Remedy To Prevent Slugs On Hostas

Use these simple remedies from the kitchen to stop slugs from eating hostas and eliminate or reduce the damage to hosta leaves before it happens.

What Is Eating My Hosta At Night

Hosta has solid and variegated foliage and is one of the gardener’s favourite plants. The chartreuse foliage hosta can add a focal point and brighten up the shade garden. 

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But what is eating hostas at night? The answer is mostly slugs or snails that ate the hosta leaves. These little creatures leave various hole sizes in the foliage.

If left untreated, the damage to the plant would be significant all summer long. If that happens, inspect the plant, checking each foliage, underneath the foliage, between the leaf stems, and on the soil surface around the plant’s base.

If the damage is only on a few leaves, pluck it off. If there are only a few slugs in sight, hand-pick them off the plant, and ensure you wear gloves before touching them. The hand-pick method is one of the most effective ways to eliminate slugs from hostas or other plants if you do it regularly.

Will Hosta Recover From Slug Damage

Hostas will recover from slug damage if the plant still has a few healthy leaves and is not thoroughly damaged on the entire plant. 

The healthy leaves that remain on the plant will help absorb nutrients for the plant. Depending on the growing zone of your garden, the hosta plant might return to full growth.

Home Remedy For Slugs On Hosta

There are various ways to prevent slugs on hostas. But I have tried using two different things so far, and both work well to eliminate slugs around hostas.

Salt Water For Slugs

Put very salty water in a plastic bowl or use this slug trap. Add a little tuna meat to it. Put the plastic bowl in a shallow hole close to the hosta plant. It might attract other bugs or little critters, so put chicken wire on top.

The idea is to attract these slugs to the smell of tuna fish, but as soon as they get inside the bowl, they swim in the salt water. It takes time, but it works.

Eggshells For Slugs

Eggshells have many benefits for the garden. Put some eggshells in the tomato planting hole. Use eggshells for biodegradable seed-starting pots. Also, mix crushed eggshells into the soil as a slow-release organic fertilizer.

The benefit of eggshells for hosta is preventing slugs from eating hostas. So, first, dry the eggshells, then crush them into smaller chips, scattering them to resemble a ring around the hosta plant crown in the early spring before the new shoots grow.

The sharp edge from crushed eggshells prevents slug from crawling closer to the hosta plant. If the rain clears the eggshells away, top it up with new crushed eggshells.

So far, there is no damage to the hostas plants. The only damage I got was usually from the hail storm.

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Grow Hostas In A Container

Growing hostas on the container also work to prevent slugs from eating the plant. One of the benefits of container growing hosta is that you can put it anywhere in the partial or full shade of the garden. 

Also, it is excellent for a patio container garden. Grow it as a single-plant container garden, or pair it with coleus for shade-loving plants.

Try these tips to control pests in the garden.

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Getting Rid Of Slugs On Hostas