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Fruit Flies

Posted: Tue 19-Jul-2022, 09:34
by CitrusintheSnow
Hey Guys,

We’re using a hungry bin. It’s kept in our shop which is shady and cool 15-20 degrees usually. Worms seem very happy and can see some castings all over the place. But constant fruit flies in our bin seems to be the issue. Do their eggs look like little white specs?

We recently let the bin sit without feeding for over two weeks until all fresh food was broken down but flies still persist.

I added some fresh veggie scraps yesterday and gave a good Biochar dusting. Smells very fresh and earthy in there which is good.

Any tips on reducing the fruit flies? Andrew told me overfeeding can cause them to start. So have been really slow on adding new stuff.

Re: Fruit Flies

Posted: Mon 25-Jul-2022, 05:53
by Andrew
I have found that by freezing the food waste before putting into the hungry bin will reduce fruit fly populations. Additionally maintaining a 4" layer of shredded paper on the top of your bin helps reduce their population as they will still hatch from the food you brought into your home, but the paper prevents or impairs them from reproducing in your bin. Pull back the paper each time you feed and then re-cover your food. Eventually the paper will disappear and you will need to re-add. I have found these two tips to be quite effective. We have our hungry in in our kitchen and we have no issues with the flies.

Re: Fruit Flies

Posted: Mon 25-Jul-2022, 07:16
by CitrusintheSnow
Awesome will do! And do you thaw the food waste from freezer before adding?

Re: Fruit Flies

Posted: Mon 01-Aug-2022, 21:33
by Andrew
I don't bother thawing no, and in the summer its a great way to help the worm bin beat the heat. I do however look and ensure I don't put frozen food directly onto worms. I like to open the hungry bin lid for a few minutes to allow the light to send the worms down before adding frozen items.

Re: Fruit Flies

Posted: Tue 02-Aug-2022, 07:13
by CitrusintheSnow
Ok great! Thank you for the advice!