Who doesn’t wish to have a beautiful garden with beautiful plants in their house? However, it is not easy to grow plants, water them daily, take care of them, and simultaneously protect them from bugs and insects. Talking about the plantain lilies or hostas, which are generally the foliage plants, is one of the native ones seen in northeast Asia. They can be found in vivid species types. However, its leaves and stems are food to many slugs and snails that eventually destroy the beauty of your garden. In this article, you will learn about the tactics you can use to save your Hosta leaves from being eaten by the bugs!
What keeps eating my Hostas?
Contents
Hostas are just not a common food to all the bugs and slugs, but it is also a portion of good food for the deer to feed on. Voles too love to depend on Hosta for their food. They are capable of eating the entire plant, including the roots. Plantain lilies attract bugs naturally and bite their leaves off. And animals like deer are culprit too in this. If you put a fence around, then it can be an effective measure to save your plant. You can also do so if you live in a deer area. You should also save it from squirrels, rabbits, rodents, etc., as they might find it a nutritious food to rely on, making your garden look very ugly if no safety measures are taken on time.
What bugs eat hostas?
Bugs and pests such as cutworks, pillbugs, red bugs, slugs, snails, spider mites, aphids, and beetles are every ready to destroy your beautiful garden. These types of pests and bugs can be avoided even using homemade ingredients such as vinegar etc. Most people make use of pesticides which is a good option to kill insects in less time. However, one should not be confused between nematode damage and disease. Sometimes your plant may also become victim to the voles who will eat the roots.
How to prevent holes in hosta leaves
Hosta undoubtedly is a fragile and pretty plant to keep in your garden, but the fear of its parts being eaten by the bugs destroys this idea. They are the greatest thread on these lilies. You cannot ignore the problem as these bugs will make your plant look ugly very soon if not given proper treatment. Bug control methods come in handy in such a scenario. These methods have their effect; some have strong some work out slowly.
Also Read: Bugs On Hibiscus
Homemade Remedy to protect hosta plants from bugs
Some of the great bugs controlling methods include the following:
Using pesticides
Pesticides usually work in controlling the unwanted insects in your garden. It is advised to make use of non-toxic pesticides only so they do not harm your entire garden. Insecticides can sometimes be harmful to the beneficial insects, too; therefore, give a second thought before you use them.
Neem oil
Applying neem oil to your Hostas is a natural and most used alternative that pests away from your plants in the garden. It is even effective against the beetles.
Dish soap
Dish soap may be readily made at home by mixing two tablespoons of the dish detergent with one gallon of the water. After gently stirring the mixture, you will have one gallon of the liquid pest killer to apply on the hostas plants.
Fill a spray bottle halfway with the dish soap mixture and then spray it on the hostas plant leaves. Spider mites, mealybugs, green aphids, and thrips that are present on the plant will be killed by this mixture. Skunks are also repelled by the dish soap.
Vegetable oil
You can mix the vegetable oil with the dish soap, and this mixture can last longer and more sticky.
This is known as horticultural oil, and it adheres to the leaves. And you don’t often need to use the repellent/pesticide.
Strong pepper
Peper generally has many healing benefits. Apart from this, it also has the capability of shooing. It is advised not to apply the strong pepper directly onto the plant diluting it with the water.
Mint oil
Preparing mint oil for treating bugs and snails in your garden can be more like DIY and is also cheap. First, you need to take few drops of essential mint oil in a cup of water and mix it with dish soap. Then, put the solution in the spray bottle and spray it on the hostas. However, after the winds and rain, you need to apply it again.
Citrus oil
Spraying citrus oil over the plant can be helpful. It works similarly to peppermint oil. It is a form of lime. You can use it by adding 4-5 drops of this oil to the dish soap and spray on Hosta after giving a good mix.
Citronella candles
As citronella is an effective measure to eliminate bugs from the Hosta plant, you can make use of citronella candles which are capable of repelling bugs, mosquitoes, earnings away from your precious. However, most people do not prefer it because they are expensive and cannot be permanent.
Protect your plant by covering it.
Finally, if your hostas plants are being eaten by animals such as chipmunks, deer, or rabbits, you may install a protective mesh cover to safeguard them.
Alternatively, you may install a barrier to keep these pests and animals away from your hostas plants. For animals, you can utilize a robust fence or mesh.
Can The Hostas regrow if they’ve eaten?
The plant can branch out with the new leaves even if the leaves do not recover. To replace the leaves that have been eaten, the root system will continue to generate new leaves and stems.
However, you must deal with the animal or insect problem, and otherwise, they will be devoured again.
Summary
Thus, by following the tips mentioned above, you can easily save your Hosta plant from bugs. However, it requires great effort and precautions to keep your Hosta plant green and healthy. Apart from bugs, there are also snails and slugs that you need to keep away from your plant. The pests for Hosta are strong with no chemical presence; therefore, you need to choose a formula that is non-toxic and also provides a barrier from unwanted insects.
