Like with many gardeners, I have to combat pests. Some pests put up a fight like Green Metallic Tomato Fly. At the start of the year, my tomatoes and capsicums were completely wiped out by these flying demons. Doing research online, I found out about fly traps such as those from the Australian company, EnviroSafe. These traps have a hook on the top which allows you to hang it from trees and strings. You can also place it on a surface if that works for you. I had nowhere to hang mine, so I placed mine on top of the soil in the garden, that worked, but when it got windy or someone walked through the garden, they'd get knocked over. Knocking these traps over causes the liquid to spill out, spoiling the trap.
Hanging the trap comes with its own problem. In windy conditions, the trap swings around considerably. Making the trap stationary, such as by putting it on the ground comes with risks of it tipping over as previously mentioned. With both of these methods having strong downsides, I thought of placing the trap on a garden stake. That keeps it stationary, yet elevated and protected while still maintaining accessibility.
Instead of using zip ties or some other annoying method, I thought of having a holder that attaches to the garden stake instead. This keeps the trap accessible for maintenance, rather than having to untie string or cut zip ties each week.
What you need
The design
My mount is very simple. It consists of a top bracket, a bottom bracket and a connector to join them together. The two brackets screw into the connector to complete the assembly. To attach it to the garden stake, you just slide it on and tighten the wing nut on the bolt so it doesn't slide down or spin. Simple as that.
The bottom bracket has slots cut into the bottom so it doesn't hold water and become a pest breeding ground. The spacing between the top and bottom bracket focuses on the trap's ribs, keeping the trap as visible and accessible as possible.
The cool aspect of this mount is that you can place it anywhere the garden stake can go. Want to place it in the centre of your garden or have multiple spread throughout the garden? That's not a problem. Versatility is important when it comes to trapping pests. If a trap is limited by where it can be mounted, it limits its access to pests. By having the ability to place the trap anywhere and at any given height on the garden stake, you can optimise it to be as effective as possible.
Conclusion
This project is extremely simple, yet very functional. It solves the problem of wind swinging the trap around and also the limitation of placement. You are no longer constrained by vacant garden space or the need for something overhead to hang the trap from.
For now, there are no planned changes to be made by me to this project as I believe it is fully functional and solves all given problems. If you wish to remix this, absolutely go for it. Please link back to this project when sharing your remixes.
This is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by EnviroSafe.
