At least they look like it. bug damage. live in Ohio. what can I apply
to them long-term to control whatever is doing it. Slugs, mites etc are
sometimes visible. Can I use an dormant spray or is there something that
will protect the whole plant, even from flying insects.

I've never known any bugs to eat my hostas except for slugs. Garden stores
stock a variety of slug-killers that you sprinkle around the plant; the
slugs eat the bait and quit eating the hostas. I have "Escar-go" (yeah, OK,
it's a corny name but it works great). I hear very good things about
"Sluggo," which is non-toxic and actually acts as a fertilizer as it breaks
down. You do have to sprinkle pretty frequently (maybe once two weeks,
especially with all this rain we've had), but they do work well. My hostas
are lookin' pretty darn good, considering we've had enough rain here in
Columbus to float an ark or two! Good luck -- Jai in Columbus


"SKIP NEWBERY" wrote in message
...
At least they look like it. bug damage. live in Ohio. what can I apply
to them long-term to control whatever is doing it. Slugs, mites etc are
sometimes visible. Can I use an dormant spray or is there something that
will protect the whole plant, even from flying insects.

This year two female deer are eating my hostas. For the first time ever, we
are seeing them here in the center of town - must be the wretched weather.
Joan

"SKIP NEWBERY" wrote in message
...
At least they look like it. bug damage. live in Ohio. what can I apply
to them long-term to control whatever is doing it. Slugs, mites etc are
sometimes visible. Can I use an dormant spray or is there something that
will protect the whole plant, even from flying insects.


It has been a banner year for slugs in my Cincinnati garden. I have even
seen them out in the afternoon. They aren't limiting themselves to the
hostas either! I am seeing slime trails on the walkways. I don't like to
use the slug killers but I think I am going to check out the new, safer one
that has been discussed here. I have so many hostas that it is too time
consuming to apply the killer after each rain. That would be every day in
the weather se are having.

Before you do anything, make sure you verify that you have a slug problem.
You can generally find them at work at night or in the early morning.

SKIP NEWBERY wrote:

At least they look like it. bug damage. live in Ohio. what can I apply
to them long-term to control whatever is doing it. Slugs, mites etc are
sometimes visible. Can I use an dormant spray or is there something that
will protect the whole plant, even from flying insects.

Sounds like flea beetles, a small and innocuous pest that really does no
serious damage, but certainly can make hostas unslightly. Slugs and snails
typically munch from the edges in, while flea beetles will make small holes
throughout the leaf. It is seldom recommended to treat for these pests - one
needs to develop some insect tolerance.

pam - gardengal

Wow, Pam, usually I am in complete agreement with your advice, but this time
I have to differ. Maybe your slugs are different from our east coast ones.
Slug damage here is often seen as holes eaten in the center portions of the
leaves. With hostas especially (and young cannas) they can eat through an
emerging leaf, so that when it unfurls there is a swiss cheese pattern. It
has been a banner year for slugs here, with the unusually cool and rainy
weather, and I have had to use Sluggo to protect plants that are usually
resistant.

Flea beetles, on the other hand, are seldom if ever a hosta pest here. They
do love eggplants, and I wish they were innocuous! They can be so numerous
as to kill or permanently stunt a young plant. I keep my eggplant seedling
in pots until fairly late in the spring--just planted mine last week--so
they are larger and have a fighting chance, and so that I miss the spring
flush of flea beetle hatchings.

I do agree with you on developing some tolerance for insect damage. There
are a few plants I no longer grow, because it's not worth the struggle, a
vast majority of plants where I don't care about casual damage, and a small
number of plants where I take an active hand (but a gentle, organic one) in
controlling pests. It is amazing what working to establish a balanced
ecosystem will do to diminish pest problems.

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


Sounds like flea beetles, a small and innocuous pest that really does no
serious damage, but certainly can make hostas unslightly. Slugs and snails
typically munch from the edges in, while flea beetles will make small
holes
throughout the leaf. It is seldom recommended to treat for these pests -
one
needs to develop some insect tolerance.

pam - gardengal

Do you have lots of moist mulch around your hostas? If slugs are the problem,
removing that mulch will reduce their numbers considerably. Mulch is a great
way to conserve water, but it is a great home for all kinds of "evil" bugs.

BT


"SKIP NEWBERY" wrote in message
...
At least they look like it. bug damage. live in Ohio. what can I apply
to them long-term to control whatever is doing it. Slugs, mites etc are
sometimes visible. Can I use an dormant spray or is there something that
will protect the whole plant, even from flying insects.

I dunno Sue, maybe east coast slugs ARE different! I have a lot of hostas and a
lot of slugs and I have not found the slugs to be particularly troublesome. You
can certainly tell which hostas they prefer - the bottom-most leaves are very
obviously munched, but as I described - from the outside in. The tiny little
holes that appear on mine scattered throughout the leaves of the plant do not
materialize until well after the leaves have unfurled, so it is unlikely that
slugs did the job before the leaves fully emerged. And there are no telltale
traces of slime. My assumption is flea beetles, as the damage is identical to
that seen on other flea beetle-preferred crops.

As to developing tolerance, for me it is a time consideration :-)) I am too busy
at this time of year to give more than a superficial overview to garden
maintenance, so the ONLY pest control I've done is to remove a couple of tent
caterpillar nests. I no longer even bait for the slugs - if they cross my path,
they are toast, but I don't seek them out. I do remove foliage that is very
badly damaged and in the case of my cardiocrinums (which, btw, are blooming this
year - yahoo!) which slugs adore, I plant something in front of them to hide the
destruction of the bottom foliage.

I agree that biodiversity goes a long way in deterring pest damage - the more I
plant and the more different plants I incorporate in my garden, the less
problems there seem to be. The natural predators like birds and beneficials take
care of the bulk of the problem. Otherwise I go by the 10 foot rule - if the
damage is not visibly significant from 10 feet away, then it is not an issue and
I ignore it. I am constantly amazed at the number of clients that come in with a
single leaf with a tiny little hole and fuss about what to spray to control
whatever is causing that itty-bitty problem. Do they inspect their gardens with
magnifying glasses? Get a life! We can all afford to sacrifice a few leaves to
insects - far better to save the big pesticide guns to something that threatens
total plant destruction rather than a few munched leaves.

East coast pests may indeed be different - my observations regarding this issue
were based entirely on my own experience and of course, YMMV :-))

pam - gardengal



SugarChile wrote:

Wow, Pam, usually I am in complete agreement with your advice, but this time
I have to differ. Maybe your slugs are different from our east coast ones.
Slug damage here is often seen as holes eaten in the center portions of the
leaves. With hostas especially (and young cannas) they can eat through an
emerging leaf, so that when it unfurls there is a swiss cheese pattern. It
has been a banner year for slugs here, with the unusually cool and rainy
weather, and I have had to use Sluggo to protect plants that are usually
resistant.

Flea beetles, on the other hand, are seldom if ever a hosta pest here. They
do love eggplants, and I wish they were innocuous! They can be so numerous
as to kill or permanently stunt a young plant. I keep my eggplant seedling
in pots until fairly late in the spring--just planted mine last week--so
they are larger and have a fighting chance, and so that I miss the spring
flush of flea beetle hatchings.

I do agree with you on developing some tolerance for insect damage. There
are a few plants I no longer grow, because it's not worth the struggle, a
vast majority of plants where I don't care about casual damage, and a small
number of plants where I take an active hand (but a gentle, organic one) in
controlling pests. It is amazing what working to establish a balanced
ecosystem will do to diminish pest problems.

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA

Sounds like flea beetles, a small and innocuous pest that really does no
serious damage, but certainly can make hostas unslightly. Slugs and snails
typically munch from the edges in, while flea beetles will make small
holes
throughout the leaf. It is seldom recommended to treat for these pests -
one
needs to develop some insect tolerance.

pam - gardengal