How do I stop flies in my fruit bowl?

A full fruit bowl packed with vibrant colourful fruit and veg is a great centrepiece for your kitchen - until one pesky insect moves in …

Impatiens Busy Lizzie in mixed colours of red, pink, salmon, orange and white.

Wondering how to keep those pesky flies from gathering around your fruit bowl? Scroll down to our Reader Q&A for Helen Young’s advice.

Remember when good old busy lizzies were as common as weeds? Also called impatiens or balsam, they arguably were weeds as they’d self-seed in any shady spot.

The plants tended to be tall and gangly but were welcome for their bright and pretty blooms in jewelled colours, appearing where not much else grew. Dwarf forms in a range of colours were sold in punnets to grow as warm season annuals. And then suddenly they all disappeared.

The cause was a disease called impatiens downy mildew (IDM) that decimated the species Impatiens walleriana across the globe from 2011. It spreads rapidly, causing the flowers and leaves to drop, followed by the whole plant collapsing.

The closely related New Guinea impatiens (I. hawkeri and its hybrids) are not affected – these have larger, pointed leaves, are taller and more sun tolerant, but don’t self-seed.

Impatiens

It took years for experts to breed impatiens that are highly resistant to IDM. The Beacon series is now available in punnets and seed packets in eight colours, including white, red, violet, coral and orange and in six colour mixes.

Beacon Bright Violet impatiens.

Beacon Bright Red impatiens.

They flower through the warm months, reaching about 40cm tall and wide, and are best in shade or part shade with reliable moisture. Try them in pots, window boxes, hanging baskets or garden beds. Consider usage just in pots if I. walleriana is listed as a weed by your council.

Beacon Bright White impatiens.

Beacon Bright Rose impatiens.

Q&A

After recent rains, nutgrass is out of control, spreading from gardens to lawns. Nothing seems to work – pulling out bulbs, vinegar, special weedkiller. Is there a solution?

Katharine Ottaway, Brisbane

Digging out tubers can work if you are persistent over years. Tubers can remain dormant for up to 10 years but are stimulated by disturbance, moisture and warmth. Calcium deficiency can favour nutgrass; apply lime or gypsum. Searles Paspalum, Nutgrass and Clover Killer is only suitable for some turf varieties. Products containing halosulfuron-methyl (such as Sedgehammer and Tempra), available online, target nutgrass and won’t harm your lawn, but are toxic to aquatic life and need rigorous handling. Professional turf maintenance firms can apply these for you. Glyphosate (Roundup) is effective when applied to foliage at flowering stage but is non-selective.

My annual crop of cucumbers recently collapsed within days. The backs of the leaves were covered with brown and white specks. What are they? How do I treat them?

Jeremy Lawrance, Sydney

They’re probably aphids if you can see individuals. They could also be mites, invisible to the naked eye, but you’ll see dusty webbing. Both pests suck sap and in large numbers can seriously damage plants. Eco-Neem will treat both organically.

How do I stop the tiny fruit flies constantly around our fruit bowl?

Megan L, Wollongong

These are not fruit flies but vinegar flies. They don’t feed directly on fruit but their fermenting products, so are annoying rather than damaging. Break the cycle by keeping fruit in the fridge for a day or two and washing the bowl thoroughly.

Send your questions to [e-mail]. The best question for February wins Fiskars’ PowerGear X Large Bypass Lopper, designed for strength and comfort, worth $145. fiskars.com.au