My slug control is "God Made".... Toads! I love them, they are gentle and friendly but not real pretty. I give them little shelters throughout my gardens. It is also a riot when they make my neighbors dog hurl! Looks like "Einstein" would have earned by now!!LOL!

Denny

Is there a reason that you don't wish to use a proven product, Sluggo, which is iron phosphate ( and there are others with the same composition on environmental sites) and does not harm anythihng but snails/slugs? This stuff is the best thing, short of chickens and toads.

-Babka

I use bug getta + (gotta be the +) it also kills the nasty earwigs. I put i down in the spring just before anything is starting to sprout. and then about a month later. Have almost no slug damage and all of those trillion earwigs are gone!! just a couple left, used to find them every where there was something to hide under and found them by the dozens!! now i just find one or two!! WOOO!! love that stuff!!

Paul

PS I dont own any outdoor pets, but the neighborhood squirels, chipmunks, and cats. and they are all still alive and multiplying faster then the slugs or earwigs are now!!

Pss I consider that "home made" 'cause somebody else in this household buys it and puts it in the garage and then i just happen to find it!!

Oh and homemade is not always the best either, (unless you know what you are doing) I'm sure there are some home made remedies that would cost more or do more damage than store bought. I tried the amonia thing, one link said a 4:1 ratio of water and amonia, sorry i did that one, burned some of the hosta, another link said 10:1 ratio, found that link a little too late!! plus the smell of the amonia is quite unpleasant to me!! even tho the smell was short lived, I dont like to be reminded of my bathroom when I am in my garden!!

Hi Melissa

Home made slug control = water mixed with 10% ammonia
Spray it on those little nasty destructive creatures and they go bye bye. A little labour intensive but it works!

Do a search on this forum for slug control, there's lots of info. some funny stories of hostaholics out in the gardens at night with flashlights, armed with ammonia spray. Papou's all out war on slugs comes to mind.

June......who only sprayed twice this year and has LOTS of slug damage. :(

While you are out there at night with your flashlight wearing gloves, why not pick them up and put them in a jar and add some salt so you can watch them just MELT into some gruesome mess!! LOL

Paul

or use some bug getta + and stay in bed when the slugs USED to come out at night!!

"Spray it on those little nasty destructive creatures and they go bye bye. A little labour intensive but it works!"

Saturate the soil and let the mixture find them during the day and reduce the labor!

EO: What about mulch? Do I soak the mulch or the soil?

I know mulch can harbor slugs, and over time, as the hostas fill in, I plan to eliminate mulch, but right now it's offering a bit of weed control, especially for the dang maple seedlings!

"EO: What about mulch? Do I soak the mulch or the soil? "

Let the ammonia water find them like a flood, during the day, and they will be everywhere including under the mulch. Mulch does not harbor slugs they will travel great distances so they my be several feet away from supper. Saturate the whole area, as soon as the ammonia touch's the slugs they are gone, mush in the mulch!

Build a tower of bricks, about 4 ft high and 5 ft wide. Put a water fountain on top. Fill tower with dirt and old pieces of brick. Plant hostas all around it. Water tower everyday. Take it down next year. I guantee youll find and kill every slug in the county. oh, do this on an empty stomache!

upnort....LOL

jill

I'll right so my method is alot more messier I just go out at night after all I am up trying to put the kids to bed and squish everyone i find I haven't had a problem all summer just have to watch the borders because my nieghbor are to elderly to fight them thier great folks though

I've been using Sluggo with success, but here's a receipe for slug bait that I found last year on the Hill Gardens website.
I kept it, just in case.

Collect 2 one-quart Mason jars with lids and pour 2 cups of warm water into one.
Add a packet of dry yeast, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and sugar.
Mix thoroughly and divide the odiferous concoction between the 2 jars.
Nuzzle each jar into soft garden soil at an angle so the lower lip of its opening is just at ground level.
Slugs smell the yeast, travel to its source, crawl in and drown.
Every 2 or 3 days, collect the slimy mess and either flush it or put a tight lid on the jar and place it in the garbage.
Place yeast-trap jars every 6 to 8 feet where populations are high.

~SASSY~

Denny - I have never had so many toads as this year. They're so ugly they're cute. What type of "shelters" do you have in your gardens? I would love to provide them with as much shelter as possible. When I would have several hostas waiting to plant, I found one burrowed in one of the pots and he would jump from one to the other to the other. Very funny to see, but I enjoyed every minute. Then there were baby toads......everywhere! So I would like to keep them around and provide whatever I can.

Jo~

I'm working on making my own slug treatment.

Slugs need moisture for their slimey bodies but when the soil is saturated, they rise to surface to escape the water, this is the time to set out traps, check under pots, boards, and leaves. I like the hands-on sport of zapping them on the spot.

We've had soaking rains this week and my beer and cardboard traps are working great because the soil is so wet. Don't bother looking for them when the weather is dry.

Sassy, I'm going to use your recipe when I run out of stale beer. :o)

In July I used 3 gallons of ammonia thru my hose end sprayer but the solution was too diluted to be effective. My garden smelled clean tho'

Msjo,
I use hollow logs split in half, Three bricks stacked flat to form a mini pyramid, and stones placed to make a little cavern. I have noticed that my toads seem to love the landscape lighting at night. They crowd around them like a bug buffet. I have also heard that they prefer a place close to water.I have a 3/4 acre pond and in the summer there are millions of them around it.I know a Hosta grower that actually makes little mini ponds all around his garden to attract the Toads. I had a huge black toad last year that would squat inside my pots .He scared the tar out of me on many occasions. He was confiscated from me and I still miss him..I called him "Pigeon"...(Pigeon Toad)..get it ? If you don't that is ok, it is corny backwoods humor. I make no apologies for my roots!!

Denny

Denny,
who confiscated Pigeon from you?
That is just not fair.
Carol

Denny, Due to my roots I understand that humor. LOL

Denny, thank you for the toad info.

Yes, I have to admit some of my roots come from that thar direction! LOL!

Sorry Piegeon is gone.

Jo~

maryann,
Im glad your slugs are 100% natural (on the side of the lid) but they dont look like mine, I never have black slugs. I wonder what, if any, the difference is. Mine are brown striped or tan. Anyway Icant use this method anymore, I have a chipmunk who has joined A.A. since his last experience in the beer traps.

Just1more,
The inspector took him in a jar. My wife saw him do it. When I called to ask why they said that Pigeon was a rare type of toad especially in Illinois. Well, I have the last laugh cause Pigeon has a bunch of youngins that look just like him! They just aren't as big yet but give them another year or soooo.! They are as black as a tax collectors soul!

Denny

Denny, that is funny,
How did an inspector even know you had a rare toad?

Where do you live in Illinois?

So you have the little off spring, good for you,:0)

Now---shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Carol

Oh, did they tell you they were going to keep pigeon?

Just1 more,
He found 'pigeon" on a routine inspection cuddled up in a nursery pot.
I live in Effingham.
No, they didn't even tell me that they were going to take it . they just did .

Denny

It makes sense to me not to use bait to ATTRACT slugs. I like the suggestion I read here several months ago to spray them with 10% ammonia - and watch them melt. The first time I noticed them in this rainy summer, I hurried in and mixed a bottle - I killed a TON that evening and the next morning.

I could lend you my turkey herd....

And I do love finding toads in the garden, always startling and always welcome!

I used to use the ammonia spray all the time until I accidently sprayed a big toad.
I felt terrible about it.
The poor thing was squirming around like it was on fire.
Don't laugh, but I brought it into the house and gave it a
bath then released it.
Since then I've used Sluggo.
I'm far from a PETA advocate, a tree hugger or green person.
I just like toads I guess.

I put Sluggo pellets at the perimeter of each bed...and also in a circular fashion at the base of each hosta. The pellets last about 3 weeks to one month...so I repeat about once a month....from the time hostas unfurl...till mid October. This treatment kills the slugs when I'm not around...slugs eat the pellets then gradually die within a couple of days.
However, like Mary Ann, I enjoy using the 1:10 ammonia mixture and go out early in the morning with my 10-gallon sprayer. With ammonia, the slugs are killed instantly. This is rewarding to me since I tell myself that for each slug I kill, it's one less that will damage my hostas.
You can never eliminate slugs forever...they always come back. Last year for instance, I killed close to 11,000 slugs on my one-acre parcel of land. The slugs that I saw this year were all very small...so they caused minimal damage to the hostas.

Papou

Glad to see you post again, papou.
I've also noticed that since I used Sluggo religously last year the slugs were much smaller this year.
I must admit watching them "melt" was rather rewarding and if it wasn't for accidently hurting that toad I'd be out there with my sprayer melting them again.

Now that the winter garbage is removed from the hosta beds does anyone spray their whole areas with slug control . I am thinking it may be time to do this now before I get some mulch around the emerging plants. 10 % ammonia solution comes to mind was the formula? Or am I just wasting my time and energy doing this too early?

I would not bother until the pips start to unfurl.

tj

I do mine (ammonia spray) early, before unfurling as it targets the eggs then again during unfurling. After that the bait (sluggo) gets sprinkled. There are countless generations of slugs in the garden, big'uns, wee ones, granddaddies, etc. I decided it was easier to spread bait than to watch them froth and squirm from the ammonia spray (I guess I feel sorry for them).

10% to 25% ammonia is fine. 3-4 times a week, more when it rains. Drenching crowns and nearby leaves, mulch or other hiding spots will kill most of them as they don't wander too far from their meals.

Ammonia breaks down nutrients in the soil and releases nitrogen which is a fertilizer. The concentration is far weaker than commercial fertilizers using aqueous ammonia or other concentrations spray in a liquid or forced deep into the soil. The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen and humans are composed of 3% nitrogen.

Some have advocated a 10% bleach as an alternative. Bleach is basically a weak chlorine and will harm plants and repetitive use will kill enzymes in the soil. Bleach is a bad idea and it should never be used.

Bleach-bad, ammonia-good.

Sluggo is fine, I suppose, but at $17 or so for 2 1/2 pounds it would be far costlier than ammonia which costs about $3-$4 a gallon (?) or 10 gallons of 10% concentration spray. A gallon or two would last me the whole season easily.

Jo, you are taking the fun out of gardening.

Jon, The Slug Doctor

LOL! Jon, I DO admit the first time I saw them react to the ammonia, it gave me some satisfaction to know that THAT particular critter would chew no more. Ever since I started using Sluggo (2014) on a regular basis, I found I always have at least a third bag left over at the end of the season. There are far less slugs around than there used to be in my garden. I have a resident toad (hope he appears again) which helps as well.

It is most gratifying to admire my hostas and not be sidetracked by holes in the leaves. When I compare my pics from 2013 to subsequent years I see a dramatic improvement in the appearance of my hostas. That pleases me immensely.

Jo, The Slug Baiter

;-)

Dear Ms Baiter,

How often do you have to put the Sluggo down to control your slugs? My biggest problem is pill bugs, which Sluggo Plus is suppose to control. Do you use in inside of your pots?

Ooooh, it appears I have my own byline! (inject uproarious laughter)

I don't treat my pots. They sit on top of mulch under the tree. I covered an area of lawn with about two inches of wood chip mulch. From time to time, I pull the pots out, weed where required (some airborne weed seeds get in) then turn the mulch over by raking thereby refreshing the whole area.

When I water, or after rainfall (I love the smell of the outdoors after a rain) I check under each pot and occasionally have found a slug or two hiding underneath or even inside a drainage hole. I pluck n squish! Ugh! Haven't seen any chew marks on potted hostas at all - yet. Haven't seen any slugs around the plants in pots at all - yet. Third year running this year.

Re planted hostas... I broadcast very sparsely in obvious areas where I grow groundcovers...which is where they hide around here...dark and moist. After rain it has to be reapplied as it dissolves. Not that much work required...just a light sprinkling here and there. The only effort I make is to place bait very near hiding places, rather than right up against hostas. I don't want to invite them into the hosta area, rather place bait outside the area.

Way too many words but it is like a visit when I get asked a question...I like to "converse". Lol

I admit I used to be lazy in terms of slug control....until I repeatedly saw pictures of pristine hostas on this forum. It was the kick in the behind I needed.

Steve, I remember your pill bug problem. Back in 2013 there was a debate on this forum whether pill bugs just ate decaying matter. I disagreed because I actually found them chewing on my Aristocrat hosta. I noticed that it wasn't looking right (scientific description ;-) so I poked around, then dug it up due to the amount of pills bugs I found near the roots. I squished those...then I baited them. I would slightly moisten the bait then hide it under empty pot or a piece of board, sometimes in same places slugs hide. I rarely find any of them around anymore and believe me, I look!

I hope you will be able to control your numbers, Steve and keep them in check. Nothing more heartbreaking than those little #%^*€£¥{ getting at our plants, is there?

Jo....thanks for all of that info. Interesting stuff. Do some slugs have shells or is that a snail? I have rarely seen a slug like what I normally picture as being a slug around here but I do see what looks like a slug with a shell like a snail would have. I have picked a few of those off of my hostas but they were never near when I saw any actually damage. Edumacate me, Ms. Baiter! :)

I have already had a couple of small pips have the tops shaved off of them this year. That makes me nuts to know the leaves are damaged before they can even unfurl. I suspect pill bugs as I have enough in my mulched beds to fill an 18 wheeler, but I also am suspicious of earwigs. There are no shortage of those, either. I guess it's possible it could be a slug, but I so rarely ever see one that I don't think so. I have never actually found an earwig or a pillbug on one of my plants but have found them in the pot. Once they unfurl I don't usually get much damage (but have some some minor summer chomping on mature leaves before) but this year after my pip shaving incidents I moved most from my mulched beds to my patio until they get past pip stage. No more damage since. (knock on simulated woodgrain) Some of my thicker pip hostas, like Sum and Substance, Devil's Advocate and Francee, have never suffered pip damage, but the more delicate ones, like Kiwi Full Monty, Fragrant Bouquet and others were terribly damaged last spring. If I could get the %##*!%*! squirrels to eat the %##*!%*! pill bugs and earwigs and my dogs to eat the %##*!%*! squirrels I could rest easy.

I've always been curious if the gardens where pill bugs eat live plants are very, very clean. I've never had a problem with them even though I see them all the time, but I always have some decaying matter laying around such as leaves or deadheaded flowers that missed the bucket, etc. Do you think your gardens are so clean that there's nothing for them to eat so they go to the live plants? Just another thing I've wondered about.

The bed where most of my hostas are kept is anything but clean, but I still find pill bugs that have climbed the metal stands I bought for many of my hostas to get into the pots. The bed where most of my hostas are is a combination of rotting pecan shells and the result of rotting leaves throughout the fall, winter and early spring. I have eight beds in my yard, this being the largest at approx 25' X 40', so I decided to use the pecan shells in this bed for a different look. I have cedar elms that drop leaves in the fall and lives oaks that drop in the spring, and as the elms slowly start dropping at the end of the summer I have almost nonstop leaf drop for several months a year. I clean them up the best I can after the live oaks finish their drop in the spring but it's futile before that. My yard is 100% covered with trees so it's no small task to keep that under control. I don't even have a spot for rain gauge! That said, this year I have decided to make a change. I will be removing all of the pecan shells and leaves after the oaks stop dropping, which will be in the next two weeks, and replace the entire area with cedar mulch, which is what I use on most of my other beds. That will make it immensely less interesting to the squirrels and the cedar will also not be as attractive to the pill bugs and other critters.

I can't say with all certainly what my main menace has been the last couple of years, but I know what my prime suspects are. My first suspect was squirrels, but I had a couple of damaged pips this spring in pots that were covered with bird netting. I have heard lot of people say that pill bugs won't eat your live plants but have also heard plenty of people claim to have seen it first hand. I've also seen pics of the shaved off tops of young growth which people said was caused by pill bugs, and like mine, it only happens when the pips are very small and the ones that are very tender. With my choice of mulch and my southern snowfall of leaves every year you might say I have brought on much of my own misery, but I'm on both the attack and the defense this spring.

Other than rotting /decaying vegetation or rotting wood, the only living plant they are accused of eating is strawberries Maybe hosta can be added to the list but perhaps since there is a nearby habitat for the little armadillos they may just be scouting out for a new food supply when they are seen on Hosta. ....or maybe they are eating edges of leaves / crowns that are dead /dying / frostbit???

Personally I have never seen it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

With trees overhead there's always something dropped into the gardens, so that's what I was wondering. I hope the pill bugs over here never get a taste for live plants. So far they do no harm, but now that Jon mentions it, I have seen them dig into strawberries. One reason I haven't tried growing those in ages.

When people talk about gardening, it's hardly ever mentioned how much strategizing goes on. We are always trying to work with or keep ahead of weather, plant problems, outdoor animals, insects, etc.

Home-bred army. They are black in color. So, I think they are american toad tadpoles. With the amount of boiled spinach they are eating, they should be a significant force to reckon with.

N2hostas, I am glad this thread was revived for exactly that reason: seeing Papou's post.

Today seems appropriate to see the first of many of the troops. He is at the 10 o'clock position. I wonder if it is a little early to move him into the Hosta garden? Still has a tiny bit of tail yet.