How do i get rid of flys on my gardenia bush?

Question

How do i get rid of flys on my gardenia bush?

Answer 1

Before taking any action to kill them, try to find out what kind of flies these are.  You may find that they are beneficial Tachinid flies which can help you get rid of nasty plant pests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachinid_fl...

"Most tachinids attack caterpillars and adult and larval beetles. Other species kill sawfly larvae, various types of true bugs, grasshoppers, or other types of insects."

http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf4...

http://www.nadsdiptera.org/Tach/Gen/tach...

The tachinid flies may be searching for & may have found hosts to lay their eggs on, such as "aphids, armyworm, beetles, bollworm, bugs, cabbage looper, cotton stainer, cutworm, grasshoppers, hornworm, leafhoppers, mole crickets, moths, sawflies, scale insects, stem borers, stick insects."

http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/nat...

If they're not beneficial flies, you can put an inch or more of apple cider vinegar (or fruity substance like orange juice or wine) & a squirt of dishwashing soap into a deep dish or jar, cover it with plastic wrap or lid, then poked some holes into it. It might have to be changed every couple of days when it gets full.

Here's another fly trap you can use:

fill a quart jar with this mixture...

3 cups of water

¼ (one quarter) cup sugar

¼ (one quarter) cup white vinegar

Mix, punch holes in the lid, and set it where needed.

A forum about homemade fly traps: click on the steps for illustrations & instructions... Just a small bit of wine in a tall wine bottle can catch & kill fruit flies:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fruit-Fl...

You can also use a funnel over a jar that holds the fruity liquid:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-EZ...

Cutting off top of pop bottle & inverting it inside the bottom:

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-f...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fly-Trap...