You took the time to select that perfect fruit tree. You chose the variety of fruit, planted it, nurtured it, and waited for that crop of home grown fruit. The key is, getting it before the pests discover it.
I got a few calls this week that, I confess, were new to me. I had to do some checking. If you are squeamish, you might want to cover your eyes before you read this. Several people were calling about maggots in their cherries. I asked some colleagues and I also got some great information from one of the inspectors at the Fresno County Ag office when I saw her in passing.
What I got is drosophila melanogaster ; commonly known as vinegar flies. These flies are opportunistic, and strike wherever there is overripe fruit or rotting vegetative matter. When the vinegar flies come however, they will go for all the fruit in the area; not just the overripe. The solution is to pick all ripened fruit promptly and clean up all over-ripened and fallen fruit. They are also attracted to other types of rotting vegetative matter so, it’s a good idea to keep the areas near your fruit trees clean of such debris, composting and garbage receptacles. These flies are less of an issue once the temperatures climb well in to the 90’s and above but good housekeeping is always a good idea. Even if the vinegar fly is not a problem at 100 degrees, rotting vegetation at 100 degrees is probably not an appealing situation for your backyard.
So, pick that fruit before someone else does!
Happy Harvesting!
Annie
Hi Annie! You’ve given me great advice with the Gold Dust Aucuba. They’re still alive!
I’ve really appreciated your posts. Thanks again!
AAACKKK!! Maggots are scary, even if they don’t know it. My big problem last year was the tomatoes– when to pick them before the birds or someone else (like my overzealous now-7-year-old) gets them.