| I LIVE IN BALTIMORE MARYLAND, MID-ATLANTIC, WHEN ORDERING BULBS, WHAT IS MY ZONE NUMBER? ALSO,I PUT DOWN THE PELLETS FOR SLUGS AND I STILL HAVE HOLES COMING IN MY HOSTAS. PLEASE HELP. I BROUGHT A PRODUCT CALLED SEVEN, WOULD THAT HELP? WOULD IT KILL MY HOSTAS? |
| You are in USDA zone 7. If you baited for slugs and are still having problems, you may have to reapply the slug bait (use an iron based product such as Sluggo) or slugs are not the reason for the holes in your hosta leaves. Try this: up-end a terra cotta pot near your hostas, propped up one side with a rock or stick. Slugs and snails will crawl up onto the inside of the pot at night because it is moist and dark. In the morning you can check to see who's hiding in there. Or, if you don't have a terra cotta pot you can use a half-grapefruit rind instead. Be sure to scrape out any grapefruit and then just prop the rind up. Slugs like to hide in grapefruit rinds, too. Give either of these traps a week or so in the garden (check every morning). If no slugs are found, your slug bait is working and you'll just have to be patient for latecomers to show up in your traps. The iron based slug bait must be digested by the slugs in order to take effect so that means they might also be feeding on your plants until the bait does its job. Sevin has no effect on slugs but it will kill insects, including beneficial ones like bees. I wouldn't use it on the hostas - it could damage them. Best wishes with your garden! |
