Get sluggo. It is safe for pets. Or you can put out little cups of beer.

Sluggo works well as does handpicking at night with a flashlight.

If you decide you want to try the hostas in pots, you can do what I did and plant them in black plastic pots and then put those inside real copper pots. Snails and slugs hate to contact copper, works like a charm to keep them off.

i think i am going to put them in pots. I just hope the ones with no leaves make it! thanks everyone

Jen, I found with my hostas and slugs, that cleanup is very important. I lifted all the leaves on the plants and shook them really hard, then watered them real good, then sprinkled the slug/snail stuff around the base of the plant & then outwards till a wide circle of slug poison surrounded the plants. So far I haven't had any damage to my plants with this routine. You do have to check every few days to make sure the poison is still effective.

When I see pictures of big, beautiful hostas in magazines, I just wonder HOW they do it!!! Hostas must be slugs very favorite food.

I've had better luck this year, using Sluggo, but it has to be put out very regularly, like once a week without fail.

Or you can try them as a hanging basket plant, just about the only way to really guarantee that slugs won't get them.

Corry's. Best slug and snail bait there is.

I just wish I could grow hostas.... : (

I planted all my hostas in pots. As long as they are far enough away from the acanthus (snail hotel) they have not been damaged by snails. One year they really got hit and the leaves looked like thin lace. They recovered nicely as soon as I changed their location.

BettyN

Hostas are THE favorite food of slugs and snails.Slugs seem to be harder to get rid of. Like the others the only real solution is poison.Hand picking wont work for slugs-they are nocturnal.Slugs of course also can fit into crevices snails can't..again use bait.Keep leaf litter away or rocks.That makes a huge difference. Hostas in pots is the best for our area. I think even earwigs will eat Hosta...

My favorite is "That's It". Expensive, but you don't have to use much of it and it does work.

Decollate snails give hosta protection, and once released, they're no work. The heat is more a problem for me in growing healthy hostas.

Here is a link that might be useful: about predatory snails

I second the decolate snails and you can get them at the nursery.
Kathi

I also use beer and that has been pretty effective. For me poison of any kind is not an option as I have several cats, one of which is my baby and becoming geriatric so I don't want to take any chances. I went to the dollar store last year and bough several small plastic ashtrays. I just sit them behind my hostas and they are hidden by the leaves. On the weekends I go out and buy the cheapest 40 ounce bottles of beer I can get and just re fill the ashtrays. I don't clean them out until the end of the season as they just fill up with slug corpses again anyway. I find that doing this once a week works fine, is completely biodegradable and safe for kitty. Finally the looks I received from my neighbors the first Saturday morning I strolled out with a Miller-Lite 40 ouncer in hand I will cherish forever.

Hope this helps.

Kate

I've been told you cannot use the decollates and snail bait. It's one or the other.

LOL Oh, it's worth it for the looks from neighbors alone, Kate! Hilarious!

Brenda

Brenda:

Yes, that truly was a priceless moment in my gardening life. Especially since I don't drink and I was out there in the wee hours of the morning I'm sure it was a sight to behold. One of my neighbors is a heavy smoker and she looked over from her porch and stopped mid-drag to try and get her mind around just what was happening in my front yard. I wanted to take a huge swig, I really did but was afraid that might cause her to fall off her porch. Great fun.

Kate

Socks you're correct ,you are not supposed to use decolates and snail bait.That's defeating the purpose.At least that's what they told me at the nursery.
Kathi

Is there anything you can do for a hosta after the snails have feasted on it? Mine are still very healthy and I found the bait, but wish I knew if they could be trimmed back. Will new leaves grow, or do I just have to wait for next year?

First, I commend you for even trying to grow hostas in SoCal. I gave up years ago.

But since I try not to use chemicals, like someone noted above, I handpick at night with a flashlight (and gloves), usually after 10 or 11 when the slugs and snails seem most active. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts. (I'm probably going to get arrested by PETA for saying this, but I put them in a ziploc bag because I don't like squashing them...or feed them to the ducks that land in my pool.) I do this faithfully for about a week or so and can usually make a major dent in the population.

Gosh. I lived on the east coast most of my life. They are pretty much the only thing you see growing in 90% of peoples yards so I can't imagine taking heroic measures to keep them alive. A friend of mine was babying them in NoCal and I thought it was so cute her treating it like it was this rare and splendid thing. :)