Olive Fly: [Treatment, Traps and Placement]

Important points about the Olive Fly:

How to fight it? The olive fly is the main enemy of a plantation of this nature. Their diet is based on the pulp of the fruit. The good news is that it is possible to attack it with homemade traps, without having to invest a lot of money.
What is the best insecticide for this fly? Insecticides are not the most useful tools to combat olive flies because they tend to cause damage to crops. For this reason, the alternatives proposed are the use of bottles, adhesive tape and exterminating lamps.
What is put in olive fly traps? The trap made with bottles is the most used method to combat the olive fly. These are filled with a mixture of water with biammonium phosphate, at a rate of one liter of water for every 40 grams of phosphate.
When are the traps set? The moment coincides with the stage of hardening of the stone of the fruit, which is estimated to be in mid-June or early July.

After you have made so much effort to have your olive plants vigorous and productive, the least you expect is for them to be attacked by pests.

But the olive fly is out there, waiting, waiting for the best conditions to reach your crop and seize it.

That is why you have to take the lead and prepare yourself before any problem arises in order to save your olive trees from damage. And how can you get it? With traps, the same traps that we will talk about in the next few lines. So take advantage and take note.

How to combat the olive fly?

The olive fly is the main enemy of a plantation of this nature. Its diet is based on the pulp of the fruit, which could lead you to lose the harvest.

The good news is that it is possible to attack with traps that you make at home. Yes, just as you read it, without the need to invest a large amount of euros.

These are made from materials you have lying around that you would probably classify as trash, such as bottles and string. Even if you have a sufficient budget to acquire commercial sales traps, there is no problem in choosing this option.

Of course, take into account the form of action that these will have to avoid ecological damage that you do not want to occur. The ideal is to check if they use chemical products and how they will work after including them in the crops.

Only in this way will you have full security in using it on your valuable crops.

What is the best insecticide for olive flies?

Insecticides are not the most useful tools to combat olive flies because they tend to cause damage to crops.

Faced with this reality, the alternatives proposed are the use of bottles (the most common), adhesive tape and exterminating lamps.

We will discuss the first case in the next section. Adhesive tapes are placed around the plants and when the flies land on them, they remain attached until, sooner or later, they end up dying.

In the case of exterminator lamps, the issue is that the yellow light attracts the flies and when they get closer, they end up dying.

What is put in olive fly traps?

The trap made with bottles is the most used method to work against the olive fly.

These are filled with a mixture of water with biammonium phosphate, at a rate of one liter of water for every 40 grams of phosphate. But this mixture alone will not be enough to drown the flies because they will not feel any attraction.

In order for them to enter the bottle, it is necessary to attract them and this is achieved with the use of a yellow acrylic paint that is painted on the entire upper contour of the bottle.

Later, a series of holes are opened through which the flies will be able to penetrate, but taking care that other species do not. Specialists recommend that the holes be no more than 4 mm in diameter.

It is also important to know how to place the bottles correctly to prevent the sun from hitting them directly. To do this, open a hole through which to insert a rope so that you can hang them.

Note that the south direction is the best. Another important point is that the bottle must have the upper hole sealed, since the fly when entering it will always look for the upper part to escape.

It is important that the yellow color used is bright so that it captures the attention of the flies and they prefer to go there before the olives.

Also, you should only cover the top portion of the bottle because the bottom portion will be filled with liquid. Ideally, fill at least halfway.

When are olive fly traps set?

Defining the correct time for the establishment of the traps is essential because it will be what will allow them to be attacked specifically.

This moment coincides with the stage of hardening of the stone of the fruit, which is estimated to be in mid-June or early July.

For this reason, it is worth being prepared in advance to implement it at the right time.

And what’s more, after installing the traps you must maintain them until harvest time, when you ensure that the crop will be ready to be harvested. The olive fly is a real concern for those who decide to work with this type of crop.

Using protection measures, such as traps, is the only alternative that could give you peace of mind before their arrival. And with this information you will have the strategies and tools that you needed to start this task. So go ahead!