Some fruits to grow in winter to prevent fruit fly strike
Fruit fly in Queensland can become a real pain for the backyard grower turning beautiful fruit and vegetables into a rotten mess. However, there are ways to control this awful pest and one of the most effective but not often considered is growing crops best adapted to mature (or fruit) in the winter months.
Fruit fly generally need to have a period of incubation and pupation for the larvae to grow and in QLD this period is the colder months. Fruit fly then emerge with vengeance in spring and are active until about mid-autumn (in general).
Therefore, try and collect or grow plants and trees which produce fruit in winter. The following is a short list of just some examples to grow around SE QLD or anywhere where a similar type of fruit fly species exists:
1. Citrus – In subtropical climates citrus like oranges, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, limes, etc all mature in winter and usually are safe from fruit fly attack.
2. Loquat – The fruit of a loquat is sweet and tasty; guesss what? The fruit ripens in winter!
3. Tomatoes – They can be grown in a subtropical winter (pick your variety though as some do better than others) Roma is a great winter tomato for the subtropics.
4. Tamarillo – Can be a little unpredictable but tend to ripen through winter.
5. Guava – Guava plants tend to flower late summer with fruits ripening into winter.
Can you add to the list of good fruits to grow through winter to avoid fruit fly strike? If you can, please use the comments section below (no email is necessary) we’d love to hear your wisdom 🙂
