Where do midges come from in the kitchen?
Sometimes it is so difficult to determine where midges come from that it all comes down to fighting the insects themselves. Most of our compatriots divide all kitchen midges into flies (green, brown, black) and fruit flies. The problem is that small domestic gnats are much more diverse. Initially, you should decide where the midges in the kitchen come from. Sources can be very diverse:
- Ripe and rotten fruits, berries and vegetables. Individuals lay eggs on ripe fruits, which begin to rot. When they enter a room, favorable conditions are created for the development of a new generation of insects. It does not matter where the product is stored - in the refrigerator or on the table.
- Trash can and trash where a vacuum cleaner or mop cannot reach. An apple core under a cabinet is attractive to midges, just like fresh fruit. A dirty bucket, container, bottle attracts them no less.
- Sink drain. Most housewives believe that their sink is perfectly clean, but a large amount of waste constantly accumulates in the depths of the drain. Over time, if pipe cleaners are not used, nutrient rot will form there for insects to develop.
- Neighbours. Man is a social creature, and different people live in an apartment building: neat and not so neat. Even when one apartment is perfectly clean, you can see insects that have flown in through the ventilation from less clean owners.
- Indoor flowers (ground for them). Small earthen bugs can even appear in apartments on the top floors. They are attracted to high humidity and easily settle in plant soil.
Ridding houseplants of midges
Various indoor plants are often targeted by midges. We wrote more about the destruction of midges on flowers in this article. Here are some effective ways:
- Water the soil in pots with a weak solution of potassium permanganate , but it should not be too concentrated, otherwise there is a risk of burns to the root system.
- Watering the soil with a water solution with added soap.
- Watering the soil with garlic solution. To prepare it, you will need to turn 3-4 medium-sized heads through a meat grinder and fill with a liter of clean water. The product settles for 4-5 days, after which it is used to treat the soil.
- Burying orange peels in the soil.
- Place matches in the pot so that the sulfur head is in contact with the soil during subsequent watering. Once the sulfur is completely washed off, new matches must be used.
- Place 2-3 garlic heads , cut into pieces, in a pot.
- Sprinkling the soil with wood ash is a comprehensive measure that not only removes insects, but also fertilizes the soil.
Sweet midge trap
How to get rid of fruit gnats
The fruit fly or fruit fly does not tolerate clean rooms. This figurative definition suggests that before you take on detergents and dichlorvos, you need to clean up the kitchen. You can get by with folk remedies, but a few simple tips will help you get rid of fruit gnats without unnecessary effort and avoid the appearance of new insects:
- The source where the insects have appeared should be discovered and destroyed.
- Clean the kitchen thoroughly, especially if there are pets or children in the house.
- Garbage must be taken out daily and the trash can must be washed regularly.
- Place all food in the refrigerator or store in airtight containers.
- The area near the sink must be kept clean at all times.
Prevention of occurrence
It is often much easier to prevent the possible appearance of uninvited guests than to waste energy on removing them.
In particular, the following preventive measures are recommended:
- Store all products of plant origin exclusively in the refrigerator , do not leave the fruits on the kitchen table.
- Carry out preventive inspections of sewer pipes to prevent them from leaking.
- Monitor the sanitary situation in the apartment , empty the trash can in a timely manner.
- Store cereals, flour and other similar products only in hermetically sealed jars.
- Remove all accumulations of food waste particles from filters located under kitchen sinks.
- Follow the rules for watering indoor plants , as well as periodically carry out preventive treatment with special means.
- Regular washing of kitchen towels , floor rags and sponges.
How to get rid of onion midge
The onion midge infests in onions. This happens due to improper storage of vegetables in bags or sealed packaging, where they begin to become damp and rot. If insects start flying out of them, then you need to sort through the food and throw out all the spoiled ones. You can get rid of onion midges, which tend to multiply quickly, using pine needles or cotton wool dipped in essential oil, which should be left next to the vegetables. If there are too many insects, then you should use household fly traps and midges.
How to get rid of midges in cereals
How to get rid of midges in the kitchen if they have settled in flour or cereal? The larvae and eggs of brown bugs get inside the package at the packaging stage by the manufacturer or, if the product was purchased by weight, in a store or market. Just as when fighting fruit flies, you need to go through all possible sources of infection and get rid of the spoiled ones. It will not be possible to sort through and clean them, because insect eggs are extremely difficult to notice.
Storage areas for infected cereals where insects have infested: boxes, containers, bags - all this must be disinfected to disinfect and poison the detected larvae. To prevent subsequent infection, place a bay leaf or a clove of garlic in the container. As an alternative method, you can put food products in the freezer for 2-3 days. But getting rid of midges in cereals is almost impossible.
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How to get rid of flies in an apartment?
Small flies live in large numbers in places where vegetables and fruits are processed and stored. Then they are transported to markets, shops, and supermarkets. Once they enter a person’s home, they begin to multiply quickly, so getting rid of them is quite problematic. Their small size allows insects to easily spread throughout multi-story buildings through small cracks, through ventilation ducts, appearing where the food source is located. Garbage chutes, trash cans, lost vegetables and fruits, even plant crops - all these are favorable conditions for the life of fruit flies. To exterminate pests, they must be deprived of food and suitable places for breeding.
Maintaining cleanliness in the kitchen - preventing the appearance of fruit flies
How to remove flies from apartments:
- If insects are noticed in the house, you need to trace where they came from. Their food can be rotting vegetables and fruits; it can even be a small piece of apple that has fallen into some crevice. After identifying the source of attraction of fruit flies, you should immediately get rid of spoiled food.
- Pets' plates and feeders should be washed thoroughly after feeding. Keeping your pet's dishes clean will also help in the fight against fruit flies.
- It is necessary to take out the trash in a timely manner and close the bin tightly.
- Check the condition of vegetables and fruits regularly. Spoiled fruits should be thrown away immediately.
- The kitchen needs to be kept clean. Wash dishes immediately after eating to prevent them from accumulating in the sink.
- Drosophila can also live in indoor plants. To remove them, you need to reduce the number of waterings and mulch the substrate. It is also recommended to move green crops to another room to deprive insects of food.
- Fruit flies are very sensitive to temperature. On cool days, you need to open the windows and ventilate the rooms; on cold days, also open all the cabinets in the kitchen. In such conditions, pests will die from hypothermia.
To protect your apartment from fruit flies, you need to follow preventive measures. If you keep your home clean, you can forget about using chemicals. They will have to be resorted to if the main condition has not been met.
Midge repellent
You can also get rid of midges using store-bought products. Most industrial products can be purchased in stores, but they have a chemical basis and their use is undesirable - allergic reactions are possible (they are poisonous for humans and animals) and more serious consequences. The most popular, common aerosols are Reid, Dichlorvos. To kill insects in flower pots, use Aktar or Grom-2.
Trap
Instead of buying expensive and not always effective household chemicals, you can make your own midge traps. The creation process does not require any special technical skills, and the devices themselves are absolutely safe for home owners and pets. Here are three of the simplest recipes on how to get rid of annoying insects in the kitchen:
- A jar or bottle with a wide neck is suitable for use. You need to pour a little apple cider vinegar inside (you can add a little banana for bait), and close the neck with a lid with small holes so that the midges can get inside. The bait helps to catch the insects, and they die in the vinegar.
- The plastic bottle is cut so that the upper part does not reach the middle of the resulting container. The neck is fixed upside down with tape. Wine vinegar or compote, which has begun to sour, is poured into the bottom of the bottle itself, with a small amount of liquid soap. You need to place traps throughout the house.
- How to deal with midges in the kitchen, what to do if you don’t have any containers on hand? You can use an ordinary plastic bag. You need to put a piece of fruit or vegetable trimmings in it. When a large number of midges have collected inside, the bag is simply thrown away.
Folk remedies
Despite the fact that insecticidal preparations provide a faster effect in the fight against parasites, it should also be taken into account that chemicals can kill not only insects, but also cause serious harm to the health of humans and pets. You can also get rid of small midges in the kitchen using folk remedies, which are much safer.
Home traps
Traps for midges
Traps are a fairly popular remedy for midges in the house. You can make them yourself at home. Place a little jam, juice or other sweet drink at the bottom of the jar. Then insert the paper cone with the small hole down. The smell of the treat will attract pests, but they will no longer be able to get out.
You can also get rid of house flies using a plastic glass. But you need to add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to the juice or compote poured on the bottom. It is important that the contents of the container can be thoroughly diluted. All the pests living in the kitchen will willingly flock to such a “treat”, but they will no longer be able to take off because of the detergent.
If you have a midge at home, you can get rid of it using a regular plastic bag, in which you should leave a few pieces of apple. The very next day the fruit will begin to deteriorate and the midge trap will collect many insects around it. Then just quickly tie the bag and take it outside.
Note: Matches stuck into the ground with sulfur or a weak solution of manganese will help get rid of flower midges in the house. You can also fight the pest using laundry soap.
Geranium
Geranium is something you can use to save yourself from midges without much effort. It is enough to place a pot with a flower on the windowsill, and midges will no longer appear in the kitchen. It is advisable to have such a flower in the house not only in the kitchen, but also in every room, then pests of indoor plants will not tolerate such a neighborhood.
Camphor
Camphor is another remedy that will help get rid of midges in a private home. The crushed substance is placed in a frying pan and heated on gas until steam forms. The camphor smell is poisonous to insects, but it is absolutely safe for people.
Note: Fighting midges in a damp room will be ineffective if it is not thoroughly dried.
Essential oils
Folk remedies for midges
You can also get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen using essential oils of verbena, cloves, patchouli or ylang-ylang.
Herbs
Many housewives know how to get rid of midges in the house using herbs such as wormwood or tansy. In addition, they are also effective in the fight against moths. It is enough to spread the grass in several places in the kitchen.
Garlic
In winter, you can get rid of midges in your house using garlic. A few cloves need to be finely chopped or grated and placed in pots with soil. The smell of garlic will help remove not only flower midges, but will also serve as a natural inhaler in the fight against colds.
Maintaining cleanliness will help prevent the appearance of midges in the kitchen: regular cleaning, taking out garbage, following the rules for caring for indoor plants. And then the question of how to remove midges from the kitchen will not arise.