Hosta Plant
Hi
I have a beautiful Hosta and every year it gets eaten by snails. I wondered if anyone has any tips on how to stop this from happening. I can't use slug pellets because of the pets and children. Any information would be appreciated. Joy :) |
Hi, Joy,
You need to pour diatomaceous earth, available at garden centers, in a circle around the base of the plant on top of the soil. Put down a good amount and make sure to complete your circle. Diatomaceous earth is little sharp granules over which the snails do not like to crawl. It is usually the ideal solution. Reapply after a series of heavy rains (so, this year, no problema apparently--once should do the whole summer..:(( ) Kathie Quote:
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Thanks for your advice :) I've never heard of diatomaceous earth but I'll certainly enquire at the local garden centre. Joy :) |
Hosta Plant
In article ,
JoyB wrote: Hi I have a beautiful Hosta and every year it gets eaten by snails. I wondered if anyone has any tips on how to stop this from happening. I can't use slug pellets because of the pets and children. Any information would be appreciated. Joy :) Consider ESCAR-GO Active ingredient by weight 1% Iron Phosphate Inert 99% could be blended bread. Anyone know where to obtain Iron Phosphate? I ask about once a year. Stuff is expensive but works and is not toxic. Bill -- S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit. |
Hosta Plant
On Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:03:58 +0000, JoyB
wrote: Hi I have a beautiful Hosta and every year it gets eaten by snails. I wondered if anyone has any tips on how to stop this from happening. I can't use slug pellets because of the pets and children. Any information would be appreciated. Joy :) Find the product called "Sluggo." It contains the ingrediant iron sulphate which kills the snails and slugs, safe for pets and children. We use pine needles as a mulch which snails do not like. Other materials include hardwood ashes, charcoal, pine bark chips, copper, diatomaceous earth, eggshells, gravel, hair, lime, quackgrass, sand, and sawdust. Slugs and snails do NOT like azaleas, apricot, basil, beans, chard, daffodils, ginger, holly, sage, and rhubarb. Predators include backbirds, ducks, frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes. Have you tried attending beer traps daily? |
Hosta Plant
"William Wagner" wrote in message
... In article , JoyB wrote: Hi I have a beautiful Hosta and every year it gets eaten by snails. I wondered if anyone has any tips on how to stop this from happening. I can't use slug pellets because of the pets and children. Any information would be appreciated. Joy :) Consider ESCAR-GO Active ingredient by weight 1% Iron Phosphate Inert 99% could be blended bread. Anyone know where to obtain Iron Phosphate? I ask about once a year. Stuff is expensive but works and is not toxic. Other brand names using iron phosphate are Sluggo and Safer's Slug & Snail Bait. Here's a good article: http://www.paghat.com/slugcontrol.html Jim |
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Hosta Plant
you can also try some granite grit for pigeons. it is usually more easily found and
cheaper to buy. Ingrid Kathie wrote: Hi, Joy, You need to pour diatomaceous earth, available at garden centers, in a circle around the base of the plant on top of the soil. Put down a good amount and make sure to complete your circle. Diatomaceous earth is little sharp granules over which the snails do not like to crawl. It is usually the ideal solution. Reapply after a series of heavy rains (so, this year, no problema apparently--once should do the whole summer..:(( ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/ sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan |
Hosta Plant
Snails and slugs (their naked cousins) are more of a problem during cool,
rainy years, but they do have a taste for hostas. The good news is that they also have a taste for beer. You can make traps by placing containers with a bit of beer near the hosta, with the lip of the container level with the ground for easy entry. Keep trapping till you only catch a few here and there. Another option is a newspaper trap. Slugs prefer to spend the daytime in damp, dark places, so make them a cozy daytime hideout. Take a section of newspaper as it comes from the press and unfold it once. Roll it into a tube @ an inch or so in diameter. Crush one end shut and slightly dampen the inside. Set your trap(s) out before dusk and check the next day. If you were successful, crush the other end of the tube and toss. Good luck! Suzy, Zone 5, Wisconsin "JoyB" wrote in message ... Hi I have a beautiful Hosta and every year it gets eaten by snails. I wondered if anyone has any tips on how to stop this from happening. I can't use slug pellets because of the pets and children. Any information would be appreciated. Joy :) -- JoyB |
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Hosta Plant
Diatomaceous earth is little sharp granules over which the snails do not like to crawl. For the very same reason (little sharp granules) your lungs don't like it either. I wouldn't advise using this anywhere near where kids might get into it. I have a large Hosta bed along the north side of our house (Hostas love shade) that would explode with lush foilage every spring, only to get decimated in summer by the slugs. I finally got rid of them, quite by accident. Two years ago, in the fall, after everything had died back, I throughly chopped down and raked out and burned up all the debris and red "mulch" (that the previous owner had put down to control weeds), all the way down to bare soil. The following spring the slug damage was greatly reduced. I did the same thing the following fall, and the spring after that there was virtually no slug damage. I assume there's a cause and effect going on here, although it's too small of a sample to say for sure. |
Hosta Plant
I like granite grit.. the stuff fed to pigeons. a ring around the plant. it also
gives up nutrients to the soil. Ingrid "Ether Jones" wrote: Diatomaceous earth is little sharp granules over which the snails do not like to crawl. For the very same reason (little sharp granules) your lungs don't like it either. I wouldn't advise using this anywhere near where kids might get into it. I have a large Hosta bed along the north side of our house (Hostas love shade) that would explode with lush foilage every spring, only to get decimated in summer by the slugs. I finally got rid of them, quite by accident. Two years ago, in the fall, after everything had died back, I throughly chopped down and raked out and burned up all the debris and red "mulch" (that the previous owner had put down to control weeds), all the way down to bare soil. The following spring the slug damage was greatly reduced. I did the same thing the following fall, and the spring after that there was virtually no slug damage. I assume there's a cause and effect going on here, although it's too small of a sample to say for sure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/ sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan |
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