# How to make fruit fly culture's



## tom and tina (Oct 28, 2009)

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*How to make fruit fly culture(s)*​
*Ingredients:*
To make 10 cultures (adjust as needed, if needing less then still use 1 banana, as the banana wont ruin any of the amounts).


1. 100g Porridge Oats
2. 150ml Boiling Water
3. 1 Bannana
4. 75ml Tropical Cordial (Tesco double concentrate) 
5. 25ml Distilled Vinegar
6. 1 tsp Sugar 

*Equipment needed:*


Potato masher
Mixing bowl or large jug
Tablespoon
½ Pint disposable cups
Cloth
Elastic bands
Cotton wool (we use the cotton wool pleat or balls)
Fruit flies

*Mixture:*


Add the porridge oats, boiling water, and banana into a bowl, and mash together (I use a potato masher until all the banana has been mashed up).
Add your tropical cordial, distilled vinegar, sugar. Mix very well and leave for 10 min’s.
The mixture should fall off the spoon, but not be sloppy. If its too wet then just add a little more oats, and if its too dry just add a little more cordial.
Add the mixture into the disposable glasses, and pull the cotton wool apart and put in the glass (if using balls then use one, and if pleats us a quarter of one pleat in).
Add around 30 fruit flies to the culture.
Cover with the cloth, and secure with a elastic band. ( If the fruit flies start trying to escape, then just knock the top of the cup, and they will fall back down. They can be quick!!!).

Useful tip:
Use a cloth that the flies cant get through i.e no holes. We use the cheap blue multipurpose cloth, which seems to work well. 



Click here for more care sheet’s 

I wrote this up because alot of people have asked me how to make the cultures. I hope this helps. I know there are alot of recipes online but this one really works for me.


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## xXcherryXx (Sep 7, 2009)

thanks for this hun i shall try this and fingers crossed get some flys on the go for the greedy nymphs lol


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## Scuwiffpixi (Nov 23, 2008)

*Yay!*

Finally I have been looking for a decent fruit fly medium recipe that doesn't involve special no-mold chemicals and flaked potatoes (believe it or not I can't seem to get hold of them from any of my local shops!? Powder and granules, yes, but flakes no!)

THANK YOU!!:no1:


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## MariaW (Apr 20, 2008)

Great guide :2thumb:
Would all the flies hatch out at the same time and would it be possible to stagger them somehow - say by putting in the fridge?


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## tom and tina (Oct 28, 2009)

Scuwiffpixi said:


> Finally I have been looking for a decent fruit fly medium recipe that doesn't involve special no-mold chemicals and flaked potatoes (believe it or not I can't seem to get hold of them from any of my local shops!? Powder and granules, yes, but flakes no!)
> 
> THANK YOU!!:no1:


We had the same problem, nowhere around us sells instant mash, and then when i started culturing with it, it just dried out instantly. I have been experimenting for the last 2 years, and always come back to this way. 



MariaW said:


> Great guide :2thumb:
> Would all the flies hatch out at the same time and would it be possible to stagger them somehow - say by putting in the fridge?


They would hatch around the same time, i guess you could put some in a warm place and some in a cooler area, but im not sure about the fridge (everyone feaks out when they see my green bottle maggots in the fridge they could'nt cope with fruit flies too).
You could halve the amounts, and then do them in the big disposable pint glasses, so you would get around 3 cultures. Just put around half inch of the media in the bottom (anymore than that is a waste). I only use the small glasses because they seem to have a great hatch rate, in comparison to the big ones, but in either container the hatch is good.


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