Dear Editor,
I feel the need to respond to Ian Rogan’s column, ‘Green Thumb’, in last week’s paper. Whilst there are some good tips for pests in the garden it is obvious that Mr. Rogan does not have what can only be described as the biggest curse of all to the veggie growers in Canowindra, the ever increasing population of the fruit fly. This destructive little insect is making a real name for himself at the moment and maybe we are not paying enough attention to him. I would urge people who have any citrus trees they are not using the fruit off (lemon, lime, grapefruit etc) don’t leave the fruit on the ground. Also with stone fruit, ask yourself if you really need that tree, maybe you should get rid of it altogether and plant a native tree there instead. If you grow these trees it is your responsibility to look after them. A simply fruit fly trap is:
• 2 litres water
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon imitation vanilla
• 2 tablespoons cloudy ammonia
Mix this throroughly and pour 2 cups of mixture into 2 litre plasti milk bottle, cut 2 holes in the bottle halfway between the mixture and lid (about the size of a 50c piece) and hang near trees of in veggie garden. When the mix turns black in around 10 days replace with new mix. Tell you friends and neighbours and maybe we can thin down this destructive pest and get back to doing what we enjoy, growing tomatoes and other veg without having to spray every second day!
Steve Flannery