If there is a source of food, then there are chances to see fruit flies over there. Usually, you can see them moving into basements, bathrooms, and kitchens. Such disturbing creatures can even follow you to your compost bin.
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So you can say fruit flies are the chief reason why people avoid to go for composting. No one wants fruit flies in their home and garden to create a nuisance. Are you stuck with the same fruit flies issue? If yes, then read some of the below-mentioned tips to avoid such insects.
Why are fruit flies attracted to your compost?
No one can deny the role of fruit flies in decomposing vegetation. You can see them attracted to items like fruits because they produce alcohol by fermentation. The favourite place for any fruit fly to lay eggs in moist areas.
Apart from preferring moist areas, you can also see them in a warm environment. It provides the perfect source for fruit flies larvae to turn into an adult. However, you can easily prevent such creatures from being a source of frustration near your compost.
Ways to get rid of fruit flies
Freeze kitchen waste
Whenever you purchase any vegetable or fruit from the store, then you can easily spot fruit fly larvae and eggs. If you’re thinking to compost the scraps from such items, then we will suggest you refrigerate them overnight. But before that, keep food items in a plastic bag and then freeze them.
Switch to fruit fly traps
You can prevent the reproduction of annoying creatures by keeping fruit fly traps near or hanging above the pile. If you don’t want to buy it, then make that trap in your home with a plastic bottle and a lure inside it. For attractant, you can use wine or banana peels to attract the fruit flies.
Go for essential oils
With the aid of essential oils, you can keep the fruit flies aside for an immediate effect. You can use oils like eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, and lemongrass. Around the compost, just drop two drops of oil and watch how these flies avoid your compost.
Bury your greens
Greens like fruit and vegetable scraps are a favourite food of those annoying flies. So, while burying composting ingredients, it is better to not use greens on top of the soil. You’ll notice there will be no fruit flies because if they’ve nothing to feast on, then the only option is to leave. Overall, switch to a layer of soil comprising brown ingredients rather than green.
Prefer hot compost
With the hot compost pile, you can easily prevent the fruit flies’ larval stage, and thus, there will be no more such creatures’ huge population. Apart from killing the fruit flies, you can also avoid harmful bacteria present in the pile. If the compost bin has more temperature, then there the fruit flies will fail to stand out.
Use more browns
When you use more browns in your compost, then the environment of flies can be changed. You can spot fruit flies in a highly humid environment, but with the addition of cardboard, you can kill the humidity. Also, you can add crushed eggshells for reducing the nitrate content in the compost, which is again preferred by fruit flies.
Use fresh mint
The freshness we get with peppermint is soothing, but fruit flies don’t like them. If you sprinkle fresh mint on top of your compost, then its strong aroma will easily keep those flies away. So, why don’t you give it a try to peppermint and deter the fruit flies?
Aerate your pile
If you turn your compost bin regularly, then you’ll notice that there will be no fruit flies at all. By doing such things, you can boost the oxygen levels present in the middle of the pile. Plus point here is that more organisms’ growth will be encouraged to decay the compost bin.
Conclusion
Whenever you toss something new on the compost, then you can easily see a cloud of wings. Such frustrating creatures even have the potential to spread bacteria near your compost. However, you can prevent fruit flies issue by following the above-mentioned strategies.
