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A whole hosta problems

gregorhanslikgregorhanslik Posts: 31
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,

I've grown hostas very successfully for the past few years and I'm happy to see them coming back through the ground again.

However last year (and, I think, the year before) I had a bug problem which led to them being quite chewed up by the end of the year and, frankly, not too pretty looking:



Any suggestions for how I can nip this in the bud before it becomes a problem? I've kept my eyes peeled for the culprits but can't find anything.

I have also read somewhere that it's a cyclical thing, and if memory serves there's some sort of bug that lives in the soil during the winter to feed on the plant and then eats the leaves when they become fully formed. Does that help? If this is the case I'm happy to do whatever is necessary to break the cycle (some sort of drench? They are in pots.)

Many thanks in advance.

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Looks like slug and snail damage, Hostas are manna from heaven for molluscs.
    Treat however you think best.
    I think you were thinking of vine weevils.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Copper tape around the pot about an inch from the top worked well for me last year.  Hardly had any damage until very late in the season.  I think by that time the leaves had reached the fence or wall and the b***ers climbed down the leaves.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited April 2018
    I've also found that copper tape around the pot works well until the b***ers learn how to abseil  >:)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • gregorhanslikgregorhanslik Posts: 31
    Thanks everyone - I'll try the copper bands and hope for the best!
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Copper bands only stop newcomers.  If they're already in the pots they'll stay and feed.  You need some nematodes or else slug pellets, preferably the non-metaldehyde kind that don't make birds and hedgehogs sick or dead.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    As Obelixx says  :)  and remove the dead leaveswhen they've turned from yellow to brown  ... otherwise they just make nice homes for slugs. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    they absnail Dove ;) 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • gregorhanslikgregorhanslik Posts: 31
    Just to follow up ... this year I wrapped the pots in copper tape (fiddly stuff!) and used wool snail repellent. They are looking fabulous, the talk of the town ...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'm sure the long hot dry spell this summer didn't favour the slugs /snails .
    Ha Ha 
     >:) 
    Devon.
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