Vic,

Click on the link below for lots of effective ideas.
It's from the hosta forum's FAQ section.
At the top of the forum page, way on the right is a search box.
You can find answers to all kinds of garden questions there.

Char

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta - Slug Control - Frequently Asked Questions

good luck.. its a 24/7/365 battle .. but for the dead of winter.. but even then you ought to be making plans ... ken

Here is a link that might be useful: try the search function also

I know my battle has begun! I am starting to see eyes/pips. No where close to unfurling, and yet i know the slugs are on the prowl. It has rained and it is above 40 most days. I hope they find every pellet I left for them!! I haven't seen any yet. When I do the ammonia will be spraying!!

No one has mentioned the beer method. Not any good?

My dog drinks the beer but a few hungry chickens can eat a lot of slugs.

What works for me is to sprinkle vinegar or ammonia around the hostas DURING THE DAY WHEN THE SLUGS ARE SLEEPING. I don't like to get anything on the hostas, except water. I learned this from Mr. Ragland a couple of years ago before he was banished from this Forum, and works like a charm, so far.
Pat

Can you have chickens in the city?

Connie

KFC is within our city...lol

but, but, ... here we go again, .. patann says she sprinkles ammonia or vinegar *around* her hostas ..... wasn't it on this forum (?) where i was told emphatically that the ammonia works only on *contact* ????? i am sooooo confused, says she who has a bazillion slugs in her gardens .. phyl

(seriously, really & truly, which is it????????

Here my collection from multiple sources:
To make a simple slug trap get a small pop bottle, cut off the funnel shaped neck and turn it upside down and place it back into the bottle. The picture above is an example. Then put a few ml of stale beer in the bottom and leave it on its side by the place you get the most slugs. Loving the smell of beer it should fill with slugs, who will drown in the beer unable to get out.
A more nature friendly way of combating slugs is to install a pond, this can be as small as 30cm (1 foot) squared you will still attract enough slug eating frogs.
Comfrey placed around the edge of the bed under rocks will give the slugs an alternative food source and they seem to prefer it to a lot of plants.
A length of wood place alongside your row can act as a place for slugs to hide in dry weather. Simply pick off the slugs each time you head up to your plot.
Egg shells and pistachio nut shells also deter slugs as they hate rough surfaces.
Not only do slugs hate seaweed, but it doubles up as a great fertilizer as well.
Hand pick them and put them in a glass bottle containing about 2 inches of vinegar (acetic acid). The slugs die instantly. Liquid ammonia also is effective and even better because it creates nitrogen which plants love.
Create "slugs baits" where slugs will be attracted to. Examples: 1) a carpet left on the ground near your compost pile; 2) a thick layer of wet newspaper again left on the ground in the vicinity of the compost pile (which is away from your hosta beds); 3) use Sluggo around each hosta and slugs that make it into the garden will be attracted to the Sluggo and when they eat it they die; 4) you sink a container filled with beer level with the ground. Slugs will enter the container and will drown. This beer setup can be also near the compost pile.
After a rainfall, eliminate slugs by spot spraying the lawn with diluted ammonia. Attach a container filled with ammonia to the end of the hose and adjust the outlet so that water will mix with the ammonia in a 1 to 10 ratio approximately. This method is fast and efficient and provides nutrient to the lawn.
After a rainfall is the best time to cut the grass. Keep it short. The new lawnmower picks up the grass clippings and may also suck in the slugs that were travelling on the grass.
Spraying the hosta once a week or so with a dilute solution of plain old ammonia. The slugs hate the ammonia and the plants love the nitrogen. Use a regular inexpensive tank and nozzle sprayer and went over and down into each plant-and he has a lot of them. He sprays the hostas with a dilute (4:1 or even weaker) solution of water and household ammonia in the evening once a week-more often in the spring or with a lot of rain.

Nice work Hostamanfred! How's your slug population? With all that ammunition available, the slugs should be wiped out, totally eradicated, gone! LOL

Something tells me that they've got a few tricks of their own.

I'm going to use the ammonia attached to the hose method + the pistachio shells (love pistachios - now I'll just eat them as I'm walking around the beds, spewing shells at the hostas - ha ha) hopefully no damage to my hostas this year.

Vinegar or ammonia does get on the slugs. They sleep during the day around (not on) the hostas. Get 'em whilst they sleep.
Pat

What month do slugs usually start their nefarious deeds in Zone 4? So far (May 26), I have no hosta damage. What about the use of coffee grounds as a mulch? Does this method work? How far from the base of the plant should the grounds be placed?