Fruit Fly Trap DIY

Hello again friends!

To begin, I apologize for the photo of the dead little fruit flies. I am guessing that you don’t have a weak stomach or a weakness for saving all of God’s creatures since you’re reading my post on Fruit Fly Trap DIY. I do try to be kind to all animals and creatures but there are some that I categorize as pests and have to take action against. The fruit fly is one these.

My kitchen counters are continuously filled with this season’s wonderful fruits and vegetables. From my neighbor’s cucumbers to my mother’s neighbor’s tomatoes to fresh peaches we bought from a local farm…I like to leave them at room temperature and usually stack them on the counters or place them in bowls for decor until eaten. As I am patiently waiting to eat these crops, the fruit flies (with no manners at all) begin to feast on my food! Just like regular flies, they are everywhere and very elusive.

I looked online for ways to prevent and remove fruit flies. There were many different articles with tips and tricks. The two most popular methods for fruit fly removal I found used everyday items in my kitchen. I decided to try them both and report my findings to you.

The first DIY fruit fly trap was simple…place banana peels in a bowl, seal the bowl with plastic wrap and punch small holes in the plastic wrap.

Simple!

The second method called for apple cider vinegar poured into a jar with a few drops of dish detergent added.

Yummy! At least, I hoped the fruit flies thought it was.

After mixing the apple cider vinegar and dish detergent, I took a piece of parchment paper and rolled it into a funnel to sit inside the jar. Any type of paper would do but I wanted to use either parchment or wax paper since they do not absorb water. If I moved the jar, I didn’t want to worry about getting the funnel wet. Looking back, I will probably use a taller, thinner jar next time.

I left both on my kitchen counter for one week. I continued to leave various fruit and vegetables sitting around the kitchen. I purposefully kept overripe fruits and vegetables around just to attract more fruit flies. At the end of the week, I really did not have any fruit flies left flying around in my kitchen. I was very happy!

I was shocked when I peeled back the plastic wrap and found NO fruit flies in the bowl with the banana peel. None.

The apple cider/dish detergent mix had many little fruit fly remains floating around in the jar. Looking from the bottom up, it was easy to see some of the flies that had settled at the bottom.

So…based on my kitchen fruit fly experiment, I would definitely recommend the jar/apple cider vinegar/dish detergent/funnel method when trying to control an unwanted fruit fly population.

We have a winner!

If you are currently fighting the good fight against these tiny bothersome pests, give this method a try and let me know how it works. I hope that you will get some relief and keep the good fruits and vegetables for yourself!

Thank you for stopping by Mulch and Paint today! I hope that you have a wonderful week and will visit again soon!

Don’t forget to pin this for later!!!