider vinegar, says Hedges. But if you put a cup of apple cider vinegar out on your counter—a common trap tactic—you won't kill the pests. You will only make the problem worse, since fruit flies can actually breed in the cup.
Fruit flies often come in to your home through cracks in walls, loose seals around doors or windows, or via eggs laid inside of a piece of produce from the grocery store. Fruit flies can seem to come from out of nowhere to infest your home, but this is mainly due to how quickly fruit flies breed and develop.
Citrus fruit, tomato products and pickled food products can do harm to your compost. High acidity can actually kill the good bacteria that helps break down the material in your compost pile.
Don't add fish, meat, dairy products, bones, baked goods, fatty foods or grease to your compost pile. These food scraps do not easily decompose and may attract animals. Don't use diseased plants or plants that are toxic to other plants.
Black walnut leaves, twigs, and especially the roots contain a natural substance called juglone that stunts the growth of many plants and may even kill them. Certain plants seem more sensitive, including edible crops such as tomato, pepper, and potato, and ornamentals such as azalea, viburnum, and hydrangea.
After the pile reaches around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, you want to stop adding greens and limit the amount of browns so that the compost can cure. Keep turning the piles regularly to add oxygen.
You can put your compost pile in the sun or in the shade, but putting it in the sun will hasten the composting process. Sun helps increase the temperature, so the bacteria and fungi work faster. This also means that your pile will dry out faster, especially in warm southern climates.
Decomposition will be complete anywhere from two weeks to two years depending on the materials used, the size of the pile, and how often it is turned. Compost is ready when it has cooled, turned a rich brown color, and has decomposed into small soil-like particles.
Yes, vinegar can go in the compost. Vinegar is made from a variety of diluted alcohol products, the most common being wine, beer, and rice. It is an alcoholic liquid that has been allowed to sour and is primarily used to flavor and preserve foods and as an ingredient in salad dressings and marinades.
Baking soda neutralizes the stench by destroying the microbes and the bacteria that create the odor. However, when you add baking soda to your compost pile, you end up killing the microbes thereby destroying your pile.
Most piles have a few fruit flies and fungus gnats. If they don't bother you, they're not hurting the pile. But don't let them get out of hand. Fungus gnats can do damage to your plants, especially the roots, and can spread to your garden when you apply finished compost.
If the compost heap is kept too moist, fungus gnats can become an annoyance. These issues can be solved by maintaining the ratio of materials and turning the compost heap frequently. Food scraps must also be covered with garden debris and yard trimmings as they are added to the pile and turned.
Fruit flies and fungus gnats feed on rotting organic debris in potting soil, so they're a common problem for plant lovers. You might also find them in the kitchen, feeding on overripe fruits.
Remember, fruit flies are attracted to acidic conditions, so it is a good idea to re-balance the pH of your compost to dissuade flies. To do so, simply add water to your compost pile. For best result, make alkaline water and use that (1 x tea spoon of baking soda per 1L of water).
It will lose much of its value if materials are left to decompose too long. The more time compost is left to sit around, the more “colloidal” it becomes. In other words, it becomes more and more compact as the composting microbes continue to feed on the waste materials.
Make the natural habitat inhospitable. This means drying out the soil they live in because fungus gnat larvae need moist soil. If you let it dry out completely before your next watering, it will get rid of the gnats in the soil and discourage new adults from laying their eggs.
Yes, those bananas you brought home from the grocery store may already harbor a new generation of fruit flies. If you let your tomatoes over ripen on the vine before picking them, you may be harvesting fruit fly eggs along with your crop.
The smell of ripening fruit and decomposing produce attracts these insects. While fruit flies become a pest problem throughout the year, generally they are most likely to be an inside pest during the summer and fall if food is abundant. However, they can also be a problem year-round.
Shape: Thinking about fruit flies or gnats in comparison to other pests can help identify them. Fruit flies have a rounded silhouette like a smaller version of the common house fly. On the other hand, fungus gnats feature dangling legs and long bodies that make them appear similar to a small mosquito.
This would be no big deal for a patient gardener, but an anaerobic compost pile makes a lovely home for sow bugs, pill bugs, and earwigs—all undesirables.
Fungus gnats are small flies that infest soil, potting mix, other container media, and other sources of organic decomposition. Their larvae primarily feed on fungi and organic matter in soil, but also chew roots and can be a problem in greenhouses, nurseries, potted plants and interior plantscapes.
If you can spare a little space for it, a freezer compost bin is one of the best ways to avoid fruit flies. Then, when you are ready, you can transfer to your outside compost bin at your leisure.
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