Ways to quickly and effectively get rid of midges in the kitchen.

Where do midges come from?

Before you start fighting midges in your kitchen, you need to understand why midges appear in the kitchen in the first place. There are 3 main reasons:

1. They flew in through an open window from the street or through a ventilation shaft from neighbors, from the basement of an apartment building/cellar of a private house.
2. They appeared from eggs laid on purchased fruits/vegetables (fruit gnats).
3. They appeared from eggs laid in the soil for indoor plants.

It is important to find out the reason for their appearance, at least because a pair of flower and fruit gnats have different habitats and food preferences, which means they are hatched in different ways.

How remove midges at home?

So, you found out where they come from, now you can start the operation to remove midges in the apartment.

Folk methods

Folk craftsmen have long come up with a lot of ways to remove midges from the kitchen. TOP-3 recipes for fruit flies:

1. Horseradish. The bright smell of this root repels fruit flies – you can keep a few pieces on the table, in cabinets, in the refrigerator.
2. Smoke. All insects do not like it, which will help you in the fight against them. Put a few sprigs of juniper, incense, spruce cones in an iron bowl, set it on fire, open the window and close the doors to the kitchen. Unwanted guests will fly out the window.
3. Geranium. Black and red midges will not start up in an apartment with this smell – they are simply afraid of it.

There is another way to get rid of flower aphids:

1. Black pepper. Just sprinkle it on the soil and water the flowers as usual. Coal, garlic, and citrus zest have the same effect.
2. Matches. Insert them heads down – after a while, the sulfur will dissolve and kill the midges without harming the plant.
3. Citramon. A tablet for 6 liters of water. After a few waterings, you will forget about your problem.
4. Potassium permanganate. Watering with a weak solution helps kill eggs and larvae living in the soil.
5. Laundry soap. One is not dangerous for flowers, but is considered one of the main helpers against pests. Water, spray with a soap solution. Or just grate the bar and spread it on top of the soil in the pots.

Store-bought products

If you don’t trust folk wisdom or don’t want to bother, buy special products in the store that will help catch and destroy the vermin. These can be: insect aerosols; sticky tapes.

Insecticides are sprayed away from children and animals, so clear the kitchen before treatment. Then follow the instructions:

1. Close the windows.
2. Spray the product over the entire area.
3. Leave the room, close the door.
4. Open the windows and doors after an hour, thoroughly ventilate the room.

This method kills any midges, so if there were a lot of them, the kitchen will need to be thoroughly washed. Poisoning the midges with chemicals is an effective option, but it only works on adult individuals. After a while, new ones will hatch and the procedure will have to be repeated.

Hang the Velcro tape where children and animals cannot reach, and adults should not touch it with their hands or heads.

Advice! If the kitchen is large or the midges have multiplied to incredible proportions, hang up some sticky tape.

Instead of tape, you can make a homemade device:

1. Cut off a small piece of cardboard.
2. Make a convenient hanger from any thread or rope.
3. Smear the surface with honey (to attract insects).
4. Hang it in any convenient place.

Mids are light and stick to honey no worse than to the sticky layer on store-bought devices.

Shop-bought remedies for flower midges can be in the form of:

• liquid solutions for watering and spraying;
• dry granules that act on the surface;
• sticks that are stuck into the ground.

The most effective are considered to be “Mukhoed”, “Aktara”, “Grom-2”, “Bazudin”.

Traps

The most effective trap for midges in the kitchen works like a fishing “muzzle” – that is, midges fly into it and can no longer get out. The main conditions for effectiveness:

• bait in the form of a sweet fruit, honey, aromatic moisture;
• a small hole that is not easy to get into.

You can make a fruit midge trap yourself from improvised materials means:

1. Take a vessel with high walls (jar, glass, bottle).
2. Put or pour on the bottom the gnats’ favorite treat – a fruit slice, jam, honey, apple or wine vinegar.
3. Twist a paper bag with a narrow opening, hermetically secure it in the container.
4. After a few hours of work, when the gnats have already accumulated in the jar – pour them with soapy water (directly through a paper funnel).
5. Wait 15-20 minutes until the insects die and pour into the toilet. Repeat the procedure if necessary.

Advice! The trap will work better if the paper is not white, but yellow or orange.

Traps made of other materials will have approximately the same effect:

• food wrap with several small holes on top of a jar/glass;
• a plastic bottle cut in half with the neck inserted inside like a funnel.

How to get rid of them quickly?

Ethyl alcohol of 70% or more is considered an effective and almost instant way to get rid of midges in any kitchen. Pour it into a spray bottle and spray the room, trying to get it on the fruit flies themselves.

Adults, their larvae and even eggs die instantly – after this method, all you have to do is wash the kitchen.

The main advantage of alcohol is its relative safety for people and animals, such treatment is much less harmful than chemical aerosols, but it is effective when urgent action is needed.

Prevention of occurrence

Getting rid of midges is definitely more difficult than preventing their reproduction in your kitchen. To prevent small flies from tormenting you in the future, follow our recommendations:

• Regularly empty the trash can, especially if it contains various fruit or vegetable scraps.
• Wash the trash can every time you throw out the bag. Especially if the bag is torn and leaking – do not leave the breeding ground in the open for fruit flies. Wash it, then put a new one. The cabinet under the sink also needs regular preventive washing.
• Check and close bottles with aromatic liquids: vinegar, wine, juice, compote, beer.
• Cover leftover food with a lid and put it in the refrigerator or cupboard, do not leave open plates on the table. Keep not only fruits closed, but also cereals and dairy products.

Advice! Instead of cling film, you can use reusable silicone soft lids or eco-friendly wax napkins – they keep food fresh and reliably protect against midges.

• Remove dishes from the table and wash them immediately after eating. Get rid of the blockage in the sink if you have such a problem – insects can live, feed and reproduce in plastic pipes.

Important! To make sure that midges live in the drain pipes – stick a film coated with honey on the inside to the outlet. If after 1-2 hours you see midges on the trap, then the problem is in the sewer. To get rid of midges in this part of the apartment, simply boil soapy water and pour it into the pipe.

• Dry kitchen sponges and rags well, do not leave them lying around.
• Immediately remove or throw away if you find rotten or spoiled food – rotting garbage is a real paradise for pests. The same applies to spilled liquid.

Keep your dining table, countertop, and sink clean every day. Now you know the most effective methods and can get rid of small flies in the kitchen in no time. Good luck!