Can you ID the problem I'm having?

13 years ago

I don't know the cause of what is killing my hostas. I thought it was grubs, but I put grub killer down in the spring. I have 5 hostas in a row and only two of them are turning brown like the pictures show.

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Comments (6)

caliloo
13 years ago
Looks like cold damage to me.

Alexa
ctopher_mi
13 years ago
It looks like rot from too much water, or that mulch is covering the stems too much and rotting them (or a combination of the two). If you had a frost early on this could have started a fungus problem.

The other possibility could be fusarium root rot. If that is the case you would want to throw these away and start over, but I would let them dry out completely, if possible, remove the really bad leaves, then spray with a broad spectrum fungicide like Daconil, and see if new leaves emerge.

Did you just plant them this year? If so, the stems might be too deep and you would want to pull the mulch and a bit of soil away from the stems, but if you planted them last year the depth wouldn't be an issue any longer.

Good luck!

Chris
rob_sneyers
13 years ago
I agree with Alexa. Frost and cold damage.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
frost .... weeks ago .. notice the flower scape.. which just emerged ... is not damaged ...

grubs are not an issue with hosta .... so that was wasted chemicals ...

slugs are a problem.. but not his problem ....

as new uninjured leaves start pushing thru ... remove SOME of these leaves .. they are still making food for the roots.. so dont mow it down ... but in a few weeks.. it should look a lot better..

ken
greenthumbz4mn
13 years ago
Parts of your plants look very healthy. I had frost damage this spring, and that's how my Hosta look. I cleaned off the bad leaves on one of them, and that H looks pretty good. I haven't gotten to the others and they still look cruddy. Mary
beth_new_gardner
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you for all the good information. I appreciate everyone's input.