Hibiscus under attack by fruit flies

[kjross88]

I have two hibiscus trees in my house, only about 10 feet from each other. One is slowly budding, but the buds are covered in small flies (fruit flies??). The other tree is not budding, but also doesn't even have the flies near it.
The flies are small and slow moving. I think they're black and they have clear wings. I found some information on fungus gnats, but from what I found, those are very fast moving and hard to kill. I don't see any flies living in the soil, however I did not pull the plant out and repot in clean soil to really inspect.
Does anyone have an idea what these flies might be or how to get rid of them? I haven't tried anything yet, I just noticed them a couple days ago. I might try some sticky paper. The flies are attracted to my window so I've just been vacuuming them.

Any ideas/tips/knowledge would be helpful and I would be very grateful. It's been difficult to find information on the internet.

[JoParrott]

I am guessing they are aphids- they typically get on buds, and come in all colors- Hose them off with a hard blast of water and they try an insect control that is safe for hibiscus-

[rainbowgardener]

Check your plant carefully. Even if these really are flies (aphids don't fly and for much of their life cycle don't have wings), the underlying problem may still be aphids. Aphids excrete a sweet sticky substance called honeydew. The honeydew attracts flies and other things that like the sweet. So if you get rid of the aphids (they are slow and stupid and will sit there and let you squish them) and wash the honeydew off, the flies should go away.

[Mr_bobo_]

Yes on my Hibiscus outside come black aphids every year...
...you have in agricultural store powder for them...
...or you can use ashes...it also work...

[Ech]

I would take some garlic, thyme and rosemary, throw it in blender till its mush, then dilute with water and spray it on a few leaves. See if that keeps them away.