Protect SA from fruit fly during 'Spring Clean' month
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) need your help to stop fruit fly spreading during ‘Spring Clean’ month.
PIRSA is asking you to dust off your snips, saws and secateurs, grab a bucket and get your garden up to scratch.
This time of year is especially important when it comes to fruit fly, as the pest can emerge from the soil and become more active as the weather warms up.
Now it’s more important than ever to give fruit fly no chance of stinging your fruit and to be vigilant for signs of fruit fly in your garden. The goal is to remove fruit so it’s not available to fruit fly in spring.
The best ways to prevent fruit fly include:
- Picking any ripe and fallen fruit and vegetables at risk from fruit fly to break the life cycle (this gives any female fruit flies no chance to lay eggs or for pupae to dig into the soil below your tree).
- Placing unwanted at-risk fruit and vegetables in your kerbside green bin (do not compost or bury) if you live in a red outbreak or yellow suspension area.
- Picking up your saw, snips or secateurs and pruning back fruit trees so you can pick your fruit more easily.
- Checking your fruit for blemishes on the skin (this is where the female can lay eggs) and cutting it up to look for maggots.
Remember, if you see anything suspicious, seal the fruit in a plastic bag and contact the Fruit Fly Hotline on 1300 666 010.
If you compost at-risk fruit and vegetables, you could be burying fruit fly maggots and letting them develop into flies which emerge in Spring.
PIRSA has arrangements with councils in affected fruit fly areas to ensure green waste is appropriately managed to kill off any maggots or flies.
Check if you live in a red outbreak or yellow suspension area and find out what you need to do to help protect SA and break the fruit fly life cycle.
Visit https://www.fruitfly.sa.gov.au/outbreak-restrictions/home-garden
