the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic
drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in pairs, and each
upright and without its cap and containing a few cm of Coca Cola plus a
tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit flies queuing up to dive in
and die, and they prefer this to his fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke
must function as both lure and insecticide. There was no mention of ants
finding the hanging honey pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic
drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in pairs, and each
upright and without its cap and containing a few cm of Coca Cola plus a
tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit flies queuing up to dive in
and die, and they prefer this to his fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke
must function as both lure and insecticide. There was no mention of ants
finding the hanging honey pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?

Ah bugger! I really really like Vasili but can't see him. He seems to have
disappearred from the channels I can get. Must go some of his DVDs.

I wonder if we'll get the sodding Election tonight and have to miss out on
Gardening Australia. I'll be cross if they don't show it. I voted weeks
ago so it's done and dusted as far as I'm concerned and I don't give a hoot
who we get since we'll still get screwed.

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
u...
"John Savage" wrote in message
...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic
drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in pairs, and each
upright and without its cap and containing a few cm of Coca Cola plus a
tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit flies queuing up to dive in
and die, and they prefer this to his fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke
must function as both lure and insecticide. There was no mention of ants
finding the hanging honey pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?

Ah bugger! I really really like Vasili but can't see him. He seems to
have disappearred from the channels I can get. Must go some of his DVDs.

I wonder if we'll get the sodding Election tonight and have to miss out on
Gardening Australia. I'll be cross if they don't show it. I voted weeks
ago so it's done and dusted as far as I'm concerned and I don't give a
hoot who we get since we'll still get screwed.

I just switched off the ABC they were doing a news bulletin 2 dead in
Afganistan & some fws voting. No GA tonight.

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
m...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic

Ah bugger! I really really like Vasili but can't see him. He seems to have
disappearred from the channels I can get. Must go some of his DVDs.

Here in Syd, tvs has been pushed way out into the never never. On my set
it's Ch 82. I did go to a lot of trouble setting up favourites, but some-
thing happened and it all reverted to the settings that they were born
with, so that's how I've left them.

I wonder if we'll get the sodding Election tonight and have to miss out on
Gardening Australia. I'll be cross if they don't show it. I voted weeks
ago so it's done and dusted as far as I'm concerned and I don't give a hoot
who we get since we'll still get screwed.

You've had plenty of time to record lots of shows to fill up a predictably
boring weekend of television! If they don't show GA this weekend, then at
least you can be sure we'll see it next weekend. :-)

I think old recordings of Vasili's Garden are showing on SBS, and the new
series on TVS .... or the other way 'round.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
m...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic

Ah bugger! I really really like Vasili but can't see him. He seems to have
disappearred from the channels I can get. Must go some of his DVDs.

Go to http://www.vasilisgarden.com and click on "Episodes" and

it seems that you'll be taken to an up-to-date archive of 23 episodes,

http://vimeo.com/user1435121/videos/sort:date

I'm on dial-up so won't be watching too many 25mins vimeo clips!

There's another gardening program on TVS, too. "The Garden Tap" I think.
The weekend papers don't publish the TVS schedule in their tv guide, so
I rarely catch the TVS programs.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

John Savage wrote:
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs
in Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was
proud to be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens
of plastic drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in
pairs, and each upright and without its cap and containing a few cm
of Coca Cola plus a tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit
flies queuing up to dive in and die, and they prefer this to his
fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke must function as both lure and
insecticide. There was no mention of ants finding the hanging honey
pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?

Most recipes for fruit fly bait contain some sort of fruit like banana. I
recall reading somewhere that coke has some fruit extracts as part of the
flavour besides cola (and cocaine of course). So perhaps the flies home on
that.

David

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

was that the same fruit fly as our tropical fruit fly?

if so this will be a boon for tropical gardeners.

should be no difference between coke and pepsi as far as i know one is
based on orange juice and the other lemon juice. outside of that they
are basically a sugar and caffien drink, nothing exotic in them.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:42:39 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic
drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in pairs, and each
upright and without its cap and containing a few cm of Coca Cola plus a
tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit flies queuing up to dive in
and die, and they prefer this to his fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke
must function as both lure and insecticide.

i'd assume the same principle as any fly trap - they can't find their way
out again, become exhausted & die without having been able to breed.

There was no mention of ants
finding the hanging honey pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

not everyone has squads of ants.

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?

i don't drink either, but at the end of the day, coke IS better!
kylie

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"0tterbot" wrote in message
nd.com...
"John Savage" wrote in message
...
On his "Vasili's Garden" tv gardening program last week (Ch. 31, tvs in
Sydney), Vasili toured the garden of an Italian migrant who was proud to
be no longer troubled by fruit fly. He had rigged up dozens of plastic
drink bottles hanging everywhere, mostly, it seemed, in pairs, and each
upright and without its cap and containing a few cm of Coca Cola plus a
tablespoonful of honey. He said he has fruit flies queuing up to dive in
and die, and they prefer this to his fruit trees. As I surmise, the Coke
must function as both lure and insecticide.

i'd assume the same principle as any fly trap - they can't find their way
out again, become exhausted & die without having been able to breed.

There was no mention of ants
finding the hanging honey pots alluring; maybe they have better taste?

not everyone has squads of ants.

I knew there had to be a use for that stuff, besides for cleaning old
coins and demonstrating its spectacular reaction with Mentos mints.

I wonder how Pepsi compares? Or would things go better with Coca Cola?

i don't drink either, but at the end of the day, coke IS better!

I am a Max man myself. Tried CocaCola once, took me 2+ hours to drink 1/2 a
can. So I guess that I can only use the non legal coke. But the thought of
having a hollow tube up my nose is making sure I don't use. I will stick to
legal stuff.

kylie

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

gardenlen writes:
was that the same fruit fly as our tropical fruit fly?

if so this will be a boon for tropical gardeners.

should be no difference between coke and pepsi as far as i know one is
based on orange juice and the other lemon juice. outside of that they
are basically a sugar and caffien drink, nothing exotic in them.

Hi Len. I don't believe there was any suggestion of the Coke lure
being species specific when it comes to fruit flies. With any
luck they'll all dive in! The Coke lure may not be any more
effective than those based on other kitchen ingredients, but the
fact that he took no steps to hinder the flies from escaping
impressed me, because I have closely watched how the flies will
make an enduring attempt to escape from bottle traps fashioned to
have the inverted funnel in their neck. He did have lots of traps
hanging up everywhere, though.

It was either Sydney or Melbourne, I just forget which.

As you'd agree, it's really not the number of flies that get
trapped that you need to be concerned with, it's how many that
manage to get past it!
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
gardenlen writes:
was that the same fruit fly as our tropical fruit fly?

if so this will be a boon for tropical gardeners.

should be no difference between coke and pepsi as far as i know one is
based on orange juice and the other lemon juice. outside of that they
are basically a sugar and caffien drink, nothing exotic in them.

Hi Len. I don't believe there was any suggestion of the Coke lure
being species specific when it comes to fruit flies. With any
luck they'll all dive in! The Coke lure may not be any more
effective than those based on other kitchen ingredients, but the
fact that he took no steps to hinder the flies from escaping
impressed me, because I have closely watched how the flies will
make an enduring attempt to escape from bottle traps fashioned to
have the inverted funnel in their neck. He did have lots of traps
hanging up everywhere, though.

It was either Sydney or Melbourne, I just forget which.

As you'd agree, it's really not the number of flies that get
trapped that you need to be concerned with, it's how many that
manage to get past it!
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

More than likely NSW and probably the Queensland Fruitfly. We only have the
Medfly over here in WA after a clamp down by the powers to be over the
Queensland fruitfly although there may be the odd one around. The Medfly is
just so prevalent here. I did a lot of reading about this a while back. What
I found was the sugary traps with yeast get both male and female but mostly
male fruitfly. Now traps loaded with stinky poo attract female fruitflies!
Apparently they seek a high protein source before they lay eggs in fruit.
Only thing is you can never have enough traps to lure them all! Never tried
pheremone traps so wondering if a combination of all 3 methods would produce
a better result. Anyway when it comes to the fruit they only need one strike
to each piece to make the whole thing a waste of time.

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

more thinking of teh ingrediants which i will try this season, but
will still use my trap bottles so once in they can't get out and
usually drown anyway, just that the femal tropical fruit fly is very
ahrd to lure we run male fruit fly wicks in trap bottles not made to
hold the fly in in but to protect the wick from weather once in the
bottle they succumb to the pheramone small and land on the wick or
breathe the fumes and die.

trouble is lately no matter how many male flies we get, the females
are very prolific, and none of the bait recipes that we have passed
on, on our page work here.

i'll give this one a go hope it works. still be using nets but until
it shows it works.

lots of gardeners in qld lookig for an effective control for the
female flie. so if this works it might be a boon?

even with the male wick that works so well only need to miss a couple
with all those females around and it is all so much more ineffective,
has worked well in the past in other gardens, makes me think we now
have a more virilant species in this place. my theory someone planted
a quava or the like and don't do any husbandry, they certainly don't
reproduce in our garden.

anyhow thanks for teh info

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:52 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:15:59 +1000, gardenlen wrote:


trouble is lately no matter how many male flies we get, the females are
very prolific, and none of the bait recipes that we have passed on, on
our page work here.

then you are not trapping enough males and/or there are other sources
around.

1) do your traps prevent the flies from physically walking out?
2) At one stage, the various DPI incantations suggested "dakpots" which
were just a tin on he side open at one end with a bit of chemical
impregnated canite(?) in it. It attracted and poisoned the males.


i'll give this one a go hope it works. still be using nets but until it
shows it works.

err, fluit fly do not stop for nets


lots of gardeners in qld lookig for an effective control for the female
flie. so if this works it might be a boon?

If you have lots of gardeners around affected, then you will need to all
take action.

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day terry,

wow some big judgement been made here, we have ben trapping male flies
for a decade now and until recent times it was a very effective tool,
but now not so in 2 weekly period the season before last (when we got
hit the hardest ever) we trapped about 900 male flies giver or take,
yet our total crop ot tomato's, pawpaw's and star fruit were decimated
not a single piece of fruit could used. we run our male traps all year
as the males can be around at odd seasons.

we make traps to allow air flow and attract the most flies with the
wick it is very rare for a fly to not succumb to the wick.

and yes netting does work i don't understand how it wouldn't many
gardeners resort to it, and we did last year with our tom's and star
fruit and w got good fruit to eat little or no fly damage.

our traps closely ressemble thos dak pot typs thing fruit growers use
they are very open as they need to be for teh male fly we find the
bottle captures all dead insects so we can monitor fly levels that
way.

now if this coke thing works the female trap will be made so as if a
fly gets in it won't get out as much as we possibly can make it.

now as we feel some other gardener somewhere has a fruit tree that
attracts the f/f and they then aren't doing husbandry to collect and
desroy that damaged fruit, or pick the fruit long before it ripens or
what ever action needs to be taken, then we don't know who they are
they could be anywhere up to maybe 4k away.

so we have to deal with this issue on sight, if i find something that
works i will pass it on, with no comments let the user beware so to
speak.

hope tha clears up any misgivings you may have? and should you find an
effective female cntrol mechanism please let all gardeners know.



On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:20:07 +0000 (UTC), terryc
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

gardenlen writes:
we have ben trapping male flies
for a decade now and until recent times it was a very effective tool,
but now not so in 2 weekly period the season before last (when we got
hit the hardest ever) we trapped about 900 male flies giver or take,
yet our total crop ot tomato's, pawpaw's and star fruit were decimated
not a single piece of fruit could used. we run our male traps all year
as the males can be around at odd seasons.

Your current findings interest me, because I'm comparing it with my
experience using a couple of homemade fruit fly traps about 7 years ago.
My recollection is of catching overwhelmingly FEMALE+- flies. I recognised
them as female by the long sting-like organ, the ovipositor, at the tip
of their abdomen. Almost all the fruit flies trapped were of this
description, so I reckoned it was an effective trap for the females. From
memory, it used the usual kitchen concoction of honey or sugar, vegemite,
etc. I'll check with google, as I probably wrote a bit about it at the
time, I was so impressed at what a simple lure could achieve.

I recall hearing that the recommendation for the pheromone sprays was
to spray it all over the foliage, and the females would lay their eggs
whereever they were attracted to, and on the balance of probability
this would most times be leaf rather than fruit.

Unless the males need the fruit sugar as a nutrient, there is little
other cause they would have to unerringly home in on anything
specifically resembling a fruit. Males would be singlemindedly seeking
females. Only if the humble fruit fly were to be staunchly monogamous
(or the males a 'one-shot wonder' ) would it seem that the trapping of
males could be an effective practical measure in preventing significant
fruit damage by the pest, IMHO.

The best lure for a male might be a captive female. So maybe a trap
that has first caught a few females might in turn become an effective
lure for for males?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

in the past the female trap solutions have worked but not here in this
area, hwy i got no idea. we have some recipes on our remedies page,
ans as yet i have not heard back from anyone who has had success with
trapping females. many gardeners up her share our issues. didn't trap
a single female out of 3 or 4 different recipe traps last season.

there is a natural lure substance than needs to be sprayed around it
does warn not to get it on the fuit and it is a bee killer. so many
won'tuse it, it doesn't work as a female trap so far as others have
told me. and it is too expensive o buy and try also, but the bee bit
is enough for me.

trappng males has ben effective in the past, i don't know whether
males or even females are one hit wonders, would be interestig to
know, but may not help with management, i feel they all just merrily
keep mating on all season by the looks of our current issue here.

we run 6 male traps all year here about every 2 to 3 months through
summer we replace one on a rotatinal basis, they continue to work for
nearly a year. teh male bottles don't need to be trap botles and keep
the fly in once he is inside as it is the aroma of the wick that
attracts him and once he lands on the wick he gets a dose of
insecticide or he maybe even gets a wiff of the insecticide, so though
a male may exit teh bottle there is nothing to say he still will not
succumb. our trap vey similar to what i have seen on fruit farms. you
could just hand a wick out in the open it would still work only then
you can't monitor fly levels.

with the male traps they are away from the garden so there is no
conflict of arom's and if there was an effective female trap then i
can see it would be not so good to hang it near the fruiting plant as
the aroma of ripening fruit may over ride the aroma of he bottle and
then he effectiveness is diminited.

if you research their mating habits let us know, if anyone finds an
effective female trap ingredient there are many gardeners out there
who would like to hear about nothing more tedious than netting tom's
and capsicums whatever.

the best wick is the one tha looks like a cotton wool roll tight
wadded the one in the plastic holder not so good.

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:37:53 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

gardenlen writes:
more thinking of teh ingrediants which i will try this season, but
will still use my trap bottles so once in they can't get out and
usually drown anyway, just that the femal tropical fruit fly is very
hard to lure we run male fruit fly wicks in trap bottles not made to
hold the fly in in but to protect the wick from weather once in the
bottle they succumb to the pheramone small and land on the wick or
breathe the fumes and die.

Ah! I misunderstood you. I associate you with homemade lures and traps, so
when you said you were trapping mostly males, I pictured your vegemite +
sugar, etc., lure to be attracting a few females but lots of males. I see now
that you are using separate traps. (Though I wonder whether you couldn't
combine them, with the wick placed in the neck of the jar well above the
liquid lure? Especially if you could arrange for the females to not drown
or die, this would allow their natural pheromones to continue beckoning
in hordes of males.)

Anyway, by coincidence, on Don Burke's radio gardening program today
an expert was discussing fruit-fly traps. He said that as soon as females
emerge they head for a source of protein as this is required to get their
eggs developing. Once they have fed, their mission then becomes to find
a male and after that a suitable fruit to deposit their eggs. He said that
you have to catch them as soon as they hatch and before they get that
first protein feed otherwise they are not interested in your lure. From
this I would conclude that you'd need to have your female lures set right
from the word go, so they stand a good chance of intercepting those early
hungry virgin females.

The expert on the radio didn't explain exactly what sources of protein the
females would typically seek out, but I know yeast is a source of protein,
whereas sugar is not. The trap he was talking about was Eeco Natura Lure.

I recall reporting here some years ago on an article I'd read, where the
finding was that fruit-flies are strongly attracted to certain colours.
This varied with the species, but I recall bright purple being a strong
attraction for one species. (I'd guess they were talking about female
flies, with the idea being to have hanging around your garden lots of
sticky objects of the fly's preferred colour. That sticky fly paper that
you can hang from the ceiling could be a source of sticky stuff to put
near a bright purple plastic bottle. Or you could put your vegemite lure
inside a purple plastic bottle to give it an even stronger allure.

If, despite high levels of fly infestation, you are managing to trap few
females, perhaps they are hatching earlier than you allow for, or perhaps
the protein source or the Winter refuge for the flies is in a new location
where they are now hatching nearer to a source of protein than to your
traps? Thus they never pass by your lure, at least, not until they have
mated and are scoping out your back garden for some fruit in which to
deposit their eggs. It does seem counter-intuitive, but instead of
hanging female traps all around your own garden, maybe you need to
search for that person in the neighbourhood who is allowing fallen fruit
to rot on the ground and ask may you hang a few hundred female traps
throughout their backyard instead of yours during Spring and Summer?!

Good luck with your Spring trapping! Maybe there's a market for the pelts?

BTW, do you still have your eco-friendly "enviro throne" there Len?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

hope you are well?

a lot in your psot but that is how it is with those of us attempting
to find ways of managing female fruit flies. i ave the understanding
the female hatches when conditions are humid enough and warm enough,
our star fruit indicaes that we are trapping male flies in low numbers
of course it is not season yet but have had no female damaged fruit.

naturelure is the one that contains spinosid or whatever it is called
no good for bees, and as i understand it those who use it, it needs to
be sprayed around the plant but not on the fruit, some fix yellow
buckets to the fence and spray it in there as well, have not heard of
huge success with it and it is expensive, and again as far as i know
doesn't work as in a trap scenerio.

i have had many chats with those using the product and they concur
that it won't work in a trap dack pot situation. asfor attracting
females into teh male trap and holding them mmm dunno? the attractant
in the male trap is a female pheromone mock so unless the animal
kingdom has become liberted then it doesn't attract females,and the
male trap as i see it needs to be somewhat open to allow the aroma to
float in the breeze which it does extremely well.

yes colours are often used i tried some sticky boards which caught a
small number of female fruit fly but trapped lots of other flying bugs
which are harmless in the garden and could be beneficial, also the
ones we bought online were made of cardboard so the action of the wind
caused them to tear and then the rain did as well, but all in all they
where of no success as we still lost nearly all our fruit. we tried
with blue and yellow tape around the bottles near the entrances with
no result obviously the coloured boards worked but not that well with
f/f.

so right! db's expert says about the protein he should know hey? that
is probably the crux of my issue the flies are not hatchng in my
garden, they are hatching in some other garden where the gardener has
very poor husbandry. so by the time the fly gets here she has fed and
is primed to mate or already mated, that make sense. what he calls
protein i dunno but guess it is derived from flowers of plants, always
flowers somewhere always in our garden. wdon't see hordes of females
just one or 2 hear and there.

maybe i'm looking in the wrong area but how often can a female mate
and lay eggs is this a one up affair or does she persist all season?
seems that way as the male fly population would have to be low to say
teh least.

in the past those recipes we have featured have worked so much so we
at least got 50% or thereabouts of our crop without the effort of
netting. that may be because then our next door friendly neighbour had
guava's that he allowed us to pick all immature fruit from and destroy
it, but unfriendly one had mango trees where all fruit eventually
ended upon the ground if the fruit bats didn't eat it, so guess then
on what d.b's expert said the female came right to our garden for
protein and fell fould of the traps.

so no aswers or help there for us and others like us as we have no
idea which gardener is infesting the area with the fly? we have been
here 5 years and up until 3 years ago our trap the male program was
delivering acceptable resuls then it all went haywire like someone had
planted a guava that came into fruit and became the population point
for the fly, my understanding that could be up to 4k away as the crow
flies.

so the nets will be out soon now as the tom plants are growing great
guns already needing tying. we got good fruit of the star fruit
because miraculously it fruited over autumn/winter and is still going
hope that keeps going as we then don't need to find a net for that
tree. or pick and dump all fruit when green.

sadly no we don't have our earth friendly throne, will set up a
humanure bucket if and when i can even if only for my persoannal use
modern mcmansions don't lend themselves to the versatility to allow
those who live in them much leeway for being responsible for ones own
waste. westill recycle much other rottable stuff into or growing
areas, keeps the land fill bin low in content. still promote that
responsibility though. we use nearly all water at least twice.

anyhow good chat if you learn something about these dreaded females
let us know i will pass i around where i hang out.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:45:25 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

so right! db's expert says about the protein he should know hey? that
is probably the crux of my issue the flies are not hatchng in my
garden, they are hatching in some other garden where the gardener has
very poor husbandry. so by the time the fly gets here she has fed and
is primed to mate or already mated, that make sense. what he calls
protein i dunno but guess it is derived from flowers of plants, always
flowers somewhere always in our garden. wdon't see hordes of females
just one or 2 hear and there.


My understanding of protien is anything that is high in nitrogen. Is why i
suggested using some fresh manure. Put it in a clear plastic bottle drill
plenty of holes about half way up add some water and hang it in the trees or
around your perimeter. The ponk will have mainly females attracted to it.
You can make the holes small enough to keep most blowies out. But it doesn't
really matter as flies will drown in the liquid and cause there own ponk
attracting more victims. You do have to top up the water as it will
evaporate. You may have to empty the bottles or renew as they can fill up
quick. I notice in summer that dog poo not only attracts blowflys but also
fruitflies in large numbers. So if you have horses, cattle, sheep, goats,
chickens etc etc close by guaranteed the female fruitfly is having a good
feed.

I was catching mediterranian fruitfly as it is our pest here in WA. But the
numbers were so high that the traps didn't stop damage to the fruit on my
mandarine which i pulled out. Perhaps you would have better luck as you are
tackling the male fruitfly as well.










maybe i'm looking in the wrong area but how often can a female mate
and lay eggs is this a one up affair or does she persist all season?
seems that way as the male fly population would have to be low to say
teh least.

in the past those recipes we have featured have worked so much so we
at least got 50% or thereabouts of our crop without the effort of
netting. that may be because then our next door friendly neighbour had
guava's that he allowed us to pick all immature fruit from and destroy
it, but unfriendly one had mango trees where all fruit eventually
ended upon the ground if the fruit bats didn't eat it, so guess then
on what d.b's expert said the female came right to our garden for
protein and fell fould of the traps.

so no aswers or help there for us and others like us as we have no
idea which gardener is infesting the area with the fly? we have been
here 5 years and up until 3 years ago our trap the male program was
delivering acceptable resuls then it all went haywire like someone had
planted a guava that came into fruit and became the population point
for the fly, my understanding that could be up to 4k away as the crow
flies.

so the nets will be out soon now as the tom plants are growing great
guns already needing tying. we got good fruit of the star fruit
because miraculously it fruited over autumn/winter and is still going
hope that keeps going as we then don't need to find a net for that
tree. or pick and dump all fruit when green.

sadly no we don't have our earth friendly throne, will set up a
humanure bucket if and when i can even if only for my persoannal use
modern mcmansions don't lend themselves to the versatility to allow
those who live in them much leeway for being responsible for ones own
waste. westill recycle much other rottable stuff into or growing
areas, keeps the land fill bin low in content. still promote that
responsibility though. we use nearly all water at least twice.

anyhow good chat if you learn something about these dreaded females
let us know i will pass i around where i hang out.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:45:25 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

gardenlen writes:
g'day john,

hope you are well?

Very well, Len, thanks for asking.

a lot in your psot but that is how it is with those of us attempting
to find ways of managing female fruit flies. i ave the understanding
the female hatches when conditions are humid enough and warm enough,
our star fruit indicaes that we are trapping male flies in low numbers
of course it is not season yet but have had no female damaged fruit.

Females emerged early beginning mid-Aug in 2009, researcher reports it
was a bad year for fruitfly, so can't rely on the calendar.

There is a lively fruitfly forum, with posts going back to 2007, on the
Daley's Fruit site, http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum/fruit-fly-control/
You may already be following it, judging by some of the details you
wrote in an earlier post. Though you haven't mentioned the lure
based on women's urine. Not yet. :-)

I did a bit of reading. Yes, the female mates only once in her life.
She lays her first brood of eggs about 5 days after the protein meal.
The protein she feeds on comes from common plant sources. (I guess
pollen is a protein, isn't it?)

She usually meets her mate in the same host she will lay her eggs and
feeds on that plant's sap or secretions. It's not clear whether "same host"
means the same species, or some specific individual tree. Neither seems
quite logical to me, considering her lifetime extends over many weeks.

The flies don't like open spaces, so set traps in shade against foliage.
The females are reluctant to go into traps with small entrance holes,
so you can't provide your trap with small holes in the hope of excluding
bigger harmless insects; you won't get any female fruit flies either.

If you manage to trap most of the males in an area, the female when
she finds none around will fly off to another area in search of males.
(But it didn't say she won't then return to her original bithplace to lay
her eggs. I think she can lay 700 in her lifetime.)

Anyone who has used nets seems to have had spectacular success,
and it probably excludes many of the smaller birds, too. Maybe other
pests, also? Nets would give you more peace of mind, too.

Adults can sit around all winter, biding their time until the first sign of
Spring. Except in cold climates where they die off and the population
has to reestablish from eggs that have overwintered.

so the nets will be out soon now as the tom plants are growing great
guns already needing tying. we got good fruit of the star fruit
because miraculously it fruited over autumn/winter and is still going
hope that keeps going as we then don't need to find a net for that
tree. or pick and dump all fruit when green.

Are the star fruit a cash crop, or just for your own consumption?

The tough skin on the cherry tomates resists the efforts of the
female Qld fruit fly, that's why they are usually free of fly. But if there
are other species around, e.g., the Mediterranean fruit fly, the Qld
frut fly will lay its eggs into the same puncture hole that the Med
fruit fly made so you get a double dose of maggots in that fruit!

I never did hear whether your big investment one year in garlic paid
dividends? I think that was at your previous location if I'm not mistaken.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

reat read thanks for tht.

so female urine may work better.

i usually cut 4 inverted 'V' cut a the base of the neck of the bottle
large enough for a house flie to get in and they do, as there is
nothing in the bottle to actually kill the insect they need to be
contained until they fall into the fluid and drown, is how i see it.
same as when a house fly trap is made.

hanging in the shade is interesting not always possible and hanging
within the plant to be protected not also suggested as the ripening
fruit aroma would compete with the bottle aroma, has been sugested in
the past. our male wicks bottles are away from plants actually hanging
around the house on all 4 sides to catch all 4 breezes. in the past
our female traps have worked.

anyhow the star fruit one bush only very prolific not for cash just
for food, that big garlic plant fizzled dunno why the previous crop
whee msot of eh planting material came from was a boon, all times
previous when i plant garlic i get good returns this time none
develope into the segmented bulb we see. and since then any garlic i
have planted even here has also failed lucky to get an onion shaped
bulb mostly a shallot shaped thing from them. got no idea. planted
around maybe 600 corms.

so as best as we can do it we collect all any unusable fruits and
destroy them so can safely say the fly is not hatching in our garden
as their is no opportunity for the maggot to get down into the soil
and cacoon over winter. with my observations on when they hatch that
is based on when fruit shows signs of infestation but then i suppose
eggs dn't need to hatch right away hey?

don't think we have the med' fly as our cherry tom's never get
infested.

will visit daley's i have a topic there about our lemon tree leeking
sap, but have never read any other topics.

anyhow take care for now, if you learn more pass it on please.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:14:59 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

it's amazing the applications they heve devised to apply to out fresh
f&v alone, they even use a spray to cause he pineaple to fruit earlier
it is a man made concoction and probably the elast harmless of
applications, but the fruit isn't emerging quiet naturally is it, all
designed to increase harvests. yeh never ever knew that pineapples got
sunburn??? lived out moggill way when i was a kid that was pineapple
and dairy territory, knew lots of pineapple farmer kids knew that
crows do a lot of damage, but never ever heard anything about
sunburn?? and a few weeds in the plantation didn't seem to purturb the
grower or the pineapple.

my view is like their brom' cousins they realy don't take that much
from the soil so competition not such a worry. of course picking fruit
among some healthy scotch thistle plants not the best i suppose but
that is the making man comfortable part not the helping the pine grow.

i used to think that the old pineaple didn't need things done but ag'
science sees it differently hey? did see a doco' once where apples and
pears cop up to 600 spray applications before they are picked, might
not be 600 different chemiclas, most are systemic applications so
peeling and washing won't ge rid of the residues not like way back
when! all we ahd to do was wash a bit of pyrethrum residue off the
fruit.

and all this time us gardeners who grow pineapples always trying to
get fruit quicker than around 18 months, and the farmer is cheeting.
and also of course they have the public duped into eating immature not
ripe fruit, all for better storage and transporting. citrus all
treated with anti mould chem's heavy metals involved. takes a pine
around 6 months to matue and ripen nicely that is a lot of money
siting out there on the field hey? the quicker they pick the quicker
another planting takes place. don't they get all their planting
material free in the return of tops from the processor? no other
farmer does.

got no faith in organic all corrupt realy as the oranic farmer can use
the same chemiclas but with a longer with holding period. where there
is money to be made and man you get corruption. and also looking at
what the big s/markets call organic it all looks the same exactly as
the ordinary stuff but dearer.

yeh well don is another story hey? dunno about gum trees but this
citrus is suffering a tad, funny thing this tree was a seedling tree
and the only citrus affected, the others all grafts. we grew it for
shade which it is now providing so now we need to do all the save it,
everytime i see the bit of sap we spray, oops there goes my organic
illusion.


On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:14:59 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

wamly welcome

Sure all pro gamer are most welcome... if you can reach out to them it would be great!! Thanks a lot



Ya it will be great if they both get active on this forum...
and share their exp. with gaming...

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

"dorramide7" wrote in message
...

wamly welcome

Sure all pro gamer are most welcome... if you can reach out to them it
would be great!! Thanks a lot



Ya it will be great if they both get active on this forum...
and share their exp. with gaming...

Gardening you know digging holes putting seeds/plants in the holes. We do it
not play it.





--
dorramide7

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

had this recipe out now for about 6 weeks, can't see that there are
any fruit fly in them as yet plenty of other sorts offlies and ants.
will empty them soon through a strainer to be sure.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:42:39 +0000 (UTC), in aus.gardens you wrote

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:42:39 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

On 21/10/2010 10:46 AM, gardenlen wrote:
g'day john,

had this recipe out now for about 6 weeks, can't see that there are
any fruit fly in them as yet plenty of other sorts offlies and ants.
will empty them soon through a strainer to be sure.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:42:39 +0000 (UTC), in aus.gardens you wrote


does it have to be coke as I have used a cheaper cola and nothing seems
to have happened reducing the hordes of flies surrounding the dogs ears
yet after 3 days

O

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

dunno atec?

not my original recipe, what sort of flies are you trying to control?

On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:46:42 +1000, atec77 wrote:

On 21/10/2010 10:46 AM, gardenlen wrote:
g'day john,

had this recipe out now for about 6 weeks, can't see that there are
any fruit fly in them as yet plenty of other sorts offlies and ants.
will empty them soon through a strainer to be sure.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:42:39 +0000 (UTC), in aus.gardens you wrote


does it have to be coke as I have used a cheaper cola and nothing seems
to have happened reducing the hordes of flies surrounding the dogs ears
yet after 3 days

O

--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

ok, dunno how you go about trapping those ones as they need fresh
blood, but they can appear at anytime of the year, calling them march
flies might be a bit misleading, they call them horse flies also. but
as for trapping them if you figure something out let the gardeners
know, reckon you would have to stop them at their breeding site.

they seem to hang about in pairs in a territory, i find once i have
squished 2 then there is no more until the next pair move in. maybe do
some research on them?

On Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:15:37 +1000, atec77 wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

On 23/10/2010 4:10 AM, gardenlen wrote:
ok, dunno how you go about trapping those ones as they need fresh
blood, but they can appear at anytime of the year, calling them march
flies might be a bit misleading, they call them horse flies also. but
as for trapping them if you figure something out let the gardeners
know, reckon you would have to stop them at their breeding site.

they seem to hang about in pairs in a territory, i find once i have
squished 2 then there is no more until the next pair move in. maybe do
some research on them?

I found some of those long sticky hang strips and now they hang over the
dogs beds
should do the trick as I rather want to get the wounds healed

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

gardenlen writes:
had this recipe out now for about 6 weeks, can't see that there are
any fruit fly in them as yet plenty of other sorts offlies and ants.
will empty them soon through a strainer to be sure.

I shall have a stern word with Vasili, in that case. Have you got
any lures baited with your own recipe, for comparison?

Week before last's ABC gardening program showed the use of cloth
bags around individual fruit, to protect from fruit flies (also
from birds, possums, and sunburn). It resembled that waterproof
material that you can get as an inner cover for pillows, and which
comes as a wrapping for some electronics goods. A finely woven
cloth, nothing like plastic, and too strong to tear. He used it
for his figs. (Once they reached a good size, I guess, so that
they had already been pollinated.)
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

g'day john,

the recipes aren't mine to own, but i tried them all last season with
no success, or similar to current formula. seems that it depends
largely on when and where the female hatches and gets her fix of
protein. if she gets the fix before coming to your garden then the
traps are ineffective, it would seem.


On Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:46:25 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

the supermarkets should all sell them, or try produce agencies or
hardwares.

On Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:53:46 +1000, atec77 wrote:

On 27/10/2010 1:46 PM, John Savage wrote:
writes:
had this recipe out now for about 6 weeks, can't see that there are
any fruit fly in them as yet plenty of other sorts offlies and ants.
will empty them soon through a strainer to be sure.

I shall have a stern word with Vasili, in that case. Have you got
any lures baited with your own recipe, for comparison?

Week before last's ABC gardening program showed the use of cloth
bags around individual fruit, to protect from fruit flies (also
from birds, possums, and sunburn). It resembled that waterproof
material that you can get as an inner cover for pillows, and which
comes as a wrapping for some electronics goods. A finely woven
cloth, nothing like plastic, and too strong to tear. He used it
for his figs. (Once they reached a good size, I guess, so that
they had already been pollinated.)
Anyone got a clue where I can buy some hanging sticky fly strips around
Brisbane/Logan ?

--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

forgot to metion john,

paper lunch bags/packets can also be used, we use them to keep our
grapes from the prying eyes of birds.

On Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:46:25 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

On 28/10/2010 4:27 AM, gardenlen wrote:
the supermarkets should all sell them, or try produce agencies or
hardwares.

They should but our locals don't claiming the sprays more effective\\ I
may have to travel further so if anyone can offer a clue

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

atec77 writes:
They should but our locals don't claiming the sprays more effective\\ I
may have to travel further so if anyone can offer a clue

Coles in Sydney have them, Mortein brand IIRC. I did buy some
Chinese brand from a $2 store, but they weren't nearly as sticky
as the supermarket ones and they hardly caught any flies. And
they seemed to dry up, whereas the good ones stay sticky forever.

I guess you can't shop through Coles online?

Maybe try the local pest controller (Flick man). If he doesn't
have them, he might be able to order them. I have seen a recipe
for making your own (heat sugar and stuff, and dunk strips of
brown paper); there's probably something on the web though the
idea is likely too 'survivalist' for your need. :-)
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

where are you?

do you have produce agencies?

maybe an online search and get them by mail order?

On Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:25:46 +1000, atec77 wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

I wrote:
Coles in Sydney have them, Mortein brand IIRC.

Their sticky fly paper is "Rentokil" brand, actually.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

the lure of Coca Cola .....
 

atec77 writes:
Well I made several with the formula I googled and published , basically
it is so sticky the fly can't get away without self destruction and
after several days have captured a lot of flies , the dogs are far less
bothered and no longer foll0wed by a dark cloud

Good recipe. You could have made some toffee apples at the same time!

I declare a success

It's fully degradeable, too. When the fly paper is full up, you can add
it to the compost, or lower it a bit so it becomes a doggie treat! LOL
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)