hosta problems

Every year my hosta get ate up with something! The holes are very small [it IS NOT SLUGS] and by the end of the season they are destroyed. The only insect I've ever seen on them is very small irridescent green flies. I've tried insect control sprays but nothing seems to help. The last 2 years I've had a problem with what looks like rust on the leaves; any helpful info would be appreciated.

Other than slugs, cant think of any other insects that would cause the problems, it could be the caterpillar of some butterfly or moth, even earwigs will bite holes in the leaves, but also the very small baby slugs and snails will do this as they are born on the underside of the leaves and just munch where they are till they are big enough to move around, caterpillars are day feeders so look during the day, earwigs are night feeders so search at night, but slugs and snails are mainly night feeders but daft enough to feed in daylight in the hope the birds dont find them.
As for the rust, it may be that the soil is too dry as they do like a shaded moist soil, also maybe they just need split up if the clumps are too big, or need feeding as I only find this problem in my garden IF a plant is week or growing in the wrong conditions, some foliage eating insects also excrete a rust coloured poo (toilet) especially caterpillars, if it has been a long standing problem, I would suggest it is the growing conditions that are wrong and maybe you should try to move them to a cooler more shaded area, if you do that, add a load of animal manure or good compost to the soil as this will help feed them and retain much needed moisture for longer in the soil. Hope this can help a bit. Good Luck. WeeNel.

As for the flies, if these are what you have, they aren't a problem:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/4686/

These eat other insects - mites, thrips, aphids, etc.

I have not tried this yet, but I was told to get diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it around the hostas. I am having the same issues with my hostas, but I think my problem actually is slugs. It's worth a try, and it's pretty environmentally friendly, I think.

I'v heard others speak highly of diatomaceous earth. Where can I buy it?

Read up on Diatomaceous earth before you use it. I think there is some danger in using it. You can buy it at pool supply stores. The problems with holes in the hosta might be a multitude of things including just the end of the season. If you all are really into Hosta you should go over to the Hosta forum and express your problem to those people. Most of those people are collectors and have a wealth of experience. another good source of host information is the Hosta Library.

http://www.hostalibrary.org/

There are two different sorts of DE. You should never, ever use the stuff for pools in the garden, it is dangerous to breathe it and also I think the particles are rounder and smoother so on top of being bad for you, it won't even kill what you're trying to kill. The other kind of DE that you find anywhere but the pool supplies is totally fine to use. I still would be careful not to breathe in large quantities of it, but it's just as safe to use as any other insecticide (and probably safer than many)

I never knew ther was a different kind. I am kind of pool based as my son is a contractor and build large pools, fountains and Spa's.

Thanks for all your help! The links were great; those are the flies that are on them. I sprayed to get rid of them because my cleomes right beside the hosta were getting so many leaf miners and I assumed these flies were the culprit. The hostas do get about 1/2 a day of sun, so i guess they should be moved. There are just sooooo many of them to dig up! THANKS AGAIN!!

The only DE that I know of is what I saw in the gardening chemical section at Lowes that is made specifically for gardening purposes.

That kind is the one that's fine to use. You probably wouldn't have ever seen the other kind unless you have a pool, the other sort is typically only found at pool supply stores.

I was just jumping to different treads, I from PNW and thought you would injoy are gardening guru around here, he is crazy but very smart.
There is a video on slugs.

http://www.king5.com/homeandgarden/ciscoe/

Hi Tilly, thanks for the link to Ciscoe. I love the PNW forum but can't go there anymore since it was changed to members only. Some day, when not so poor (lol) I will be a subscriber!

You would be very welcome, save those pennys.
Did the kink work? I like him he is too funny, but the mind LOL

The link took me to Ciscoe, but I didn't see the slugs.

Did you see the videos