What’s eating holes in my hosta leaves?
A. Slugs and/or snails. They adore hosta. Fortunately they’re not too difficult to control, and and you don’t have to use the harsh poisons of yesteryear. In spring when your hosta are beginning to grow vigorously or you see a telltale hole in a leaf, sprinkle a pelleted iron phosphate-based product around the plant(s). There are several brands available – Sluggo is a well-known one. Iron phosphate is a substance deadly to slugs and snails but harmless to everything else. The bait in the pellet attracts the critters to eat it, and when they do they cease feeding altogether. It may take them several days to die, but they immediately stop eating your hostas. Here at the nursery we rely on iron phosphate-based pellets to protect our large selection of hostas and it does a great job.
