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Well said keswick. But I do believe there are some deterrents other than what you have mentioned that do work and are considered safe to use. Other peeps may chime in on what these are.

Thanks for sharing Barb. I would be very interested in any other suggestions. I tried a product made by Safer's some time ago. It was touted as being non-harmful to bees and butterflies, but as far as I could tell, did little to control the slugs. Anyone out there have a solution that is tried and true, yet safe for beneficial bugs?

I use ammonia; 1 part to 10 parts water with a smidgeon of detergent and another smidgeon of vegetable oil in a home depot sprayer. It's relatively inexpensive and after a few seasons using it, have definitely noticed a drop in the amount of slug damage. In the spring, I substitute hot pepper tea for water to prevent rabbit or deer damage.

I attended the same conference and the speaker about butterflies, Carol Dunk, was a highlight of the day. If anyone is interested, here is her website address:

www.caroldunk.com

nice diatribe ...

the second one was ripped by something.. hail.. stick falling from tree... spouse.. etc ... just run you hand down the petiole .. and pull out that leaf .. bingo.. solved ...

spider mites are not a hosta issue ...

slugs are not insects.. so insecticide is useless ...

that one bug in the pic is minding its own business..

you have no other damage.. so nothing is required ...

if you want to use legally sold insecticide ... ID a problem .. ID the bug.. and go at it ... but dont use any such.. as a preventative ... when you have no problem...

ken

I also thought the ripped leaf looks like a dog or some critter or any of the things Ken mentioned tore it. For hostas I do use Sluggo around them for snails and slugs, but I don't see that damage in your pictures.

Always remember that pesticides and insecticides don't discriminate. You'll also be killing off beneficial insects that would be your helpers in the garden. If nature will take care of it, I figure it's less work for me. :-)

If this is the worst looking hosta, then maybe you want to post more pics because you probably have a pretty garden, and we all love looking at hostas in gardens.

Disagree here Ken. Spider mites here (where there is no rain) have taken out 25yr old jap. black pine, as well as many other plants including hostas. Right now I have thrips and mealy bugs on my hostas, and have my spray bottle of (organic) spinosad (Capt. Jack's Bug Brew). The problem I see in the original OP's pic is that the hosta hung up on itself when unfurling. One time here on the forum, someone wrote about their hostas as having thumbs! Great description. The leaf off to the right in the photo is cut also. Sometimes it just happens that way. Doesn't look like bug damage to me.

-Babka

I just saw ken's post and I was a little take aback. I meant no harm. I always thought of a diatribe as a bitter, critical kind of attack on someone... I hope I did not sound like that when I responded to the original post and spoke of my decision to steer clear of pesticides (the slug is a garden pest) and insecticides ( I know a slug is a mollusk, but that doesn't stop thousands of people from trying to get rid of them using insecticides). I meant to teach, not criticize. I was just reminding us of our environmental responsibility. Gardeners need to see themselves as stewards of our little part of creation. Sorry, if I offended anyone.

Ninamarie, and others out there... a question for you? Does the ammonia solution work, and does anyone know whether it is harmful to life other than the slugs... does it deter or kill? Does it move into the food chain when other animals or birds eat the slugs, munch on the leaves, etc. I would love to use this if it is effective and harmless (or relatively so, when compared with the alternatives).

I'm not a chemist, but I believe ammonia evaporates with time. Someone more sophisticated can explain. I don't think it remains long enough to kill anything. It is a contact pesticide, so when you spray the hosta, you are really attempting to spray the slugs feasting on it. The good thing about an ammonia spray is that the slugs curl up and die - they do not remain as little poison bugs for robins, etc. I grow organically and have never thought not to use it.

As far as your "diatribe", of course it was no such thing. Ken gets a little grouchy sometimes. But he sure knows his hosta, so we put up with him. And if you take his words apart, they were very sensible. Why spray an insecticide if the damage was not caused by insects. And he is right. It does not look like insect damage.

I answered before the pictures had fully downloaded. I guess that's the perils of low speed.

That hosta doesn't look right to me. I agree the physical tear is just that; caused by who knows what? What about the mottling? I would not think it's an insect. Could it be a virus or a fungus?

bk

I'm with Keswick... minus the details of my slug torture methods lolz :). Once upon a time, I threw slug bait like candy, but realized what will kill slugs will kill earthworms. .. birds eat em... yadda yadda. It's a great point to at leasr consider.

And I agree, that doesn't look like bug bites or damage.

Yeah, forget the cut part, what about the dark mottling in that last photo? Sharp eyes, Bkay. Hmmmm.

-Babka

Is the brownish mottling being referred to by any chance dirt? I expanded the pic but can't really tell much. Now, Don't laugh but I noticed days ago some dark looking "stains" on my Cold Heart so I leaned over and tried to wash it off with "a lick and a promise". Guess what? It was dirt splashed on during a rain...but it had me going for a minute. I'm hoping this might be the case for you.?

I also have a few incidences of unexplainable slits or tears in leaves but I just figured it's emerging pains. One plantaginea leaf was speared by a lily leaf, lol. Couldn't believe it.

For what it's worth... I used ammonia (10% solution) this spring, starting early when the pips were just emerging, and I've had no slug damage. The last two years I used Sluggo, to no avail.

However! I had a nice little crop of leptinella (New Zealand Brass Buttons) growing in that bed as a ground cover, and they started up this spring looking great, but everywhere I sprayed the ammonia - which was mostly just around the hostas - the leptinella died off. Perhaps they didn't appreciate the added nitrogen?!

You should look into the benefits of Neem Oil as an insectiside. I have yet to try it, so I can't give you any first hand information. But from my research it seems like an organic way to kill harmful insects and other pest. Now granted it is not a "kill on contact" type of application. from my understanding it disrupts the life cycle of pests by preventing them from multiplying.

If you decide to go this route please post the results here, I'm anxious to know if this works.

I did not have much slug damage last year because I had a bazillion frogs in my garden. But I did have a lot of fungus damage at the end of the summer, mainly on hostas that hadn't gotten enough water so they were susceptible to infection. I know it sounds like fungus goes with too much water, but that's not how it went. So my question is if I start spraying for fungus this year with Lysol will it hurt the frogs? Frogs are almost as endangered as bees and I like anything that feasts on insects.

Kathy