Tired of fruit flies? heres the cure....

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monsterbronc

monsterbronc

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Fruit flies seem to be drawn to this stuff like its CRACK. and sometimes as hard as I try, the little buggers get in my brew and ruin a batch. And when you open the pantry and theres a swarm in there, its really obnoxious.

Here is the recipie for the PERFECT fruit fly trap.

in a serving bowl mix about 1/2 cup live Kombucha (not a scobie, just really fresh stuff) with 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 tsp dish soap.

now just leave it near your brew, and the little buggers drown themselves.

the reason it works, is because they are drawn buy the sugar and vinegar in the kombucha, and while normally they would be able to land directly on the surface because of surface tension and drink up, the soap ruins the surface tension and so it sucks em right in.:D
 
monsterbronc said:
Fruit flies seem to be drawn to this stuff like its CRACK. and sometimes as hard as I try, the little buggers get in my brew and ruin a batch. And when you open the pantry and theres a swarm in there, its really obnoxious.

Here is the recipie for the PERFECT fruit fly trap.

in a serving bowl mix about 1/2 cup live Kombucha (not a scobie, just really fresh stuff) with 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 tsp dish soap.

now just leave it near your brew, and the little buggers drown themselves.

the reason it works, is because they are drawn buy the sugar and vinegar in the kombucha, and while normally they would be able to land directly on the surface because of surface tension and drink up, the soap ruins the surface tension and so it sucks em right in.:D
Click to expand...
I like to use a small open container filled with apple cider vinegar. So far so good.
 
I used to keep my kombucha in closed cupboard and got fed up with the fruit flies. Was told to take out of cabinet for better ventilation because they were being drawn to confined CO2. No more pesky fruit flies.
 
I found the perfect thing is to use a homebrew grain bag. They are only $1. Just wrap it over your container and it lets it breathe well and keeps the flies out.
 
Thanks for the post OP! I still have a small swarm of them in my kitchen even though I just bottled my KT for second fermentation.
 
BethelLight said:
Tried this last night and unfortunately it didn't work. Oh well! Back to the vacuum cleaner.
Click to expand...

How did you set things up? I just jumped on here to say how well it's been working. I put about a quarter inch of kefir or kombucha in a small sauce dish, then add 2-3 drops of dish soap, give it a quick gentle stir (don't want to get the bubbles forming.) And place it next to my fermenting stuff. I was changing liquid every two days over the last couple weeks, but I only ever see one or two fruit flies around anymore. Everyone else is dead in the bottom of the dish. My kefir seemed to work the best. But that might have been because I tried it first and it killed the most due to a higher population.

Regards,
O.
 
I followed the recipe at the top of this thread. Only thing I changed was the volume. 1/4 cup kombucha, 1 tbs raw sugar, 1/2 tsp dish soap. Perhaps it was the smell of the soap but the next day there was a swarm of them around the mouth of my vessels but only one dead fruit fly.
 
You only need a small amount of dish soap to cut the surface tension of the liquid, think of a those old dish soap commercials where a drop clears the whole oily mess. I find it best to use a container with slick walls as well. I use a small pyrex bowl.

I got super mad at the fruit flies and put just apple cider vinegar in a bowl... Well, they ate it and made babies and I had tons more flies. The soap is key.

good luck and happy hunting. :)
 
scobysurfer said:
Are there commercial products intended to kill fruit flies?
Click to expand...

bleach and a vacuum cleaner ;)

I use a little bleach in my kitchen sink to kill anything hanging out in the strainer.
The vacuum cleaner/shop vac to suck buggers out of the air.
I use coffee filters on all my jars, I have no fly problems. Not a single ruined batch. Currently have 5 jars brewing in 2 different rooms.
 

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