The vinegar attracts the fruit fly and the detergent affects the vinegar s surface tension. Cover with a layer of grass or newspaper that is lightly moistened.
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Wrap the food with a couple layers of newspaper prior to placing in them in the bin.
Get rid of flies in compost. Place a fruit bowl filled with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap near your compost. Flies are attracted to vegetable and fruit peels so these scraps need to be buried in the bin. It will attract flies with its scent.
These little flies are vinegar flies or drosophila and the reason why they re found in the compost bin or worm farm is because they feed on and breed in rotting fruit and vegetable matter and their larvae maggots feed on micro organisms. Place closely spaced cinder blocks or bricks on the edges of the plastic cover to discourage flies from getting into the compost. Place a banana peel in a jar and cover it with plastic wrap cutting a small slit in the wrap.
Choose a sturdy plastic sheet that is large enough to cover the entire compost pile completely. Compost pile management is the fix for this problem. Fruit flies will be attracted to the banana peel and will enter the jar but will be unable to get out.
Soil allows air to get through and has a high carbon content. Some people report that boiling a pot of water or as many pots as you need and splashing it thoroughly on the compost heap will kill any flies making it their home as well as their eggs. They re short lived with a lifespan of around 50 days.
Exposed food scraps will attract flies. If that trick doesn t work you can get a little more aggressive and kill any flies in the compost heap by splashing boiling water onto the compost itself. If you use a lid shut it immediately after this step to trap the heat inside and steam the offending insects.
Do this when it s time to add water to your compost anyway to prevent the anti fly treatment from getting your moisture level out of balance. So when an unassuming fruit fly tries to drink the mixture it falls into it and is unable to get out. Spread the plastic sheet over the compost heap allowing the edges to lie on the ground next to the compost.
These eggs hatch into larva or maggots in a few days compounding the ick factor connected to flies. Lure flies away from your bin. Spread a layer of soil at the surface of your compost between 2 and 3 cm thick you can also use coffee grounds but soil will be a little bit more practical.
Flies will be able to come out of the compost through this barrier. Keep your fruit and vegetable scraps in an air tight container. This means that for every layer of food waste that is high in green nitrogen rich materials you should add at least half as much brown carbon rich material on top.
Leave your compost heap alone long enough and you could have a scene out of csi in the back of your yard. The best way to avoid an infestation of flies is to properly compost with a ratio of 2 1 green material to brown material.
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