If fruit flies in indoor plant, do I have to toss the whole thing?

Faon

Also, it probably got infested at the grocery store where I bought it, but if not, do you know how my plant might've gotten fruit flies and how I can prevent this in the future? It is on my table and now they swarm around me while I eat, even though I moved the plant.

justaname

Hmm well I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but when I've dealt with houseplants with fruit flies I would basically starve them of water. Give them like a couple drops a day. The fruit flies are living there because of all the moisture. I would water it as little as possible and see if you can't get them to die. I hate fruit flies =/

alliapistor

I agree regarding depriving them of water. 

I would also set out a little vineger or wine trap to try and capture as many as possible.  Put red wine or vinegar in a small dish.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then poke a few small holes for the flies to get in, but not out.  You can also put a drop of detergent in the wine/vinegar to disrupt the surface tension and make it easier for them to drown.

I would also double check the house for any old fruit or veggies, just in case.

Give it a week or two and if they still don't go away, I would consider tossing the plant.  Or at least sitting it outside for awhile to see if they go away.

lmdbww

This happens to my mom on one specific plant in her house every single year. She tried every sort of spray and concoction known to google and nothing worked.

The last thing she tried was putting a layer of fine play sand over the dirt in the pot and within 2 days, no more fruit flies! Whatever was on the dirt (live ones and eggs) got smothered and died, and we haven't seen any since.