My guess would be slugs... Have you went out "midnight hunting" with your flashlight. I did that over the weekend and was amazed at how many I found and actually how much fun I had doing it... Granted... this was after a few margaritas and with a good friend, but still I would check it out!

I'll go out tonight and see if there are slugs, thanks for the tip.

Could it be snails? I turned over the leaf of a hosta a few days ago after a rain and there was one "hugging" the underside of the leaf. That's what I attribute the small holes in the leaf to. Slugs haven't too bad this year but there is an abundance of everything else.

I bought a bag of anti slug/snail pellets and dropped some below tender hostas. Next morning there were slugs lying around, some literally had melted away, I loved that.

Looks like slugs to me. I have had more slugs than I ever had,due to lots of rain,this year. Phil

no doubt.. you arent looking hard enough. or in the right place ...

the brown leaf tells me insufficient water or severe drought.. so the plant.. and the vermin are looking for water...

it also looks a bit squat.. meaning it might be planted a bit deep ...

trickle water on it for an hour ... a deep soak ... then place a piece of wood or paper nearby ... and come back in a day or two ... you will find a slug or 50 .... they hide in the lawn.. or in the mulch during the day .... not right on the plant ....

check the FAQ's for 10% vinegar or ammonia spray to get rid of them ...

ken

I find it interesting that I have one plant with slug damage. The other 15 are not bothered. Is this just because of the leaf texture/thickness?

From what I understand, the thinner leaved hostas are more vulnerable. The thick leaved ones with ridging or venation are less likely to be affected. Also the ones with a glaucous coat that exude a waxy material tend to be more slug resistant. I have thin leaved green hostas with high gloss shiny leaves and they tend to get destroyed near the woodland. We had a bad caterpillar year from what I understand.