HelpfulGardener.com

Hi all,
I'm having a lot of trouble with fruit flies lately...they're all over my garlic and carrots, and my lentils(when they wanna grow properly for me). I had my parents tell me to put out apple cider vinegar mixed with water and they would be gone.....well, some died their watery deaths but there were still enough that followed us to our new place. And lately I'm seeing more and more fruit flies. Obviously the vinegar didn't work(I've tried leaving just pure vinegar out to kill them and nothing) so is there anything I can do or do we just have to deal? And is it okay these little things are all over our growing veggies? >____<

Where are you located? It sounds like you are talking about outdoor situation, is that correct?

In South Africa, jcrous is having problems with fruit flies on cucurbits.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... =4&t=57032

But yours sound different? They could be onion flies and carrot flies which lay eggs near the base of the plants and the maggots will burrow in the roots. I don't know if they will respond to vinegar. I don't have too much problems with these pests so I hope others who have more experience will respond. My first thought was predatorial nematodes, ground diatomaceous earth, and (this is too Kate for already infested bed but) covering with insect barrier cloth as soon as the bed is planted to keep them out.

Vinegar will attract other kind of fruit flies -- the kind that lay eggs in spoiled fruits and perhaps tomatoe, etc.

There are fruit fly baits for fruit and vegetable damaging fruit flies. They are not vinegar flies that bother over ripe fruit indoors.

You can make it or buy it. It is called GF 120 it kills both males and females on the host plant. It does not last long so you need to know where they congregate and time the spray to when the fruit are ripening and repeat spraying often. One bottle can make a lot of spray.

It contains spinosad (the bacteria to kill the fruit flies) yeast and molasses. It is usually sprayed on the host plant. Oddly enough the host is not the fruit or vegetable but more likely grass, or ornamental tree or shrub. You need to set out the bait traps to know where they frequent.

Regardless of what kind of fruit fly you have the basics would still apply
1 Identify the bug. Capture one and take it to your local extension office or post a picture someone may be able to identify it.
2. Good sanitation. Keep things covered and get rid of old stuff
3. Monitor the population. We would make yeast trap out of a plastic bottle and hang it in different areas to see where the flies are congregating
4. Put out protein bait on host plants when fruit are in season
5. Put out lures for males all year round.

file:///C:/Users/Amy%20Teves/Downloads/GF-120-NF-QA.pdf
https://www.extento.hawaii.edu/fruitfly/ ... rotein.pdf

If your veggies are in bloom and they are after carrots and onions
could you have carrot flies instead?
https://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/cultivation2.html

There are some beneficial insects that will hover around members of the parsley family and some of them are flies and good for the garden
https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/syrphid_flies.html

Applestar: maybe....we have onions but I don't leave those out, just the carrot tops that I'm tryna regrow. maggots?? should I be worried about the plants I've got or even the soil??? I'm in Nevada, btw. I've actually got everything inside for now cos I'm paranoid our weather could get too cold for everything to just be and stay out.

imafan26: idk about type, but I know they're rather brown, not really big but kinda...fat? it's like they're big on a small scale if that makes any sense.

does that mean I would have to cover anything we are growing? the only thing we leave uncovered is the sugar and nothing has gone near that. though that makes me really question the real sugar part of it....

and thanks, we'll be sure to look up the gf 120^___^V

OK indoors in Nevada, then the environment might be similar to mine.

If the insects are little black and have pointy abdomen, then these are probably fungus gnats. The fungus gnat maggots feed on soil fungi and new tender roots. The plant soil mix is being kept too moist and need to be allowed to dry on the surface between waterings. Cinnamon in water or chamomile tea are natural fungicides and can help reduce the amount of fungi growing in the mix to help reduce the population. Fungus gnats can sometimes live in sink area that constantly stays wet.

If the insects are brown to tan and sometimes have red eyes then they are fruit flies. Sometimes fruit flies are brought home during wintertime with the groceries. Onions are often suspect in addition to fruits. They will breed in spoiled fruit and vegs, and sometimes food debris in drains.

Fungus gnats can be trapped with an open bowl of sooy/sudsy water. I find that something floral works well and use my kids' shampoo which has a faint violet fragrance. They can alsobe trapped on yellow or white plastic coated with petroleum jelly or Cisco-type grease. I use plastic stencils, used K-cups and pudding cups placed on soil or around the plants.

Fruit flies can be trapped with vinegar water. Best if you put in a narrow mouth jar or wide neck bottle with a bit of overripe fruit or banana or juice, then tape a funnel cone made with a piece of card stock paper (I use magazine subscription and junk mail cards). Twist the card into a funnel with opening 1/8" and tape seam, then insert and securely tape that to the mouth of the jar/bottle. Fruit flies can get in but can't get out.