Ripening Bananas & Free Fruit Flies

Hello. Been working on this for about 2 weeks. 1st question is, what is best way to ripen bananas? Having read that the bananas give of a gas while ripening, I have them in plastic bags. What I'm experiencing with that is they seem to ripen more slowly then being in the open air. Any help here greatly appreciated.

Next, the fruit flies. OMG! These buggers are taking over the place. I do contain them, somewhat, leaving plastic bottles with vinegar and a few drops of dish soap around the kitchen and dining room. Again, any help with matter would be great.

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Comment by Darryl Warren on October 1, 2012 at 10:07am: Thanks Peter. I appreciate it.

I'm finding that plastic not ideal. Guess that makes sense. No plastic was available when bananas arrived on the scene.

Comment by Peter on October 1, 2012 at 9:25am: When I want to accelerate the ripening process I place the bananas in paper bags, not plastic bags.

Make sure all benches and surfaces are clean with no rotten fruit laying around as this is particularly attractive to fruit flies.

Comment by Basia Piechocinska on September 30, 2012 at 12:42pm: Hi Darryl. Yes, I have actually tried wrapping fruit in cheese cloth. However, where I lived the humidity was so high that it made the fruit moldy.

Also, it is difficult to see if the fruit is going bad. And so it was just more practical for me to put a net around the fruit selves.

I hope you find a solution that works well for you.

Comment by Darryl Warren on September 30, 2012 at 11:31am: You've got me thinking.. Have you ever tried wrapping fruit in cheese cloth?

Comment by Darryl Warren on September 30, 2012 at 10:55am: Thanks Basia. Getting going on this great routine, I need all the help I can get. I appreciate it.

Comment by Basia Piechocinska on September 30, 2012 at 9:21am: I usually live in a tropical climate, and there the fruit flies multiply extremely fast. My solution, that actually works, was to create fruit shelves that I have mosquito net around them. The net has to have very small holes, otherwise the fruit flies will fly through it. Also, I check the fruit daily, to make sure that none of it has gone bad and would potentially attract flies or other insects.

Also, I noticed that a spray of water with essential peppermint oil is repelling for the fruit flies. When I get new fruit I sometimes spray the fruit shelves and the net with the peppermint water before putting the fruit there.

As for ripening bananas, paper bags may be better, as fruit needs oxygen to ripen well. Also, keeping at least one really ripe banana or one really ripe apple around and putting it into the paper bags can speed up the process. Also, if you have a choice, put the fruit you want to ripen is a slightly warmer place (not a root cellar).

Hope this helps.