grubs dont eat hosta.. as far as i know..

are you talking slugs???? if so.. they start when they find the leaf.. and open their mouths ... lol

i THINK.. the issue is temps ... the hosta leaf out in rather cool temps.. but slugs dont get real active.. to cover ground.. until it starts warming up more ...

also.. in early spring.. there are but a few ... so not a lot of damage is seen..

its when the population explodes in late june.. that the decimation is really seen.. and by that time.. its too late to control the populations ...

ken

Are you talking about cutworms, perhaps?

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Cutworms

Wow Ken, I must have had A senior moment. Of Course I meant slugs. Thanks. Most are just breaking ground, so I will wait a bit.

Don't wait. Whatever you are going to do, Ammonia or Bait, do it now, before the little slimeys get going. Every one that meets it's demise now is one that won't lay eggs. There are eggs in the soil and mulch right now when these little babies wake up give them a molluscide breakfast.

Steve

I've had cut worm damage this spring. Actually, I've had cut worms and black and yellow army worms. Both are caterpillars. A moth lays his egg on your hosta or in the pot and it becomes his baby nursery. You have lots of nice soft, succulant green leaves for his baby to eat.

Go out after dark with a flash light and see what's eating it. The cut worm is a brown chubby wormy thing. The other one is little and skinny.

If that's what it is, Dipel dust is the easiest thing to use. It's Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT), an organic insecticide. It won't hurt pets or birds or anything. BT also comes in liquid, but you have to mix it and load a sprayer and then wash the sprayer, etc.

this is what my damage looked like at first
{{gwi:951178}}

A couple of days later, it looked like this
{{gwi:951180}}

Good luck,

bkay

every one you kill now .. momma-cide ... will be 100 less you will have in july/august..

it really is a year around battle ...

ken

So now is a good time to start slug and snail bait? Maybe that is where I have been remiss in previous years is I always waited till I saw them. This seems much more proactive! Off to buy more Bug Geta Plus!

ya know.. cindy.. i just read your deer post...

and am mystified.. that you do such year around for deer..

but it never crossed your mind.. to do slugs.. year around ... lol ...

i like your enthusiasm.. come back often..

in jest..

ken

Good to know the wrens are liking slugs as well as cutworms etc. I took copious pictures this morning of the fledging of five baby Carolina wrens from the pig flower pot sitting on my deck railing. Little downy heads and short tails, they navigated like drunken sailors. Yes, this year the Pig Family had FIVE BABIES.

Over the last 6 weeks, I've watched the parents building the nest, then bringing an assortment of bugs and such, sometimes it seemed like they were showing me the prize catches, how could those little babies eat such big things!! Our lunch-time table and umbrella is within three feet of the nest (2nd year to use it) and I put a pot of bougainvillea in the corner to screen them from our threatened closeness.

I feel so proud this morning. All is well with the world. Mother Nature is taking care of business.

So -- where is a picture of the wren babies, and the pig planter which I imagine contains hostas?
Jan