Kitchen

[AngelPuppy1]

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@debic wrote:

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

We have not had a problem all summer with them and now -- all of a sudden they are terrible!

DH says they are because of the banannas which I leave on top of the microwave oven - but that is where I have always kept them and never had a problem.  

This is the only fruit or vegetable which is kept outside of the fridge.  

Over the course of the last few days they are just terrible!

Anyone else having problems with them?  Is it the time of the year? 

I mean, it's not good to keep banannas in the fridge, is it?

Any ideas?  Thanks!  

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As far as I know, gnats usually come with plants or store bought dirt.   I use the yellow sticky cards.   Cut them into 4ths and put them in my plants.   Takes forever to get rid of them, but I rarely see them now. 

There's sand and some kind of ground glass you can buy, but you need a lot of it in your plant and it gets dirty looking.

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@debic

We don't have any plants in the house currently.  They are still outside and we don't bring them in until the weather gets cold, so it can't be that.  I don't know --- it's crazy!

[AngelPuppy1]

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@SharkE wrote:

We had outside invasion of ants few months ago. Teeny , tiny little farts they were marching up the driveway and were everywhere. He sprayed tanks full of killer and I got 10 lb of boric acid and stuck it all around the house in the cracks of the foundation. They never got in praise heaven I was scared to death they would.

those little 10 oz containers of store bought boric acid wouldn't had made a dent in what we had going on. I found a place online that sold in bulk and bought first 5 lb , then , went back and got 10 lbs for the future. Don't know where they came from , they disappeared as fast as they showed up. Hopefully, we killed the Queen or they moved on.

I always read where gnats live in the garbage disposer drain. Pour bleach down it and that should show 'em.

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@SharkE

Oh, that's terrible!  I don't wany any kind of bugs in the house!  

You bring up a good point!  I hadn't thought of that - about the garbage disposal unit. I am going to try that!!!  

[AngelPuppy1]

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@momtochloe wrote:

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

We have not had a problem all summer with them and now -- all of a sudden they are terrible!

DH says they are because of the banannas which I leave on top of the microwave oven - but that is where I have always kept them and never had a problem.  

This is the only fruit or vegetable which is kept outside of the fridge.  

Over the course of the last few days they are just terrible!

Anyone else having problems with them?  Is it the time of the year? 

I mean, it's not good to keep banannas in the fridge, is it?

Any ideas?  Thanks!  

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Oh thank you for this @AngelPuppy1 as I thought it was just me!  It has kind of subsided already but good grief they drove me nuts for a couple of days . . .

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@momtochloe

Glad your problem is getting better.  Wish ours was!  I ditched the fruit but it's still not good! 

[AngelPuppy1]

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@poppinfresh wrote:

I too leave my bannanas on top of my microwave and when the gnats invade us, as they always do, I learned a trick that gets rid of them quickly. Fill a small bowl with apple cider vinegar, put plastic wrap over the top and poke holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick. For whatever reason, those pesky gnats will go for the vinegar and once inside the bowl they can't get out. I put the small bowl of vinegar on the counter right by my microwave.

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@poppinfresh

I'm game!  I can't take it any more.  Thanks!!!  

[AngelPuppy1]

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@Gokat wrote:

Lol @poppinfresh !  I was just reading this as I had a few of the little monsters driving me nuts this last week and found another version of your fix online... Add a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent to the vinegar and stir.  I left mine in a small glass bowl on the counter and they couldn't resist going for their final swim.  It seems the detergent forms a film on the vinegar so they can't escape once they dive in.  Works!

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@Gokat

Thanks --- hopefull it will work!

[momtochloe]

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

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@Gokat wrote:

Lol @poppinfresh !  I was just reading this as I had a few of the little monsters driving me nuts this last week and found another version of your fix online... Add a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent to the vinegar and stir.  I left mine in a small glass bowl on the counter and they couldn't resist going for their final swim.  It seems the detergent forms a film on the vinegar so they can't escape once they dive in.  Works!

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@Gokat

Thanks --- hopefull it will work!

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@AngelPuppy1, I remember @Gokat's suggestion from one of those "100 uses for Dawn dishwashing detergent" type articles and I know if those little buggers (pardon the pun) come back I am going to try this one too!

[debic]

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@SharkE wrote:

We had outside invasion of ants few months ago. Teeny , tiny little farts they were marching up the driveway and were everywhere. He sprayed tanks full of killer and I got 10 lb of boric acid and stuck it all around the house in the cracks of the foundation. They never got in praise heaven I was scared to death they would.

those little 10 oz containers of store bought boric acid wouldn't had made a dent in what we had going on. I found a place online that sold in bulk and bought first 5 lb , then , went back and got 10 lbs for the future. Don't know where they came from , they disappeared as fast as they showed up. Hopefully, we killed the Queen or they moved on.

I always read where gnats live in the garbage disposer drain. Pour bleach down it and that should show 'em.

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I've never had them in my drain, always in the dirt in my plants.   I've only had fruit flies once, thankfully.   They are just as annoying.

We keep our bananas in the fridge just because my husband likes them cold.

Sugar ants are a whole nother problem.   Thankfully we don't have them here, but at my Mother's in Utah and sister's in Oregon they were awful.     My sister actually had them get behind wall switch and short it out.  LOL, after replacing the disposal, they pulled out breakers.   The only conclusion was the wall switch was bad, when they took that off it had fried ants in between the connectors.   I just used soapy water.

[okaywitheasypay]

I usually have trouble with fruit flies when I bring in garden produce to finish ripening. I have found the different vinegar solutions helpful. This year I noticed I did not have any problem because I put them in front of a little table top fan ( Hunter circulating one from HSN fiftyish $ s --wonderful) . I have had it on about 3/4 of the day. I have not had any problem even when a tomato or two had a bad spot I did not know about and rotted. I truly think it is the fan that keeps them away.

I usually put mostly ripened bananas in the fridge. If they get forgotten and blacken , bury them next to your roses (they love them) or compost.

[hayseed00]

I use a small plastic pepsi bottle and mix some apple cider vinegar, a couple drops of dawn detergent and the most special item those little devils can't resist, a small amount of wine.  I then make a small paper funnel and put it in the top of the bottle, the fruit flies go down the funnel but can't get back out.  They love the cocktail !!!!!!!!!  Not pretty but very effective.

[PattyH]

I have recently had the same problem but with cherry tomatoes I picked from my garden.  I brought them into the kitchen and rinsed them in a strainer to dry.  I forgot them and they sat there all night.  By the next morning gnats were everywhere.  Turns out there were a few rotten tomatoes in the batch and the smell just attracted them.  I found an idea online that really worked.  I put cider vinegar into a plastic cup, covered it with saran wrap and locked it with a rubber band to make it tight.  Then I put about 5 very small holes in the plastic but big enough for them to get in.  Once they get in, it's hard for them to find the same way out.  It's a gnat trap!  I left it on my sink and in a couple of days, they were all gone.  No chemicals and I love the smell of vinegar so it was a win win situation!  Usually just removing the smelling fruit or veggie from the area will work but not when you have this many.  Good luck!