No-one invited the Queensland Fruit Fly to the barbecue, but these pesky insects wouldn’t miss an opportunity to fly by for some homegrown tomatoes or fruit platters.
That’s why Cathy Mansfield, Agriculture Victoria’s statewide fruit fly co-ordinator, is urging Victorian home gardeners to take extra precautions this summer to protect their produce from the pest.
Ms Mansfield said plants such as tomatoes crop for several months, so it’s vital to protect them throughout the season.
She suggests removing any damaged fruit from trees, vines, or on the ground, as it may harbour fruit flies.
“Each female fruit fly can lay hundreds of eggs in her lifetime, so every maggot you destroy helps save your own crops and your neighbours’, along with helping to protect horticultural producers,” Ms Mansfield said.
QFF can breed in many other home garden crops in mid-summer, such as peaches, nectarines, and berries, with fruit becoming more attractive as it ripens.
Fruit infested with fruit fly should be microwaved, frozen, or placed in plastic bags and left in the sun for at least 14 days before being thrown in the bin.
Ms Mansfield also recommends keeping damaged fruit out of the compost, as the warm and humid conditions create the perfect environment to rear a new generation of flies.
Other preventative measures include netting crops, with regular checks to ensure they’re tightly secured and haven’t been damaged by branches.
“Ask for fine insect netting at your hardware store or garden centre – the holes are about two millimetres in diameter, rather than bird netting, which QFF can get through,” Ms Mansfield said.
“Insect netting can be expensive, but as long as it’s UV stable, it should last for many years, which makes it a very affordable long-term control method.”
Ms Mansfield said gardeners can also use QFF pheromone traps to catch male flies, which will help determine whether flies are present.
“And if you do use baits or insecticides, follow the label instructions and maintain your program of applications to minimise the chance that you will miss a generation of flies,” she said.
For more QFF control tips, visit the Agriculture Victoria website.