Those voluptuous hosta exit that spread across your landscape painting add drama and mystique to your garden , but they also are a powerful attractant to slugs and their slimy counterparts : snails .

The good news show is that it ’s pretty easy to name that slug or snails are the culprits and then to deal the problem . The risky news is that these unsavory gastropod can speedily make a hole - ly mess of your verdant hosta ( Hosta spp . ; USDA zona 3 through 8) . Take action before that happens .

Identifying Slug or Snail Damage

Funka that are being targeted by slug will display irregular , but smooth , holes along the folio sharpness or between the veins . Slugs can also thin out off an integral foliage at the stalk , so you might see a wilted , masticate leaf under your hosta .

And , of course , they depart those despicable , shiny trails , both on the leaves and in the area around the plants . If you see any evidence of this , it ’s prison term to protect your hostas .

Good Garden Practices to Deter Slugs

biff love a moist environment , particularly one that harbor nice concealment post where the slug or snail can give ear out during the hot day . So the first thing to do is to remove any piles of yard rubble from your yard , especially near your Funka . This includes wood slew , weed oodles , rocks and low leaf .

Tip

pass on a few wood display panel , perhaps just 1 foot long , around the region where your hostas are planted , and place some sweetener under them , like bits of cabbage or potato . Check these each morning ; you will in all likelihood have attracted slug to their undersides . At that full point , you’re able to dispose of them easily .

Overly blockheaded layer of mulch can also hide clout , so thin any dense piles of mulch . In improver , consider pruning some plants to allow in more loose .

Natural Methods to Kill Slugs

The most common household method commend to kill slugs is to use beer or any other fermented or yeast - stop liquid . Pour some liquid into a shallow cooking pan like a pie home ; then sink it into the filth in areas around your hosta so that the sassing of the container is just barely above the soil . The slugs or snail will obligingly climb right on in and drown . Be certain to empty and refill these container on a regular basis .

In gain , spread diatomaceous earth under your works . This substance has abrupt edges and bring home the bacon an unwelcome mat to invading slugs , in some cases even scratching their pelt to the point of drying up and decease .

Warning

While putting salt on a punch will definitely kill it , causing desiccation and death , salt will also contaminate the soil , making it inhospitable to plants . In increase , invest common salt on a slug border on mercilessness , although it ’s not clear as to what degree slugs feel pain . In any sheath , avoid it .

Pesticide Baiting to Kill Slugs

As a last holiday resort , use commercial-grade pesticide to obliterate slug . Experts recommend avoiding various pesticide that contain mesurol or metaldehyde and or else using products feature branding iron phosphate as their principal constituent , which is good around veggie and fruit in your garden . For model , some commercial-grade merchandise that contain iron inorganic phosphate admit Bonide Slug Magic Pellets , Whitney Farms Slug & Snail Killer or Monterey Sluggo .

Be sure to come after mathematical product directions carefully for software rate and usance .

References

Hostas with lots of slug bites in the leaves.