I've seen this on a couple of my younger hostas. Anybody?

My first thought was frost/cold damage. Perhaps you had a hard frost or dip in the temperatures just as the hosta was starting to open up so that is why the edges are only effected.

I'm thinking frost damage also. Looks like the Cracker Crumbs I had last year (that I mistakenly thought was nems). The pic still looks good without the close up.

Steve

i am not thinking.. i am telling you.. frost damage.. while still furled.. when only the edges were exposed .... that within was not 'touched' ...

except for the hardest or coldest frosts ... [where they simply collapse to the ground]

the worst thing.. is that the light frost isnt seen until a few days or a week later.. when the temp rise a bit.. and with the cell walls broken.. the plant can NOT maintain the tissue.. and it goes pale ...

its all about some magical temp.. and yes.. it could have affected the hosta.. and no left a frosty lawn..

AND!!! ... all plantaginea hybrids seem to be more susceptible to it ...

a mystery.. surrounded by an enigma.. wrapped in a hot dog bun ... as churchill probably did not say ...

ken

oh.. and its the oldest [first ones out].. outer most leaves.. if you trace down the petiole to the crown .... the ones that came up later.. were not affected.. so if they get really ugly.. just remove 2 or 3 ... and the clump will look great.. and have no impact on the plant as a whole ...

Well, I guess we could have had a frost, but I don't think so. This was taken the 18th and I don't see the damage.

bkay

My thoughts are either drying out from the sun or the air or a combination. Hostas like a really high relative humidity that your climate might not be able to give them. The margins are turning white really fast, so it is definitely getting a lot of light and that might be part of it.

I've seen this referred to as spring dessication. I often see it on the edges of Frances Williams and sometimes Inniswood before the oak trees have leafed out enough to provide cover.

I've seen that occasionally in Spring, about a week or so after we have some cold temps (not frost, but close to it, mid 30's)and wind. The cold and wind gets the tender, thin, light edges of a few leaves, but it takes time for you to see the damage. I just remove those leaves if they are prominent. Except that once it happened to some big leaves on my Diana Remembered and and ruined her for the rest of the year. I keep her protected from cold wind until nighttime temps get over 50 degrees.

-Babka

Okay, let me get this to jibe with my observations too.
I've noticed a few of the white margins looking "thin" like bruised lettuce. We've not had cold weather, but we've had a lot of wind and it is drier than most springs here.

The Frances Williams I bought from Lowes, it is fully leafed, but some of the white margins have a bruised rusty look to them. I've avoided touching them too much. The four plants I got from Lowes I put in one large pot and pretty much leave them alone these days, but of course I'm now always thinking HVX HVX HVX when they don't look perfect.
Eleven, my shade will come from the pecan trees about a month from now --they are beginning to leaf out now. So quite possibly it could be "spring dessication."

But the ones with a white margin with sort of questionable translucent edges do tend to be the plantaginea progeny.

Babka, I have a new Diana Remembered and it is not affected so far, since only two leaves are unfurled and her pot had larger hosta around her. I'll keep your experience in mind. Our temps at the coolest at night were in the upper 50s this past week, with day temps in the mid 80s.

Darn, there are so many things to keep balanced!!

Thanks, guys. It's the first one out every year, so I guess it got burned, or I let it get too dry. I had never seen that before. It will be another two or three weeks before the pecan trees are fully leafed out.

I'll take those leaves off, or I'll use another "s" next winter. Sum and Substance is just now unfurling, so it can be my "s". Actually, I have another So Sweet, but it's lots younger and has not totally filled the pot.

Thanks again,

bkay

Frances Williams is notorious for "Spring Dessication". Sometimes that is how you can ID it from other look-alikes.

I would always be wary of hostas purchased from big box stores regarding HVX.

-Babka

I bought this one from a dedicated hosta grower, and it's always been in a pot, so I don't think HVX is probable.

I probably let it get too dry or too cold.

Bkay

Yah, yah, Bkay, Babka is talking to me here. :)

I got my Frances Williams from Lowes, along with the Whirlwind, Francee, and Minuteman, earlier this month.

I have them planted together in one large pot now, si I can make sure they don't become confused with any other plants.
If I am lucky, it is spring dessication that is the problem with about 3 leaves on Frances Williams and NOT HVX.

Right now I'm thinking it will be a lot easier on me to just throw those in the trash and order Whirlwind, Francee, and Minuteman from a legit nursery. For all the trouble they are causing, why not. I'm not into worrying all the time, life is too short. Just cut my losses and get on with it.

Well, that was easy to decide!!! Trash man comes next Tuesday. Dirt, pot and all.

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear...but Moccasinlanding got my message. Good. ;-)

-Babka

Moccasin, at times there is some hype here with HVX.
Frances Williams gets these spring burns depending on location, I never notice them with my 6 so much, some had heat damage later in summer.
Please look first into the HVX information (with pictures) at the American Hosta Society web site. Some deformation of leaves will be frost damage, some issues by too much sun and too little water. It is not always a virus.
Bernd

I agree with you Bernd. However, if she's going to be paranoid and worry about HVX as long as she has them, maybe the trashcan or giving them away would be a good solution.

bkay

Okay, it was easier to do than I thought. I just put the pot to the street, and sat a bit of broken limbs beside it to make it look like trash, and within an hour it was gone. Now I do not have to worry about contamination so much.

I won't be indulging in impulse buying of hosta from Lowes or THD or any place that does not know what I mean when I mention Hosta Virus X.

Thanks for the push in the right direction. :)

I never got any disease from HD or Lowes on any plant I bought there. A hosta I bought from Walmart not only had the wrong name, but also developed HVX lateron, is gone now. 2 hostas I got from a good local nursery developed nematodes the following year.
Bernd