Another round of "What's eating my hosta?"

10 years ago

Cutworms, slugs, deer, or something else? In my arsenal, I have slug bait (which I had already put out) and deer spray (I just sprayed today--too late if it was deer). Do I need to buy or do something else?

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (4)

Steve Massachusetts
10 years ago
Definitely not slugs or cutworms. Probably deer based on the size of the bites. Once they have a taste they'll be back. Use the repellents liberally and anytime there is new growth.

Steve
in ny zone5
10 years ago
I had a bunny doing those cuts. It also ate hosta pips which resulted in frayed leaves now. Then I sprayed Liquid Fence and it never came back. The next day after spraying I placed a Have-a-Heart trap. But I only caught an angry squirrel. After a week I have the trap now in the front yard, because we saw 2 bunnies there. Something big got in it, ate half the apple quarter, but was able to get out of it.

So, I continue to hope to catch those wabbits. I read that we should trap rabbits in very late fall or early spring to diminish the number of baby rabbits the following year. During those months there is also less food supply and they can get caught easier.
Bernd
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Moc, they might work for a squirrel problem! However, my solution to that was a circle of chicken wire or 2x4 wire right over the top of the pot, tied down through the hole in the bottom if it was a new plant. Or around the side of the pot if it was an established one. Plants grow thru it, squirrels can't dig. It was just hopeful thinking about the slugs. But maybe a ring of Sluggo outside the collar would keep them busy and hopefully soon dead. Edit: I did cut a piece of chicken wire, with a hole in the center, and put it around new small hostas when they were planted in the ground and weighted it down with rocks. Seems to have kept the squirrels from digging them up, and this spring I just pulled it off as the hostas were coming up and not in danger of that any more.. Sandy This post was edited by mosswitch on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 14:24
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I agree on the Sluggo. I have been using that and I've also used another iron phosphate product. I think it's called Garden Safe Slug and Snail Bait, I'm to lazy to run out to the garage and check right now. I've had pretty good results with it. In my most heavily infested areas I've still had some damage, but not as bad as other years. However I would still use it this fall as every slug you kill now is one less to lay eggs for next summer. Another method that many people swear by, is to mix 1 part household ammonia with 10 parts water and spray the crown of the hosta and saturate the soil around the hosta. I haven't used this myself.
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mosswitch
10 years ago
Ground hogs love hostas, too. They can also eat one to the ground in short order.

Sandy
User
10 years ago
I figure the critter in your Hav-A-Heart trap had a long tail, which caught the door from tripping. Maybe a raccoon.

Something is eating a few of mine, and some leaves are rolled up, so I figured it was cut worms or leaf rollers like on the cannas. So I dosed some with cuts in Sevin dust. Have yet to find a worm on the hosta, but I found some in a pot of spider plant which I had taken outside to water. When I returned it to the window behind the kitchen sink, I started seeing small black droppings on the countertops. Well, I found 5 cut worms, which I politely took to the open bird feeder as a protein snack for the fledglings.

Never thought that these worms would make it up to the deck, and wonder about it being larva of some butterfly or moth.
What could it be, you reckon? Gulf Fritillary butterflies laid eggs on my passion vines already, but they are specific to that food plant. What eats a spider plant!

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Another round of "What's eating my hosta?"

Comments (4)

Steve Massachusetts

in ny zone5

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