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I started a compost pile last summer. I purchased a small, countertop container with a charcoal filter so that I could compost more easily with as little odor as possible. Unfortunately, I've found that even if I empty it every day, I have a problem with fruit flies. Any suggestions?
Your first step should be to wash out or wipe out your compost bucket
completely, so that you are sure it is clean and that all the little
fly eggs (which you probably won’t be able to see) have been
removed. From there is mostly about prevention. The website www.mastercomposter.com
offers a few interesting solutions to this problem.
Fruit flies usually end up in your home on the skin of fruits, particularly
things like banana peels and orange rinds — but others as well.
When you put those items in your bucket, make sure they are well buried
under some sawdust, strips of newspaper or finished compost that you
bring in from your pile outside. If you find you need to get more
extreme, some people say that microwaving the fruit peels before putting
them in the compost bucket works. You could also choose to store fruit
waste in a plastic bag in your freezer between trips out to the compost
pile.
If you’ve given up on preventing fly infiltration, you could
try building a DIY fruit fly trap. Start by taking a juice glass or
empty yogurt container, and adding about half an inch of red wine.
Then take a plastic sandwich bag and cut off the tip of one corner
to make a hole about twice the size of your typical fruit fly. Turn
the bag inside out and secure it over the glass or container with
a rubber band, so that the corner with the hole is inside the glass
about an inch or two over the wine, but not actually in it.
Place your trap near the compost bucket, but someplace where it will
not get tipped over. The scent of the wine should be stronger than
the scent of your odorless bucket, and should attract the fruit flies.
They will be able to crawl in to get to the wine, but most will not
be able to find their way out. You can then just clean or replace
the trap as needed.
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