Nothing is sweeter than taking a bite out of a piece of homegrown fruit right from your own backyard garden!
Unfortunately, there are many different wild animals and pests that also want to take bites of your delicious fruit.
Of these many pests, fruit flies are some of the worst and it’s important to know how to deal with them when they do make an appearance.
How to Know Your Garden Has Fruit Flies
When it comes to fruit flies, the easiest way to see if there’s an infestation is to look for the larvae instead of the adults. Adults will be busy flying around, but the larvae are little maggots (yes, we said maggots) that stay put inside of the fruit.
These maggots (c’mon, bear with us) hatch from eggs that are laid within the fruit and will live here until they are fully grown. While they are growing, they will destroy the fruit they inhabit from the inside out.
Even the most beautiful looking piece of fruit can be infested with fruit flies and their larvae. So if you suspect fruit flies in your garden, collect a few pieces of fruit from different parts of the garden and slice them open.
What to Do When You Have a Fruit Fly Infestation
- Prune your fruit trees on a regular basis to ensure fruit will always grow within reach of picking.
- Remove ripened fruit before it has a chance of falling to the ground on its own or becoming a breeding ground for adult fruit flies to lay their eggs.
- Inspect the ground of your garden for fallen fruit and place the fruit in plastic bags. If it’s filled with maggots, either leave the bag in the sun or place it in the freezer for a week. This will kill
- the maggots and prevent them from growing into adult fruit flies.
- Do NOT place fruit in your compost bin. Fruit flies will be able to lay their eggs in any fruit as long as they have access to it.
- If your home becomes filled with fruit flies because you brought in infested fruit, contact Knockout Pest Control for relief.
