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Mulberry trees with fruit fly larvae

wattsgillian6wattsgillian6 Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Our new house has four mulberry trees.  Each summer, we find the fruit are full of tiny white maggots, which we think are the larvae of fruit flies.  I see you can spray against these, but the trees are much too tall for us to be able to do this.  Any ideas?  

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Welcome, @wattsgillian6 :) The link below may be of some use.  I doubt pesticides will work (and would you really want to consume fruit sprayed with them?) so immersing the fruit in water after harvesting seems to be the thing to do.
    You could also try hanging bird feeders in the tree to attract birds (esp. the tit family) as they will gobble up any adult fruit flies they chance accross while waiting their turn on a feeder.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I agree with Bob's comment.
    I used to pick blackberries over the fields which also have tiny white worms in them sometimes.
    I'd put them in a bowl of cold water, sprinkle over about 1/2 T-spoon fine salt (no need to stir) and leave them for 15 mins. If there are any worms they will try to escape the salty liquid and you'll find them floating in the brine.
    Then I just lift the berries out with my hand leaving the worms behind, give them a rinse and they're ready to go.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • wattsgillian6wattsgillian6 Posts: 3
    Thanks Bob and Pete, the pesticides comment is a good one - I know.  I do encourage birds around there, but perhaps bird feeders in the trees might do even better.  I did try the salt solution trick last year and it is a bit gruesome watching the worms coming out.  I was put off by the fact that the fruit floated to the top as well as I thought I was going to be able to pour the wormy solution off the top, but OK - I'll try just rinsing the whole lot after 15 mins or so and see where we go.  
    Thanks again,
    Gillian 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    If you put a colander on top of the fruit in the bowl, then you can pour off the wormy water off through the colander,  then just let cold tap water run on them for a little while and check for any worms floating around

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • wattsgillian6wattsgillian6 Posts: 3
    OK - I'll try that.

    Thanks, G
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