Slugs eating your Hostas?

Hostas don’t require a lot of work, but when you notice something has chewed holes in your hostas and are decreasing their beauty you are going to want to do something to fix the problem.

Usually when you find holes in your hostas slugs or snails are to blame. In the picture to the right the holes that you can see are caused by slugs. The most damage will be done to hostas with thinner leaves or hostas that are variegated. The best time to look to see if it is slugs is at night time when they are most active. The wetter the soil the more slugs will populate the area. Slugs like to come out when its dark so grab a flashlight and take a look under the leafs.

If slugs are eating your hosta plants here are some methods to get rid of them:

• Coffee Grounds-Sprinkle the grounds from your freshly made cup of coffee around the base of the hosta plant. The caffeine is deadly to slugs so when they crawl over the grounds the caffeine will absorb into their system, which will eventually kill them.

• Beer-Slugs like to drink beer. If you bury a shallow container with beer next to your hosta plant it will attract the slugs they will fall in the container and drown.

• Epsom Salt-This is a less permanent and less deadly option. If you sprinkle a ring of epsom salt around the hosta slugs will avoid the area.

• Eggshells-This is another less permanent and deadly option is to place crushed eggshells in a ring around the hosta. Slugs and snails will avoid going over the eggshells because they are sharp and will cut up their bodies.