Cutworms???? During the day, scratch the soil around the plant about 1" deep and see if you find those UGLY gray 1/4" thick worm like things that come up at night and gobble. You might try going out at night with a flashlight and see who the culprit is. I always look on the undersides of leaves first to see if I can locate a caterpillar first. Look under EVERY leaf, because once they gobble one leaf, they get go to another leaf. Sometimes earwigs are the bad guys, which you can trap by leaving a wet rolled up newspaper next to the crown of the plant.

If you cannot find a critter, get some Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew (Spinosad). It is a spray that is approved for organic gardening, and will kill chewing thingies.

-Babka

well thank god they arent figs.. or apparently you would eat them.. lol ..

there is no use for neem on hosta ...

if you dont see something during the day.. go out with a flashlight at night ...

that could be one single cutworm.. ... sleeping during the day.. as noted above ...

see link ...

they will soon turn into whatever they do.. moths probably.. and be gone... if not already .... the second flush of leaves.. usually hides the damage ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks, folks.

I checked around the base of the plants and found no cutworms, but they sound like the likely culprit. We also do have earwigs on the property (they were *all over* our artichokes when we went to harvest them -- almost made me not want to eat them - almost :))

I'll check on the plants tonight and will treat with spinosad as needed!

Could be earwigs or cutworms. For earwigs roll up a piece of wet newspaper and leave it hanging around the base of the plant. Check it early in the morning. Get ready to dump the little critters into a soap and water solution or ammonia and water. If you don't find any, it's probably the cutworms.

Steve