Also, can a hosta make a good hanging basket?? I am looking for a good shade basket. any suggestions? It's only 2am, and my mind is thinking shade..... HA!

The holes are undoubtably from slugs. Just because you put slug bait out doesn't mean you'll get them all. It is a constant battle to keep them from eating my hostas and lettuce in the garden. Their favorite snacks. The best time to control them, I've found, is just as it's getting dark. Bring a flashlight and a spraybottle of ammonia and water or a pair of pruners to cut them up. I've killed as many as 15-20 at a time on occasion.

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John - Zone 6

Thanks for all of the suggestions. John... will the ammonia water kill the plants?

Great!

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Originally posted by FreedSoul:
ammonia only works if you get it ON the slug, right?...

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That is my understanding. I've never experimented with residual effect however. I'm sure once it dries it provides no control.

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John - Zone 6

oh, that oat bran sounds like a good idea (and easier than going out every night and spraying with ammonia)!

i don't have any hosta but i've been seeing holes in my sedum and iris. and then, when i was splitting the iris, i found a few baby slugs on them - so i'll be trying the oat bran to see if that helps.

Can't believe no one mentioned beer. The old stand by. If you don't mind it sitting around your garden. I`ve seen the bigger slugs in the bowls but not the babies. But it does the trick for me and my neighbor. I use it for my hostas and the bowls are hidden by the big leaves. My neighbor uses it for her marigolds until they get bigger. Make sure the bowls are sunken down in the ground so it is easier for them to get in. They drown. Wether they're drunk or not I don't know!! I like the oat bran idea too. Sue

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What goes around comes around, so be nice!lol

Actually, I sprinkle crushed egg shells on the ground around my Hostas and it seems to work for me.

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

I think they eat the oat bran and then explode or something...

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!

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they eat the oat bran and then explode or something...

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Cindy, you have got to be kidding! Are you serious? If so, then I don't want to be around when they explode!

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

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how big/small do you crush the shells up

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Joclyn, I don't crush them up fine or too small, but I don't leave them in large pieces either. I don't want it to look like someone threw a bunch of old egg shells in there.

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

you said that when they come UP they have holes in them?.... so a new leaf, coming out from the pointed sprout has a hole already?....that's happened to mine, usually after I or the DH has mistakenly stepped on one of the points..... slugs are known to lay eggs in the crown of hosta plants, too.. so an early hatch may have been hungry enuff to go after the just-emerging sprouts....

as for baits.... the best one I've found yet is one that contains Iron Phosphate in the ingredients list.... it's harmless to pets and kiddies and turns into fertilizer if it's not eaten by the slugs.... lasts a couple weeks, rain or no...you re-apply when you see it's being used...... it's saved many a miniature hosta around here!!...

Those are some beautiful hostas and it look like wonderful shade garden. I would like to see more pictures of it. Oh geesh, is that a pond I see on the left side of the picture? I think ponds are so neat, and I would love to have one!

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

Just read the posts after oat the bran thing. Sorry for the delay - after they eat the oat bran, they will bloat up, as the oat bran expands inside them. They crawl away and die - not exploding (I haven't seen any exploded bodies to speak of).
I guess I'm just a lazy and picky gardener - I don't have the time to crush the eggshells, I don't want to spend a fortune on commercial killers that may or may not work, and I don't want to waste a good beer! So the oat bran thing works for me - while I'm admiring all the nice plants, I just sprinkle it around the beds.
I just put some down last week, ane then we got lots and lots of rain. Plants are all OK still - no holes in leaves. It not only works for hostas, but all plants. Good luck.

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Originally posted by JAKE:
Just read the posts after oat the bran thing. Sorry for the delay - after they eat the oat bran, they will bloat up, as the oat bran expands inside them. They crawl away and die - not exploding (I haven't seen any exploded bodies to speak of).

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Uhhh...I'm a little dramatic sometimes!

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!

Here's a couple of other nasty weapons for you slug warriors. I haven't tried either, so I can't vouch for them, but the first was mentioned in 2 different books I have--"Great Garden Shortcuts" and "Great Garden Formulas" The recipes differ just slightly. The first says to use 1 part nonsudsing ammonia and 2 parts water, the second says to use equal parts nonsudsing ammonia and water in a spray bottle. "The slug dissolves in milliseconds"

The other method (also from "Great Garden Shortcuts") says to get a bag of hair clippings from your local barbershop. This from Mike McGrath, former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening Magazine, after seeing the damage slugs had done to his garden--"I wanted to inflict pain and suffering". He then explained--"When slugs try to crawl across human hair, they get all tangled up, and they strangle and die"

Mike McGrath RULES! OG was AWESOME when he was the editor.

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Terry

May the force be with you