here's a photo

Meant this to be another photo, but as you can see this blue ivory has no brach at all.

Show a closeup of the ground where your hosta stems are coming out. Maybe you've buried them too deep (from laying the extra dirt), and with the extra rain they're strangling.

they look like they are planted too deep ... why and how often do you shovel soil around them ...

how moist is your soil.. down 3 to 6 inches .. dig some holes and find out ... if you removed the mulch.. then perhaps you arent watering enough.. now in the heat of summer.. rather than in spring when it was raining ...

your on your own for slugs ....

what trees are you gardening under???

ken

I only added soil this year because over the past couple of years removing mulch, soil was pulled off too and some root were showing. We are still receiving a lot of rain, so I haven't watered much. The hostas are under and partially shaded by a large true red maple. It poured tonight so it's plenty wet. I can't believe how many plants are not shooting brachs.

It's possible eleven that the guys laying the dirt were careless with the dirt. Believe it or not it was raining when they did it. I thought everything would grow through the dirt. I guess not! Does the top of the rhizome need to be uncovered?

Keep in mind that hostas bloom over the course of several months. Some bloom very early, most bloom midseason, but there are hostas that don't sent up a bloom stalk until September or even October. This is controlled by the genetics of the plant, and is not affected much by local conditions or weather.

We also had a lot of rain this spring. An area of my garden where the slugs were minimal are showing slug damage this year. Generally this area dries out quickly due to tree roots, but because of all the rain, the slugs have been able to survive and multiply. That means a lot of holes on my hosta! Darn those slugs!

Because of all the rain and the fact that you feel that your hosta have deteriorated, I have to ask: what kind of soil do you have? Is the soil able to drain well enough?

"Leaves that are very full of holes (slugs), yellow leaves (root rot?), mis-shapened leaves (stress?), hostas that were normal size last down to nothing (root rot due to poor drainage?). . . . I have planted ground cover instead (slugs love ground cover to hide in!)"

Those are some of my thoughts. More pictures would help.

And as Ken said---dig one up. That will give you an idea of what is going on underground. And your Red Maple could be strangling your hosta. I've experienced plenty of that!

I was told pine needles in place of mulch by a nice lady that has a ton of hostas in my area.

Fresh or brown? Does it matter? I will try to post some photos tomorrow. I don't think I will have time today, the 28th.

Oh, great! Now that the ground cover is looking good, I find out slugs love that too????? Should I keep the cover away from the base of the plant??

I don't know if you need to do a drastic measure as remove all ground cover but it would be helpful to keep under the hosta crown area clear to get the slug population under control.

Amp up on the Sluggo or Metaldehyde..., ammonia contact killing, 10% ammonia or 10% vinegar drench of hosta crown and roots area to kill eggs,

Just like most things in life or garden- achieving the goal is a process... It will take some time to see satisfying results but it can be done (at least this is what I see from the photos of fellow hosta forum posters).

What we do now (this month) will help curb the ones for next spring. The slugs and eggs we kill now will help diminish and prevent next spring slug damage, but we will have to again hunt and kill slugs in spring to curb the damage for summer and the offspring....etc. It is not a one time or one season effort and never more (my wishes!).

The journey is a step by step constant process ... Regular attention to providing means that will kill slugs. I am in a constant battle with slugs and snails.

• Ken_Adrian's recent vinegar post is very useful of how cost effective it is to use vinegar to kill slugs and eggs and how to do it.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4771369/so-in-need-some-vinegar-to-clean-the-coffee-pot?n=21

• How to kill slugs post by Madonna_in Michigan has useful reply recommendations such as Metaldehyde (be careful with application if you have pets though, they find it sweet) or Sluggo.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4751500/what-do-i-use-on-slugs?n=25

Thank you everyone! I have begun to cut back the ground cover from around the hosta crowns. I will get busy with sluggo. Is it best to put it in between the leaves or around the base of it under the leaves or both. Also, anyone have a good suggestion for how to measure the amount of sluggo to put done for each hosta??

You only need to use 5 or 6 little pellets per hosta, unless the hostas are really large. When they (the pellets) disappear, reapply. It doesn't take much, but it is not a one time deal for awhile. Each year I use less and less. And no holes (I have to use it year around in CA).

-Babka

I have a lot of sweet woodruff as groundcover as well as creeping Jennie and have found it to be a haven for slugs...so I sprinkle the pellets right onto the groundcover. They have their feast right there and never make it to the hosta - call it home delivery of take-out! ;-). Two years ago or more I thought I wiped out the entire population in my garden as there was hardly any evidence of them anywhere!

"Sprinkle sparingly" is what is recommended. Always reapply after rainfall.

You would apply the pellets around the hosta and near the base. Not on the leaves of the hosta. After heavy rains, you would need to reapply.

Yesterday we had quite a storm. I went out before bed to see whether I could find some slugs. It was not raining, but still wet. I found them on the hostas, on my wooden deck, on my ground covers and even on the blades of grass.

I think you have received a lot of good advice from forum members. I would also suggest that you have an ammonia spray ready and go out on moist nights and really see what is going on in your garden. The first time I ever did that, I was shocked to see how many slugs there actually were! With the ammonia spray you would be ready to kill them on contact. You can reduce them greatly, but never really eliminate them. Keep on top of it throughout the season, and don't forget to do the ammonia spray on the crowns in the spring (very important!).

The problem with the ammonia spray is I care for several "neighborhood cats" so I don't use anything that could be harmful to them. But I will will be vigilant with sluggish starting now.

Some good news.....my blue ivory is finally sending up brachs!!

Djacob- Your original post up top refers to "braces" and then you use the term "brachs". Do you mean to say flower stems? I looked up your terms and they don't relate to hostas. Is that just spell checker changing your words...the way it likes to change Hosta to Host?

-Babka

Yup, that is exactly what happen. I meant to say "brachs" which are the stems that shoot up with the flowers.

Djacob- I have never heard the term "brachs" before in relation to hostas. Only for candy). Bracts are specific parts ON the flower stem. However, if someone referred to a "peduncle" I'd be scratching my head too! I vote for flower stem!

-Babka

(From the Hosta Library list of definitions) :

bract
the diminutive modified leaf or leaflike structure on the flower stem below each flower.

peduncle
(in Hosta) the main stem of the inflorescence; flower stem.

If you can't use the ammonia method to control slugs then you can try these methods:

(Ugly Slugly
by Walter Cullerton
Reprinted from the Tri-State Tribune, newsletter for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.)

Beer. Yup, good old-fashioned beer. I love it. Slugs love it even more. I place a clean empty tuna can (or anything similar) with the top at ground level close by my (and the slugs) favorite plant. Fill it about halfway with beer. The next day, if you had a slug in the neighborhood, you‘ll find him/her drowned in the beer pool along with a bunch of friends. Just bear in mind that they died happy. Empty the can and start over again.

Coffee grounds. This method is cool. Drink coffee, save the grounds and let them dry a bit. I was told to spread them on a sheet of newspaper to dry out but I‘ve skipped this step and there are no problems. I spread the grounds in a circle around the plant(s) I want to protect. Perhaps ½ inch wide and ¼ inch high. Do it without the ruler, just get the feel. The PH of the soil is not affected, as the grounds are PH neutral. The grounds are a form of mulch and provide a barrier I‘ve never seen a slug cross. How about that? Some of my friends have gone to Starbucks and other coffee palaces to pick up grounds several times a week. Recently, our Starbucks has packaged their coffee grounds in a ten-pound bag labeled ―FREE COFFEE GROUNDS FOR YOUR GARDEN---along with a PH comment and directions for use. They‘re obviously quite happy to have you cart them off. You‘re happy, the coffee place is happy and the slugs are not. That‘s a victory in my book!

Diatomaceous earth. This stuff is the fossilized microscopic skeletal remains of a diatom. I must admit I have never tried it but folks who have are believers. The problem is you have to ―buy it. Heck, why do that when the other methods are free. There are two grinds of this stuff. One is essentially a powder. The other a slightly larger grind and this is the one you want. Put it around your plant and it supposedly cuts to shreds the underbelly of the slug as he/ she tries to cross over it. Too painful for me to even think about.

Well, friends, now you know how to control if not rid your garden of these slimy little creatures.