Once the banana skin starts to get dark spots, I usually put them in the refrigerator and use them for cooking. Thus, minimize fruit flies.

I don't have a great solution for storing bananas. I've tried the Debbie whatever green bags and might possibly get a few more days with those.

But, I do know how to make a fruit fly trap. :) Put a piece of banana or its peel in a small bowl. Cover it with plastic cling wrap and poke several small holes with a toothpick. They can get in through the holes but can't get out. It's not a pretty sight, but it works.

Pam

Not liking too much on the counter, I use an under counter banana hook that folds up when not in use. It also keeps bruising down a little. No solutions for the fruit fly, I just try to manage the banana purchase.

Here is a link that might be useful: Banana Hook

I use the green bags. NOT pretty, but blends in with the rest of the mess on my counter!! LOL

They could be stored in a bag inside a cupboard though...

Deanna

Didn't someone here recently suggest putting out a small dish of vinegar to discourage the flies? I haven't tried it, but I know that I read it recently.

I store them in a plastic bag in a cupboard. They last much longer that way. However, they will flavor nearby food (cereal in boxes, crackers, etc.) so I keep them in a cabinet without exposed food.

I often freeze them, peel and all, if I have too many. I've read that they keep longer if they are separated from each other, rather than kept in a bunch.

As for the fruit flies - I'm trying the plastic wrap trap. Another trap you can make is to put out a glass of sweet Vermouth. The fruit flies fall in, get drunk, and drown. The problem with that is that it possibly attracts more fruit flies than you had in the first place, and then you end up with leftover nasty sweet Vermouth.

Lars

I can't believe no one suggested the Banana Bunkers. You could buy several of them and make a "lovely" arrangement for your kitchen counter!

Here is a link that might be useful: Banana bunkers

dlynn you got there before me. I still have mine!

For five points, does anyone outside of me remember who first posted the banana bunkers?

I shouldn't respond to this thread... The bananas I bought 4 days ago are still sitting on the love seat in the living room because I was too lazy to bring then all the way into the kitchen when I unloaded the groceries... which would have been about 4 feet in my small apartment. I can't put bananas away, yet it's 1:30 AM and I'm baking a chicken and a loaf of bread... go figure!

I tried to freeze the bananas once so they wouldn't go bad as fast. I didn't like manipulating them when it was time to use them and it was hard to get them out of the peel.

So, I just store them on the counter, but I've seen the hooks. Never had a problem with fruit flies because of bananas. However, we shan't talk about the sack of potatoes that rotted on the pantry floor a couple months ago. Fruit fly city! I made a trap with watermelon and a paper funnel on top of a cup but it didn't catch any of them. Where was the bowl of vinegar suggestion back then?! :-/

My dh has been on my case about the fruit flies lately. I told him that is just what happens when I am in the midst of canning and produce is still stragling in. I put a mix of dishwashing soap, vinegar, water and a couple fruit peels in a mayonaise jar and make a paper cone to fit in the top. It does a good job of attracting and killing the fruit flies, the morning after making a trap, there are plenty of dead flies in the jar.

Stacie
girlsingardens