Neem oil and fruit fly

[JOHANDER]

Hi! I need your opinion.

Recently I have bougth "Neem oil" for repeling fruit fly (vinagre fly).



This fly is a very annoying insect, because millions of their fly around the compost bin.

I have red, that Neem oil is usefull for repeling fruit flies.

What is your opinion?

Do you know any other product to use?

If do you use Neem oil, how do you use it?

Thanks.

[imafan26]

GF120 is a general purpose bait for fruit flies.

It is primarily made of yeast, sugar (or fruit juice) and spinosad.

It is sprayed on host plants but it is only good for about 24 hours

https://www.dowagro.com/ca/prod/GF120.htm

There are other types of general fruit fly traps. This is just one of them.

https://yatesau-production.s3.amazonaws. ... _Yates.pdf

[applestar]

I don't think I would use neem oil or any product that could be detrimental to predatory insects and other predators like spiders.

You are never going to have a "pristine" bug-free compost area, nor would you want to since they are part of the composting process, so it stands to reason that you would not want to harm the predators/beneficials that would control the unwanted population. My compost piles are locatèd next to the brush pile and the entire area is full of orb weaving spider webs, and the general compost pile area is home to centipedes and ground spiders (including Rollie pollie/sow bug killer = wood louse spider), ground beetles, and other predators.

I suppose if fruit flies are a serious problem, you could make traps for them. I've never considered using them outside, but I do make them when there is a fruit fly invasion/explosion in the house.
- A wide mouth jar with a piece of spoiled fruit and bit of vinegar and dribble of dish soap
- a paper cone made of card stock rolled into a funnel with a tiny hole at the cone tip
- securely tape the cone to the mouth of the jar with the hole of the cone inside the jar and about 1" above the bait
- shake the soapy solution in the jar to kill off the trapped fruit flies, wash out and and replace every 3-4 days

[rainbowgardener]

You shouldn't need to use the Neem. It is not typical for compost pile to have "millions" of fruit flies. They aren't harmful to it but probably make it unpleasant to be near. It is most likely an indication that your pile is staying too wet and maybe is mostly food scraps.

Whenever you add food scraps or other wet greens, be sure you cover them with a good layer of dry browns. At this point to get rid of the fruit flies, I would suggest adding more browns, shredded paper or fall leaves or whatever you are using for browns, and mixing them in. If your pile is open to the rain and you are getting a lot of rain, consider covering it so it can dry out a bit. You want your pile to stay just a little bit damp, but not wet or soggy.

[imafan26]

If the fruit scraps are buried in the pile it should not attract that much insects. I know it has to buried at least 18 inches deep for disposal.

[SunBakedParadise]

As stated earlier Fruit flies are generally attracted unburied fruit and vegetable scraps. They may also be fungus gnats which are fans of moisture. Both issues can be resolved by turning in dry brown matter.

I have a little bit of personal conflict with neem, I know how effective it can be in deterring pests. It causes neurological problems and most pests forget how to eat, reproduce and other kind of cruel (yes I KNOW they're just bugs) ways to die. My concern is for the beneficial bugs that just happen to eat one of these dieing aphids or just happen to be crawling on a neem treated plant

[rainbowgardener]

re the Neem. Yes they do die slowly sometimes by starvation. The part about the beneficial bugs is why I specified spraying at night. Once it has dried, the residue is harmful only to insects that ingest it, that is leaf eaters. It won't harm anything else. I can't document it, but I don't believe the Neem is harmful to ladybugs or other creatures that might eat the aphid that has contacted the Neem.