I could use a picture. I don't know what a thumb is in this context.

Looks like some sort of mechanical damage that healed over. Is it in a spot where it might suffer any kind of battering?

tj

The "thumbs" are just split leaves....so mechanical damage as noted by tj. Could have been the result of being stepped on :-) Or some other physical injury that occurred when the leaves were unfurling. Could also be weather related.

can you rule out z5 cold damage???

is it potted.. how do you store the pots???

why always this one??

ken

Do you think i could be abrading against what looks like a board to me. As the leaves are blown around in the wind I think they are being worn on that board. I would suggest moving the hosta or removing the board???? 🤷🏽‍♂️

I’m pretty certain it’s neither cold damage (I have lots of that on other hostas) nor mechanical damage. Those two leaves are right at the edge of a deck, but several others with the same anomaly are not. I can’t imagine that I stepped on the emerging shoots three years running! And not in a pot. The split leaves are all in two shoots; all the others are normal.

jan

It looks like one leaf growing out of another or some permanent deformity (?). If the hosta is otherwise healthy, I would leave it be. If you dislike the leaf “thumbs” you could dig the plant up and separate the eye(s) that they are growing from.

debra

Who does the weed whacking at your house?

Perhaps wind damage?

Well, you could move those eyes to a new location and see if they do it again next year. The closer I look at them the odder they seem. The leaf on the right has that point at tip of the thumb which I wouldn’t expect yet the veins seem to follow across the split. The one on the left doesn’t even show the veins crossing the split-more like an old small tear at the crotch of the thumb. Weird.

tj

I had a Night before Christmas that had split leaves every year for more than five years, always looked a little ratty. Last year I potted it up and didn't protect it over the winter and it didn't come back. I don't miss it.

I found an article on "splitting leaves" on houseplants. It said this could be caused by low humidity and recommended spraying the leaves early in the morning to increase humidity. I would think the same problem and cure might work on hosta or other outdoor plants - Jon

I don't know, but I just got a Lost in Paradise from Naylor Creek that was all thumbs. Seemed like a natural growth not some kind of damage. Now that its planted the new leaves are normal. What does it mean? Like I said before IDK.

Steve, seems it might relate to the reason houseplants get split leaves from dehydration. Your order could have had some dehydration from the mailing and I'm sure you have kept it well watered. Actually I see no reason why if houseplants have splitting problems from dehydration, hosta and other outdoor plants wouldn't suffer in the same way.

I think we crossed wires somewhere. I'm pretty sure those thumbs didn't grow while it was in the mail.

Sorry I did think it came with "thumbs". I'm not sure of the timing of drying out to splitting said to happen on house plants. Thinking about it, if say the hosta (or any plant) had experienced drying out wouldn't the leaves shrink and contract as they dried. Couldn't this be the mechanics behind "thumbs" or cracking as the somewhat dry and contracted leaves suddenly expand from watering? I don't see why cracking would be limited to house plants. If it happens to the leaves of houseplants from dehydration I don't see why the same situation couldn't happen to hosta and why wouldn't it be more prevalent in the larger leaves.