Hello again. I have looked through the site and can not find any hosta help. (maybe I'm not looking hard enough) My question is this.. How come when my new plants come up for the year, the leaves have huge holes in them? I have looked everywhere for snails. I have also put down snail and slug bait for them. I don't know what to do!!! What can I do to help them, or do I just live with the holes for this season? All you hosta addicts out there, please help!!

Also, can a hosta make a good hanging basket?? I am looking for a good shade basket. any suggestions? It's only 2am, and my mind is thinking shade..... HA!

The holes are from slugs and bugs. I use sticky traps for mice around mine. I just live with the few holes that I do get.

Hanging baskets for shade can have fushias, lobelia, begonias, impatiens, coleus and my favorite 'bacopa'. You could use hosta but it doesn't trail over the sides. Add some of the ones mentioned with it also for a stunning combo.

The holes are undoubtably from slugs. Just because you put slug bait out doesn't mean you'll get them all. It is a constant battle to keep them from eating my hostas and lettuce in the garden. Their favorite snacks. The best time to control them, I've found, is just as it's getting dark. Bring a flashlight and a spraybottle of ammonia and water or a pair of pruners to cut them up. I've killed as many as 15-20 at a time on occasion.

I'm not sure about a hanging basket, but they look very pretty in the right container. Another thing hostas get that causes holes is called necrosis.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. John... will the ammonia water kill the plants?

Nope. Actually it is a source of nitrogen for the plants.

Great!

ammonia only works if you get it ON the slug, right?... or does it have a residual effect?.. I would think it breaks down pretty fast???

That is my understanding. I've never experimented with residual effect however. I'm sure once it dries it provides no control.

Hello - I like the ammonia idea - perhaps I'll try that too. The past few years I've been sprinkling oat bran around my beds just before the slugs get bad (my area mid June). I re-apply every week or so as needed, and since I have been diligent in this method, I've had no problems with them eating my plants. Before that, I can't even count how many plants I lost, and they had a feast on my lamiums as well. It's an inexpensive method, and won't hurt any pets you may have as that was a concern of mine.
Good luck to you!

oh, that oat bran sounds like a good idea (and easier than going out every night and spraying with ammonia)!

i don't have any hosta but i've been seeing holes in my sedum and iris. and then, when i was splitting the iris, i found a few baby slugs on them - so i'll be trying the oat bran to see if that helps.

Does the Oat Bran kill the slugs, or just get them full??

Can't believe no one mentioned beer. The old stand by. If you don't mind it sitting around your garden. I`ve seen the bigger slugs in the bowls but not the babies. But it does the trick for me and my neighbor. I use it for my hostas and the bowls are hidden by the big leaves. My neighbor uses it for her marigolds until they get bigger. Make sure the bowls are sunken down in the ground so it is easier for them to get in. They drown. Wether they're drunk or not I don't know!! I like the oat bran idea too. Sue

I swear by the beer thing too. I prefer it to the bait that you buy at the Store.

Actually, I sprinkle crushed egg shells on the ground around my Hostas and it seems to work for me.

Can someone please tell me what the oat bran does??? I can see how the crushed egg shells would work. Good idea. Everyone has great ideas!

I think they eat the oat bran and then explode or something...

HA! Thanks for replying!!

Cindy, you have got to be kidding! Are you serious? If so, then I don't want to be around when they explode!

yes, we used beer to kill the slugs when i was a kid - never worked too well. my dad just left it in a bowl...didn't submerge it in the soil to make it easier for them to go for a swim tho...

i've also heard salted water will work too.

i think the best thing so far is the eggshells!! i don't see how they'd be able to get over them - that sounds perfect.

how big/small do you crush the shells up, patches?

Joclyn, I don't crush them up fine or too small, but I don't leave them in large pieces either. I don't want it to look like someone threw a bunch of old egg shells in there.

I don't know that for sure...
I read something about it in one of the slug topics.
It might be in this one... slugs and beer ...but I'm too lazy to look through it.

I'm also too lazy to do anything about my slugs.
They are eating my hostas BAD this year.

I guess slugs need to eat, too!

you said that when they come UP they have holes in them?.... so a new leaf, coming out from the pointed sprout has a hole already?....that's happened to mine, usually after I or the DH has mistakenly stepped on one of the points..... slugs are known to lay eggs in the crown of hosta plants, too.. so an early hatch may have been hungry enuff to go after the just-emerging sprouts....

as for baits.... the best one I've found yet is one that contains Iron Phosphate in the ingredients list.... it's harmless to pets and kiddies and turns into fertilizer if it's not eaten by the slugs.... lasts a couple weeks, rain or no...you re-apply when you see it's being used...... it's saved many a miniature hosta around here!!...

I'm trying my first picture here... part of the collection of hostas....you can see a few holes from where they got chewed before I got the baits out!!... and you can see that one slug could do in one of the miniatures in one sitting, too!!!...

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VACFAogZxjzJ61JMhSSIZF3nS3D5nVD5dZJmnkPcH7SR*MUVj4lWymY8GZJU5bJ2cw6UlSPJBP0774lS**4!f7g*WicVyPNHSoqkk7ahBwqUBwLLszWeukR0Lt7x1ua8/NOWitsJune06%20058.jpg?dc=4675577153407290718[/img]

yippee!!.. it worked!!.... sorry... I'm easily thrilled.... LOL!!

Those are some beautiful hostas and it look like wonderful shade garden. I think ponds are so neat, and I would love to have one!

Why wasta a good beer? Go for the oat bran or ammonia. Both work.

Just read the posts after oat the bran thing. Sorry for the delay - after they eat the oat bran, they will bloat up, as the oat bran expands inside them. They crawl away and die - not exploding (I haven't seen any exploded bodies to speak of).
I guess I'm just a lazy and picky gardener - I don't have the time to crush the eggshells, I don't want to spend a fortune on commercial killers that may or may not work, and I don't want to waste a good beer! So the oat bran thing works for me - while I'm admiring all the nice plants, I just sprinkle it around the beds.
I just put some down last week, ane then we got lots and lots of rain. Plants are all OK still - no holes in leaves. It not only works for hostas, but all plants. Good luck.

Those are some incredible looking Hosta's you have there , well done!!

Uhhh...I'm a little dramatic sometimes!

Ha! All you guys are great!

Here's a couple of other nasty weapons for you slug warriors. I haven't tried either, so I can't vouch for them, but the first was mentioned in 2 different books I have--"Great Garden Shortcuts" and "Great Garden Formulas" The recipes differ just slightly. The first says to use 1 part nonsudsing ammonia and 2 parts water, the second says to use equal parts nonsudsing ammonia and water in a spray bottle. "The slug dissolves in milliseconds"

The other method (also from "Great Garden Shortcuts") says to get a bag of hair clippings from your local barbershop. This from Mike McGrath, former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening Magazine, after seeing the damage slugs had done to his garden--"I wanted to inflict pain and suffering". He then explained--"When slugs try to crawl across human hair, they get all tangled up, and they strangle and die"

Mike McGrath RULES! OG was AWESOME when he was the editor.