Have your fruit and vegetables been affected by Queensland Fruit Fly?
QFF activity increases as the weather gets warmer – and this year the warm and humid weather has created the perfect conditions for it to spread. QFF has now been detected in Northcote and Preston this summer but its not too late to stop it in its tracks!
Control practices must start early and continue until all fruit and vegetables are harvested. Make sure you:
- Net your vegetable garden and fruit trees or bag individual fruit
- Continue to trap and monitor fruit fly population levels weekly
- Pick up fallen fruit every day and check fruit for sting marks
High risk fruits and vegetables in summer include: stone fruit, tomatoes, capsicums and chilies. If you find QFF in your fruits and vegetables, follow these steps:
- Pick all infested fruit, including fallen fruit
- Boil infested fruit or put in a plastic bag and leave in the sun for a week to kill larvae
- Dispose of treated fruit in the landfill bin. Do NOT put suspect fruit in your compost or green waste bin, in case some larvae is still alive
- Tell your fruit growing neighbours so we can keep Darebin fruit fly free!
Please report sightings of QFF infested fruit to Council via this QFF Online Form so they can monitor for hotspots and outbreaks.
For more information on how to identify and manage QFF, watch this QFF video, visit the Darebin Council website.