Queensland Fruit Fly alert – November
The most important action in November is to get your insect seclusion netting in place. QFF will be active in Macleod and surrounds already. (It is so small you won’t see it).
Net:
- tomatoes at planting time as they are self fertile
- capsicum, chillies and eggplants as soon as pollination has taken place – flowers will fall and tiny fruit will appear when this has occurred
- all fruit trees where possible
- spray with kaolin clay if the tree is too big to net. Buy it at Bulleen Art and Garden. It is sold under the name ‘Overhaul’. Spray till it drips with all sides of the fruit covered
Make sure netting is weighed down around the hem with mulch, timber, bricks or whatever you have as QFF are so tiny they will crawl beneath the net. Also, repair any holes in the net. This is as easy as using a narrow cable tie and pulling the hole together with it
Continue to put out lures and baits, and pick up any fallen fruit and dispose of it in the red waste bin.