Fruit Fly
Presenter: Phil Dudman
Episode: 23 (6th October 2007)
If there’s one pest that causes gardeners more heartache than any other, it’s got to be the Queensland Fruit Fly. It can destroy all kinds of fruit; figs, passionfruit, guava, mangos, avocados, stone fruits, tomatoes and citrus are all prone to attack.
It all starts with the adult flies which come along during the warmer months and lay their eggs just under the skin of the fruit. When the larvae hatch, they make their way to the centre of the fruit causing it to rot and often drop to the ground prematurely.
So the question is
What’s a good strategy for controlling this nasty pest?
The first thing we need to consider is hygiene. Any fruit on the ground needs to be regularly cleaned up, otherwise the flies will eventually emerge from the fruit and reinfect your orchard.
Can you throw this damaged fruit in the compost?
Well, yes you can, but you’ve got to make sure the larvae inside are dead first. One of the simplest ways to do that is to pop the fruit into a black plastic bag and leave it in the sun for a few days. The intense heat will sort them out quick smart. Hygiene is important for keeping fruit fly numbers down.
To keep any remaining flies off your fruit a successful option is to set up some sort of barrier, so that they can not even access the fruit. To do this all you need is a bunch of paper bags. All you do is slip the bags over the individual fruit and secure with a rubber band, if you like you can use a peg. You need to be onto it though, because most fruit are susceptible to attack as soon as they start to develop, therefore get the bags on early. It’s surprising how well these paper bags stand up to wet weather.
It seems like a time consuming job, but you only do it once and that’s all you need to do. When you compare it to spraying once a fortnight you are probably saving a lot of time.
Fruit Flies are out and about right now so it’s the right time to put these tips into practice.
Episode: 23 (6th October 2007)
If there’s one pest that causes gardeners more heartache than any other, it’s got to be the Queensland Fruit Fly. It can destroy all kinds of fruit; figs, passionfruit, guava, mangos, avocados, stone fruits, tomatoes and citrus are all prone to attack.
It all starts with the adult flies which come along during the warmer months and lay their eggs just under the skin of the fruit. When the larvae hatch, they make their way to the centre of the fruit causing it to rot and often drop to the ground prematurely.
So the question is
What’s a good strategy for controlling this nasty pest?
The first thing we need to consider is hygiene. Any fruit on the ground needs to be regularly cleaned up, otherwise the flies will eventually emerge from the fruit and reinfect your orchard.
Can you throw this damaged fruit in the compost?
Well, yes you can, but you’ve got to make sure the larvae inside are dead first. One of the simplest ways to do that is to pop the fruit into a black plastic bag and leave it in the sun for a few days. The intense heat will sort them out quick smart. Hygiene is important for keeping fruit fly numbers down.
To keep any remaining flies off your fruit a successful option is to set up some sort of barrier, so that they can not even access the fruit. To do this all you need is a bunch of paper bags. All you do is slip the bags over the individual fruit and secure with a rubber band, if you like you can use a peg. You need to be onto it though, because most fruit are susceptible to attack as soon as they start to develop, therefore get the bags on early. It’s surprising how well these paper bags stand up to wet weather.
It seems like a time consuming job, but you only do it once and that’s all you need to do. When you compare it to spraying once a fortnight you are probably saving a lot of time.
Fruit Flies are out and about right now so it’s the right time to put these tips into practice.
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