Can you get the pet safe slug bait- iron phosphate. Sluggo is one brand. It doesnt work on my slugs, but I know others use it. If you don't want to go out at night with a flashlight, you could try going out just before sunset, early mornings, and on wet days and look for them. The are probably most active in the middle of the night, but you can find quite a few at those other times. FWIW, beer traps haven't worked on my slugs either.

Thanks Coll,

I just called our two farm supply/hardware stores in town and neither one of the them had heard of iron phosphate and one suggested nematodes.
Anyone used that?

I haven't heard of nematodes for slug control, but I have heard of spreading diatomaceous earth around the hostas. However, that would need to be reapplied after you water or it rains, so that seems like a huge hassle to me. I tried coffee grounds once and it only worked until the first rainfall. crushed eggshells is another organic thing recommended but it seems to me that you would need to eat a lot of eggs if you have more than one hosta, lol.

I've heard of using pecan shells, but never tried it.

bk

there is a FAQ on use of 10% vinegar or ammonia ... one is found in the pickling aisle.. do they still allow pickle making in canada?? .. eh??

and the other in the laundry/cleaning aisle...

and NEVER FORGET... they are not insects .. so insecticides will not work ...

the guy with the nematode idea.. must have had a boat payment due ...

when you become a member of the ontario hosta society.. all this knowledge will be in your control ...

ken

I have heard of diatomaceous earth and I thought it sounded like a huge hassle, too.

There are specific nematodes for slugs called Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita.

I just read a paper from the University of Guelph that suggested a 4" band of fly screening around the hosta with 2" of it being in the earth.

I bought some copper mesh from Lee Valley when I first started with hostas about five years ago, in anticipation of slugs but as I never got any, I forgot I had it! They sell copper repellent tape now as well as copper slug 'belts'.

This is what Lee Valley site has to say "The blue blood of these pests is rich with copper ions, unlike the red, iron-rich blood of mammals. A slug that finds itself in contact with copper experiences a series of small electrical shocks as it moves about, making copper an effective deterrent."

Here is a link to their site.
Thanks to Mocc for teaching me how to do the 'link'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley copper slug belts

Ken, I believe they do still allow pickle making as it is not a 'pesticide' which includes the more specific 'insectice', eh.

I am a member of the Ontario Hosta Society, I will check out their site.

Here is a link that might be useful: The guy with the nematode idea

Paula, are you sure it's slugs, if you have problems in only one bed? In the event it is slugs, I would recommend an ammonia bath first thing in spring.

My hostas have been looking good longer since I've been using the ammonia bath first thing in spring when the eyes just emerge from the ground ... 10 parts water to 1 part ammonia. I pour a cupful ON a small hosta ... on the eyes but not on the unfurled leaves. This has reduced the slug population somewhat. I also pour it around tree trunks, rocks ... any places they might like to propogate and hide.

Feed grade dietometious (sp?) earth works on slugs and earwigs too.

Artistic Landscape Design here in Ottawa claim success using an aluminum sulphate solution AROUND the crown of hostas, but NOT on the plant. This is what they say in their hosta care sheet:

"It is recommended to apply the aluminum sulphate rather as a solution, than as a granular for more accurate dosage. Dissolve 50 grams for 4 liters (1 tablespoon equals 15 grams). Saturate the soil around the crown, taking care not to water the leaves or the crown. One liter per a medium size plant is about the right dose.

Make one application in fall, after the leaves have died (and the slugs have found a nice overwintering spot near the roots of their food source) and another application end of May/early June when you see the tips of your hostas emerging. If you are really having a plague, you can repeat the solution in 2 month intervals."

They recommend treating newly prepared beds devoid of plants with this solution to kill slug eggs.

It's been such a wet summer, that all the remedies combined may not work.

I started this aluminum sulphate remedy a few years ago and then forgot about it, so I don't really know whether it works or not. I may try it again soon.

Edit to say: All the posts after the first reply have sure reinforced the fact that I'm a slow typist. LOL

This post was edited by irawon on Sat, Jul 6, 13 at 14:15

Paula,
They sell slug & snail bait at many big box stores in our area. Safer's Slug and Snail Killer and Scott's Ecosense Slug B Gon Slug & Snail Bait.
I usually stock up at Walmart at the end of the season when it goes on sale.
Vanessa

I can attest to the fact that copper works very well as a repellant. I have it around many of mine, in three inch high bands. I don't think the mesh would work as well because when I captured a slug to first test out the copper theory, he would climb about halfway up his copper prison walls before giving up and heading back down. But he was game to try, several times...so if he was "shocked", evidently it wasn't that bad. So I don't think a thin copper wire is gonna hold out a determined slug.
Also, for a copper barrier to work, you have to ensure that there arent any tiny slugs or slug eggs hiding within the perimeter. And slugs can access the plant if you have any leaves of neighboring plants overlapping that hosta. Of the ones I have in copper rings, any damage they have sustained is at the point a leaf touches a neighboring plant. And of course, you have to make sure there are no gaps at the bottom for them to crawl under.
But copper is only a repellant- it's not going to do anything to reduce your overall slug population. So i do a combo of copper and hunting and killing them with diluted ammonia.

There is so much conflicting information out there!

Ken, thanks for informing me about the faq section, lots of reading there to keep me busy for a while. A question re: ammonia/vinegar: are you supposed to spray only in the spring on the eyes only? or can you use the spray at other times on the hosta as well?

Irawon, that is funny :) The slow typing/posting thing happens to me all of the time. The problem is exacerbated in one bed. As I wandered around out there just now taking a couple of shots, I noticed damage elsewhere but the holes were not as obvious. I will have to check into the aluminum sulphate success rate. Thanks for the ideas.

Vanessa, thanks for the info - which product do you find works best for you?

Colleen, I will look for the copper that I bought years ago - I don't throw anything away, so it has to be somewhere! There are some advantages to being a pack rat.

I took some pics - does this look like slug damage?

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Even on thick Mouse Ears
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Hm, it certainly looks like slug damage but I guess it could possibly be something else if you haven't actually seen slugs out there? I do often see earwigs on mine and wonder if they make some of the small holes. Oh, and the other day I walked out and found some slug holes on my new Rhino Hide. Yeah, the thick leaves my slow them down but they don't stop them, unfortunately.

Both brands work for us! We use them interchangeably with success.

To your question:
"A question re: ammonia/vinegar: are you supposed to spray only in the spring on the eyes only? or can you use the spray at other times on the hosta as well? "

I can only recommend what I do. I used the "ammonia bath" method (on emerging eyes) this spring after reading about it on this forum last winter. It worked well for a while this year, but all the rains have hatched out new generations of slugs...

So now I regularly spray the leaves (under and over) of my hosta with diluted ammonia and water. I have sprayed this mixture on the leaves of my hosta for several years. It does seem to lessen the slug damage. I don't think it would be advisable to spray them when sun is directly on the hosta. After the ammonia dries, if they get sun, that's OK. I re-spray it periodically through the summer.

hth,
Deb

Coll, I haven't looked for them specifically. We do have lots of earwigs and always have but there hasn't been damage before.

WalMart here in town didn't have anything but Canadian Tire had both of the ones you suggested so I bought them both.

Deb, thanks for that, I will give it a go. So if I put down Diatomaceous earth, copper rings, the Slug B Gon and Safer's Slug & Snail Killer and spray ammonia - there might be some success :)

Paula

I just found this message on my computer, I wrote it hours ago and forgot to click 'submit'. :) Slugs on my mind.

My DH is the most wonderful man! He knows how much my hostas mean to me, so he went outside with me slug hunting. The idea of touching those slimy things freaks me out so I held the flashlight and he did the picking. They are really little, but we got 30 of the little buggers.

A way to test for earwigs and also to GET a bunch of them...roll up a few pages of newspaper and run it under the faucet. Lay it next to your gobbled hostas. In the morning you can shake it out and see if those are the critters who are doing these dastardly deeds. Sleuthing....

-Babka

Geez, another keeper husband on the hosta forum!!! Mine hooked me up with my head lamp for slug hunts, but that is about it. Well, good that you caught some and know what you are dealing with. When I go hunting, I just carry a spray bottle of diluted ammonia and squirt them on sight..no actual picking, because that freaks me out. The spray does not seem to harm the hostas.

Duplicate

-Babka

This post was edited by Babka on Sat, Jul 6, 13 at 23:21

I couldn't pick them either, so that is why he did it for me. So the ammonia is the 10:1 ratio as discussed earlier? Where do you buy your ammonia?

I just came in from slug hunting too. I also spray with the amonia solution insead of picking them off. My daisies and even the sedum were loaded with slugs maybe even worse than my hostas. Ooey gooey, WW

Yeah, they are really everywhere...we only notice them on our hostas because that is what most of us obsess about. I find that they love clematis flowers, too.

One night, years ago, I was out hunting after a rain. I happened to look down at the lawn! and there was literally a slug about every square foot in the grass. Eeeeek! They are everywhere here. It was a gross walk back to the house that night.

This post was edited by coll_123 on Sat, Jul 6, 13 at 23:39

I get my ammonia at either the dollar store or the grocery. Yes, I go with a ten to one ratio. You can try more diluted if you have small slugs, but I find at this time of year I've got some pretty mature ones, and a 10:1 ratio kills them more quickly without harming the hosta. Honestly, I don't want to see ANY living creature suffer so I wish I could use an even higher ratio of ammonia to kill them faster. But 10:1 works.

So the ammonia kills them right away? Where are you Colleen?
That number of slugs was found on 4 hostas - is that excessive? Well, more than one is excessive but you know what I mean?

I am in Maine, Paula. I have three colors of slugs- pale beige, dark brown, and golden/ orange. I am not sure if they are all various stages of the same type or what, but those big orange guys take a while to kill with the ammonia.... I hate that! The smaller ones go pretty quick...but I can't honestly say its instant. My niece and nephew were vistiting me one year helping me with my hunts, and they were quick to point out when the slugs were still alive!!!! Honestly, when I find them in the yard, I grab a rock and squash them, and that seems more humane....but what are you gonna do? The wreck my enjoyment of my garden so they have to be dealt with. Picking them off and tossing them into a stronger blend on ammonia and water would probably be kinder to the slugs....but spraying them as you find them is more convenient, IF you don't have a cooperative partner!!!

I would say that's a decent amount of slugs on just a few plants that you found. I am on my iPad now,but I will post again to this thread tomorrow with a picture that I need to get off my computer!

The ones we found were pale beige and the longest would be maybe 1 inch but most were smaller.

It seems that the slugs have found that bed and have ravaged 3 hostas and have crossed the stone walkway to the other side and have started on Captain Kirk, the ones next to that one haven't been touched yet.

What would cause them to suddenly appear this year? The first 3 hostas are on an island bed with the brick patio on one side, the flagstone walkway on another, and the third side is grass.

Ok, this is not THE pic I wanted, but it's one I had in my photobucket. Since you say you are only having a problem in one bed, what I would suggest you do is mix up your ammonia and put into a spray bottle. Then go and buy a head of romaine lettuce and place leaves around the hostas in your problem bed...probably fairly close to the hostas, because they may be hiding near the crowns. ( or you can drench the crowns and keep the lettuce farther away). Either way. This is what I find at night when I put down lettuce. They like this stuff more than they like my hostas so I use it as bait to attract the most slugs. If I notice one of my copper rings has been infiltrated, I put a small piece of lettuce inside it to capture the offender.

Spray all the ones you find there, and then either go out AGAIN later that night and do it again, or check the lettuce in the morning. Often in the morning they are sleeping under it. Even after you've sprayed the lettuce with ammonia and killed the slugs, more slugs will come along and still want to eat it until it is completely gone. It will last a surprisingly long time unless they eat it all. It lasts longer if kept in the shade....but they like it no matter what state it's in.

Yuck! That is nasty but a really good plan. How do you know if one of your rings has been infiltrated? The obvious answer: there are slug holes on the hosta?

Yes, I start seeing holes...mainly on the smaller new leaves. I know it's disgusting, but I have found that my particular slugs are highly attracted to lettuce. So when I find the one or ones in the copper ring, the lettuce will just sit there unbeaten for days, and I know the perimeter is secure, lol. The only tricky thing is that those dastardly pill bugs will come in and eat the lettuce too. But I have sure dispatched a lot of slugs with this method. However, in about another two weeks, I will have burned myself out and will concede defeat for the year. But YOU must battle on, because slugs are new to you this year! You stand a chance, if you are diligent. I already have millions of the suckers, so for me I'm just trying to minimize the damage at this point.

Ps, the pic on my computer may be even more disgusting, as I recall. Last year I even found a couple of cutworms on the lettuce. (those you have to squash)

Don't worry I will soldier on for the good of the hosta team! :)

Thanks for the advice. At least I feel as though I have a course of action, this morning I felt so helpless.

The following also seems like a good idea: btw - the first two lines sound like they were written by Ken!

"First you open a beer, but you don't waste it on slugs. Drink the beer while you do these other steps. Get an apple, some rubber bands, and a bunch of newspapers. Cut the apple up into small cubes about the size of your thumbnail. Open the newspaper up to the center and tear it in half, so you have a piece about 1m x 1/2 meter. Put a piece of apple down at the bottom of the narrow side of the newsprint and roll the paper up into a fairly tight tube with the apple in the middle. Put the rubber band around the tube to keep it rolled up. Make a bunch of the tubes with apples in the middle. Then toss the paper tubes with apple out in your gardens and beds. After a couple days the slugs, snails and other nasty bugs will have found the tubes, via the delicious smell of apple and will be hanging out inside the tubes. Just pic them up and toss them, either in the trash, or if you are an animal lover, toss the tubes out in a field or woods away from your gardens."

I think it would make sense to wet the newspaper, too. I am going with Coll's lettuce idea and ammonia spray.

Ooh, I haven't heard of using apple before....may have to try that too!

I have never been troubled by snails or slugs in my hostas though I do know that there is a significant snail/slug population elsewhere in other gardens around my home.

I attribute it to two lucky factors. One is I clear the garden of all dead organic material in the fall and compost it leaving less places for slugs and other critters too to overwinter. The other more important lucky factor ... I garden in the shade of Eastern White Pines. The ground is thoroughly littered with needles. While I removed more than a dozen wheelbarrow loads of needles this spring from an area about 20 metres by 50 metres, I still left behind a lot of needles between the upcoming pips of the crowns of hostas. Apparently, slugs don't like the sharp needles according to garden lore.

It works for me :) and other than a once a year raking, seems to give a permanent easy deterrent to slugs.

Doug

Paula, check out this link I found tonight. They also swear by 3" high copper, but also talk about dusting the garden with lime, which I've never heard. I know we have acid soil here, which evidently is preferred by slugs. I might also try the yeast traps, though I think I mentioned that I have tried beer traps,and found them totally ineffective.

Here is a link that might be useful: Slug treatment

In that link, they recommend 5 parts water to one part ammonia, but I personally would not go that strong. I seem to remember a post on another forum where someone had damage from using a strong concentration. I have not had any damage with the 10:1 ratio.

Thanks for the info. I am about ready to go outside hunting again but with spray ammonia this time.

In a show of solidarity, I just went out there and hunted . I caught a bunch, until I ran out of spray. We had some storms come through this evening and that really draws them out.

Yes, it seemed to bring out bigger ones. We didn't see as many tonight which is probably a good sign. I am concerned about the ammonia I used - is the one I am supposed to use: just simply ammonia household cleaner? This one was lemon scented, and the slugs seemed to die. Should I just spray the whole plant? Which I did on two of them in my excited frenzy! lol

I haven't used the lemon scented one, but I imagine it's the same, as long as you dilute it with water. I don't really spray the whole plant, but you probably could- a big problem in my garden with the thicker leaved hosta is the slugs chewing holes in the petioles, which eventually collapses the whole leaf....grrrrr. What I have done in the past is fill up a pump action garden sprayer with the ammonia mix and stick the wand down into the middle of certain hostas, like Regal Splendor, for example. That is probably more effective than a handheld spray bottle, but is more cumbersome to tote around. Tomorrow I may load up the pump sprayer, though.

I diluted it as you suggested 10:1. In the link you sent me, they said to spray the whole plant to 'thin the population'.

I sprayed down the inside stems of Captain Kirk for the exact reason you mentioned above. Plus does the residue stay? Will slugs not go where it has been sprayed?

I have to admit that I really felt enabled watching them die with my spray! Take that you little so and so's.

I do not think the residue will repel them....i spray the lettuce when I find them on there and more come to take their place within a short time, so they seem to not be bothered by any residue, So IMO, diluted ammonia is only a direct contact solution. When you drench the soil with it, you are trying to hit hidden slugs or eggs. When the slugs are on the hostas, they aren't always easy to see, depending on how dense the leaves . They can be on the underside or hiding in the petioles, so spraying as much as you can would be an attempt to catch any hidden ones.

Paula, I use a Canadian product sold by a company in Glouster MA....crushed crab shells and I get it in 50 lb bags. My DH spreads it on his veggie beds, I spread it on my hosta pots. Our slug problem is almost gone this year. It is the cut worms that are my problem this year.

Never heard of using nematodes, they are a soil borne thing, some good some bad. The crab shells besides being coarse and not nice to slug sliders probably, also feeds the good nematodes which attack the bad elements in the soil. It does smell a bit, but when it gets wet it is like smelling the beach.
You might use a spray for the pots or soil around the hosta. I've done a 1:10 ammonia and water solution, and it affects the earth worms, so I guess if it hits them, it will affect the slugs.

I think catching them before they can lay eggs is the best way to get rid of them.

I don't think I caught them before they laid eggs, but I am definitely being vigilant now and going out every evening with my DH - I don't like being in the dark by myself outside lol. I can go outside in the front where there are streetlights, etc but not the back where it is pitch black. Really silly at my age.

Anyway, I will try the lettuce next to see if I can round up some more.

The crab product that you are talking about is from the east coast - I don't know if I can find it here in Ontario but I will try.

It's amazing you never had slugs til' this year! Didn't you know that hostas are a slugs favorite food? Lol! I never saw a slug until I started growing hostas ten years ago. While I don't have a tremendous problem with them,this year they have been bad because of all the rain. I use 10% ammonia on slugs when I see them. I never use slug bait,because I think that just attracts them to the hostas. Just my two cents worth. Phil

Some more deterrents - Lime, cinders, coarse sawdust, gravel, sand, epson salts, cat or dog fur balls, dryer lint, salt, and last but not least - after you eat your grapefruit in the morining, put the empty grapefruit half in your garden. Supposedly they love it

Bob Solberg wrote a large article call "Hosta Pests...The Fear Factor in his September newsletter. "If you are going to apply any bait or chemicals, including beer or Romaine lettuce, do it early in the spring, even before the hosta emerge. The slugs are active before the hostas so round them up early and then reapply the bait as necessary as new species of slugs become active. The trick is to reduce the slug population, you will not eradicate it and you do not want to. Slugs and snails fill a useful niche in the environment, cleaning up the mess. In summer once the slugs get into the hosta foliage, they may never reach the ground again"....

DD

This post was edited by DelawareDonna on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 16:26

I put some slug bait out this spring twice and only saw one slug amazingly, but often little snails on leaves without any damage at that spot. But I also have those little holes on leaves, probably need to disperse another bottle of bait.

I should have started spraying against nematodes, but did not do it yet, that is the next problem for us to see. I think they are coming up the petioles by now. There are always other important things to attend to.
Bernd

Donna - thanks for the tips.

Bernd - What is the active ingredient in the slug bait that you used?

Almost time to go out slug hunting with the ammonia again.

Here is another tip that I forgot until tonight. I misplaced my headlamp ( think: coal miner) and took out a flashlight. I wasn't finding too many, but when I shined the light underneath the leaves, I found several hidden there. Even got one grasshopper tonight, which was awesome...I am still angry over my astilbe destruction.