I did the same with ammonia yesterday. My Liberty is up 7-8 inches and I have lots of other hostas that are up an inch or so. I got a quarter inch of rain but there should be more more the next 2 days. I guess I should do it again next week, correct?

I will do it again anyway because there are still so many that aren’t up. I just wanted to get to the ones up because I have had major slug issues in past years.

debra

how did you apply the drench? Thanks.

I use 2 cups ammonia to l gallon on water. I use a regular hand held garden watering can. i can only carry so much, so if you can carry more that’s great. People mix anywhere from 1/10 ratio to 1/20. I pour the solution all over the pips and leaves and ground around the hosta. Do it in spring and you will kill the eggs laid by the slugs the previous fall. Then, in fall when you have cut back your plants or they are fading, do the drench again and now you kill off the any slugs and eggs. Do this cycle fall and spring and you will notice a big difference in slug damage. I couldn’t believe the difference it made in my yard! You can use vinegar as well as ammonia, just don’t mix them! And if you can’t carry much like, enlist a couple of friends or neighbors to help. My husband and my neighbor Bert (who works for me all summer in the garden) help me with this every year. Happy drenching!! :-)

debra

Miles and debra, yes, I was asking pretty much what tool you use to apply it, plus the amount. In other words, do you just spritz it on til the crown is evenly wet, or soak the area? I have both a generic 1 quart hand sprayer, the kind where you squeeze a trigger, or watering cans. Those are both pretty sloppy in terms of accuracy. They dribble as much as they pour.

I bought a gallon of ammonia, sounds like that won't be enough.

I may switch to a watering can since the drench would be easier to do. However, who knows how much I will need after the snow melts? When I ran around the yard yesterday covering up the hostas that I could, I already noticed damage on plants that I didn't get to drenching. Of course, I saw a couple of large bunnies running around the flower bed on Monday so maybe it was them snacking on the new hosta growth.

Linnea, I really drench them!! Pouring all over the crown, leaves and around the diameter of the plant. I had such bad damage one year, many of my hostas were like Swiss cheese. Then I learned from Ken about drenching with ammonia or vinegar. I have used both, not together,of course..... I think that combination causes some kind of toxin. 😱

I guess I would say apply liberally! I can only carry a gallon so it’s a tedious job which is why I enlist some help. If you can carry a 5 gallon can it will be faster.

Also, do you know about the “slug resistant” list ?? On the home page of the Library, under the letters, there are lots of links to articles and other things. In the middle column, first or second one down you will find Rawsons lists. Click on that and you can search for hostas in numerous ways, size, color, fragrant....one of them is slug resistant hostas. You may want to look at that list when deciding to add to your collection.

debra

I am bumping this up for all who need to know how to NOT have slug eaten hostas at any time of the year.

debra

Bump

some of your plants are in severe drought stress ... i would make sure to get some deep watering into the root mass... to de-stress them.. before i would stress them with your drench ....

you surely have a couple months to get this all done.. so do it in the right order ...

besides.. dont you remove all the leaves after frost.. to reduce hidden population of slugs.. and then drench??? .. i guess i would think of this as more of a mid to late october thingee ... technical term there .. lol ..

ken

Yes ken, you are absolutely……it’s too soon. I merely bumped this because gardenchick posted her Island Breeze and commented about it’s slug damage. I will do mine in October after I have cut them back. Don’t like cold weather, so I don’t wait for a freeze!!

Hahaha! :-D

debra

I merely bumped this because gardenchick posted her Island Breeze and commented about it’s slug damage.

djacobz568sewi: Thanks for bumping the thread. I'm not too concerned about Island Breeze, right now, or the others already established in ground, however, my Holy Mouse Ears that was decimated in the early summer needs to get back in the ground soon. And I'm worried she'll be eaten again.

What you do, debra, or you Ken, suggest I do to protect it. Here's a before and current pic of it. As you can see, it's rebounded wonderfully from the disaster. Just want to make sure it stays safe over the fall and winter.

Gardenchick, your holy mouse ears looks terrific!! I wish mine looked that good!

debra

Iam bumping this one up as I saw some comments regarding slugs and how to drench. I have yet to do mine this year as there were no pips to drench. I am more than ready to do it now, but the weather has been calling for rain for the last 10 days to no avail. Tonight it will rain and tomorrow……..when we get a few dry days, I will do it. The good news is there is no slug damage…….most likely due to my fall drench.

debra

BUMP

Thanks for bumping this, djacobz568sewi. I've actually bought some SlugBGon which I'm going to try first, just because I'm nervous that I wouldn't mix the combination of vinegar/water right, and end up killing my hostas.