A reader on my Facebook page recently asked a question about damage he was noticing on his hosta plants. His question was:
What is the best way to kill the ants that are chomping on our hostas.
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| Pest damage on hosta plant |
Great question. But, the damage to your hostas isn’t being caused by ants, it’s slugs.
You probably haven’t noticed them because they feed at night.
But look closely in the shade or on a cloudy day, especially after a rainfall, and you will likely find the culprit.
With all the rain we’ve been getting lately, the slugs in my garden are out in full force – and they are huge!
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| Eek, that’s the biggest slug I’ve ever seen in my garden |
Slugs can be a major pain in the garden. They eat holes in lots of plants, fruits and vegetables – and they especially love to eat hostas.
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| Slug damage on hosta leaves |
I never had a major problem with slugs in my garden until I started growing hostas.
They would occasionally chew on my lettuce leaves or other cold weather plants in the cool wet spring. But they never caused major damage.
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| Slug damaged green bean |
Organic Pest Control For Slugs
There are several organic methods you could try to help control slugs in your garden.
Hand picking might be a slimy job, but it is one way to control slugs. You can go out in the early morning, and hand pick them off the plants.
Related Post: Natural Garden Pest Control Remedies And Recipes
You can use cardboard to make this job a bit easier. Slugs love cardboard. Simply lay some cardboard down near affected plants and keep it moist.
In the morning, turn the cardboard over and you will probably find several slugs. Pick off the slugs and drown them in soapy water, or squish them.
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| Slug on bean plant |
Slugs also love beer. Place a shallow dish of beer near the plants they love the most.
Sink the dish into the mulch or soil so the top of the dish is level with the ground (so the slugs can get in). The slugs will climb in for a drink and drown. Yes!
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| Slug – slimy |
Maybe you don’t want to share your beer with the slugs, and who can blame you?
Crushed eggshells can be used as an organic pesticide, and can kill slugs that slink across it.
Simply sprinkle crushed eggshells around the base of the plants. The sharp eggshells will cut slugs up and dry them out.
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| Egg shells around base of hosta |
You could also buy a product called diatomaceous earth, which works the same way. It works great for controlling all sorts of garden pests.
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| Eggshells to kill slugs |
Salt will also dry slugs out and kill them; but too much salt is bad for the soil, so I don’t recommend using salt to control slugs unless you want to sprinkle it directly on them.
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| Slug, yuck! |
Slugs love cool, wet and shady gardens the best, so concentrate your damage control to these areas of your garden.
As with any garden pest, persistence is key. If you have major damage to your garden, it might take several tries to get the slugs under control.
But it’s worth the effort to keep your gardens free of pesticides, and looking their best.
More Posts About Organic Garden Pest Control
- How To Control Flea Beetles In The Organic Garden
- Tips For Controlling Japanese Beetles In Your Garden Organically
- How to Control Squash Bugs Organically
- How to Get Rid of Squash Borers Organically
- How To Control Cabbage Worms In Your Garden
How do you control slugs in your garden? Leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences.
Modern Mia says
If you have a sandbox, you can sneak a couple of cups of sand to sprinkle around the base of the plant. But don't let your kids see you sneaking sand out of their box. They might get mad. Ahem, not that I would know from personal experience or anything. Ahem.
Amy Andrychowicz says
LOL! Great, thanks for the tip!
Sugar Cookies to Peterbilts says
When I lived up in the cities, the slugs destroyed my hosta's! They ate them right down to the center vein. I experimented with several treatments, but the diatomaceous earth worked best for me. Wish I had known then about egg shells working the same way.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, that's terrible. Mine aren't quite that bad. I'm going to try to be more proactive next year and see if I can prevent most of their damage.
Amy
Ruth Anne says
I have flagstone all around the area that is filled with hostas. I discovered that slugs love to hide under the stones, so it was a simple job to flip the stones one at a time and kill the slugs underneath. I have been doing this for the past 2 summers – it’s amazing how effective this has been.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Great, glad to hear you found a method that works! I have heard of people using cardboard for the same reason. Slugs will hide under the cardboard and they’re easy to kill in the morning. Sounds like a yucky job though. 🙂
Ash says
I sprinkle mealie meal or corn meal as it is called in some countries. They eat it and then die off. I have much less in my garden at the moment. But my garden is huge and I have to do the whole place. So far I have only been sprinkling the meal in some of the beds. But I do see less of them and less damage, so its working. I also collect and dry all my eggshells in the sun before crushing and use that around plants. The kids love to do the crushing part, I place all the shells in a plastic bag and they stomp on it to crush.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, great tip! I will have to give corn meal a try this year.