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Pot type for HOSTAS

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  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    I’d love some hostas but have lost so many to slugs in the past. Would growing them in pots be the answer, and what material and shape would be best to slug proof, and how? I don’t want to use any slug pellets.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The shape's irrelevant @Ergates, as slugs will get into anything. 
    I gave up on hostas, apart from one I have which seems good at repelling them. No idea which variety it is. Nothing keeps them off here. Some people find putting them in a saucer of water, raised up on feet, helps, but you have to be sure they aren't already in the pot to start with  ;)
    I've never found that works either. Or eggshells, or any other so called barriers. They climb the walls of my house - which is rendered in crushed shells.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • HeyHo!HeyHo! Posts: 113
    Ergates said:
    I’d love some hostas but have lost so many to slugs in the past. Would growing them in pots be the answer, and what material and shape would be best to slug proof, and how? I don’t want to use any slug pellets.

    For some reason, slugs have not climbed up my frost proof teraccota pots and left them well alone. I have surrounded the plants with a fancy gravel so this might have prevented slugs too.
    And pot 'feet' as mentioned in previous post.
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    Thanks for the comments. Sounds like I will have to admire the ones in the garden centres instead. Shame.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    For some reason, slugs have not climbed up my frost proof teraccota pots and left them well alone. I have surrounded the plants with a fancy gravel so this might have prevented slugs too.

    Don't know what kind of slugs you have , but it doesn't stop them here!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • HeyHo!HeyHo! Posts: 113
    Fairygirl said:

    For some reason, slugs have not climbed up my frost proof teraccota pots and left them well alone. I have surrounded the plants with a fancy gravel so this might have prevented slugs too.

    Don't know what kind of slugs you have , but it doesn't stop them here!

    Perhas try putting gravel around the plant.  Sorry, but mine are free of slugs although we do have slugs in the garden but also lots of birds.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Gravel doesn't work here I'm afraid, and no shortage of birds. My paths are all gravel. Too much wet weather  in spring here, so they get a real foothold. As I said previously - even sharp shells don't stop them, and they climb terracotta no bother  ;)
    There was a noticeable drop in numbers this year, as we had a record breaking dry April. I've never seen so many healthy hostas in my life.  They soon caught up though -shredded doilies everywhere you went!  :D 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • I hope I can keep the slugs under control. So far on my terrace they seem to like my dalia buds and tiny pansy seedlings.. I’ve kept them at bay this summer with a mix of eggshell, sharp sand and cocoa nib mulch... not perfect but hoping the same tactics can save the hostas.
    Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    my defense is sheer weight of numbers, plus hedgehogs, thrushes , blackbirds, frogs and toads
    Devon.


  • Intersting! First pic, plastic pot, on bed of slate, not in contact with other plants , still looks great now. Second pic, terracotta pot, next to fountain, on bed of gravel but surrounded by other plants has been completely destroyed! Such is life!

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