How to Protect Your Fruiting Crops from Fruit Fly and Seasonal Recipe Ideas for Your Veggie Box
What should I protect from fruit fly If you grow any kind of fruit, including fruiting vegetables, chances are it will be susceptible to fruit fly attack. Tomatoes, capsicums and chillies are particularly sensitive, especially in the warmest Summer months, with January and February being the worst time for attack. Fruit fly can sting even when a fruit is small and green, so protection from the beginning is vital. Fruit fly stings are barely noticeable from the outside, looking like a tiny discoloured pinprick. However, when you cut the fruit open there will be brown or black pulp inside and possibly even squirming maggots. Yuck! How do I protect my fruit Fruit can be protected in a few different ways, and often a multi-pronged approach is best. When fruit is actually present it can be bagged or netted using fine insect mesh. However, as fruit fly is present year round, having traps out year round is also a good strategy. Picking up fallen fruit is also vital, so you don't create perfect conditions for fruit fly to breed in the fermenting fruit on the ground. How to make a fruit fly trap There are many recipes online for homemade fruit fly traps. At the farm, we use old 2L milk or juice bottles with 3 or 4 small holes drilled in them, about 5cm from the top. We leave the caps on, and fill the bottom 5cm or so with apple cider vinegar. This is highly attractive to fruit fly, who enter through the holes and can't find their way out again, drowning in the vinegar as they drink it. The traps need to be replenished with fresh vinegar if it evaporates, or becomes clogged with flies. We hang the traps every 10m or so about 1m from the ground. Still to come Next time, in our final blog of the year, I will talk about how to grow pumpkins and melons in a small space. This week's recipe links Easy Zucchini Casserole from Sally's Baking Addiction. Cucumber Canapes with Smoked Salmon Mousse from Recipe Tin Eats. Creamy German-Style Potato Salad from Taste. Burrata Salad with Crunchy Bread, Zucchini & Mint Dressing from Women's Weekly Food. More info To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.