Cold wouldn't be my first guess... I'd say likely physical damage and/or sun damage.

A lot of times plants get bumped around a lot when moved around. The bruising of the leaves will eventually result in dead tissue that will turn brown.

The whitish spots are typical for a hosta that got too much direct sun without enough time to adjust to it. Again, the dead tissue will eventually turn brown.

I agree. Looks like sun and/or physical damage. Certainly not virus, and it doesn't look like nems. You could be seeing a secondary or opportunistic fungal infection also, but sun or physical damage are the primary causes.

Steve

its called spring dessication ... common to FWms... and some other yellows ... and a function of COLD ...

ignore it

now.. isnt this the second or third plant with cold damage.

i think some cold snuck up on you ...

which would make me question how of all the cold damaged ones.. why one would be hvx damage ... eh???

ken

I think spring desication is a good description... though I don't really think of that as a "cold" function so much as as a function of too much sun in the spring affecting certain plants with these dry patches that then can go brown as necrosis sets in.

I mentioned mechanical issues as I've noticed that hostas being crammed together for shipping can have a lot of rubbing of the leaves, resulting in reduced wax cuticle and making them more prone to - spring desication!

Zone 8 just makes it hard for me to consider "cold" given our near-arctic conditions here in Minnesota. On the other hand, if they are coming off the dolly, who knows where the truck came from...

bottom line - terminology and fine points aside - we are all agreeing that this isn't a plant you need to worry about. You can remove the unsightly leaves if you want... They are still feeding the plant, but it is always a judgment call about how much damage you can stand seeing versus what makes the plant stronger.

Well, after the Royal Standard with the Hosta Virus X, I'm posting all my new plants (that I haven't tested) for someone else's opinion. I thought the RS had cold damage until I finally noticed the new leaves didn't look any better than the old.

idiothe, I did have it in quite a bit of morning sun. It was also on the edge of the plant dolly, where the plastic wrap touched it at the nursery. As far as cold, we had a really mild January, so the fragrants came up early. Then we had a cold February, and then it got warm again, then cold again for another couple of months. Everything, except the late ones had cold damage.

Thanks for your help. I have two or three more to go.

bk

The cause of spring desiccation seems to be something people disagree about. Cold, wet, dry, hot, windy, too shady, too sunny, who knows....it just seems to happen.