While a hosta newbie I can attest to having holes in lots of my leaves of hosta's and other plants. I would say there is a good chance you have slugs. I trap them using clear plastic cups dug into the soil so about 2" of the cup is out of the ground near the plants they are eating. Then pour about 1" of beer in the cup. Works like a charm. You can always go outside late at night with a flash light and see if you can spot them. A dash of salt fixes them on the spot! (don't use too much salt it is bad for the plants if it builds up)

SCG

thanks for the information, i have had hostas for years and have to admit that i forgot all about the beer thing. could not use it for years as we had a yellow lab that loved beer and she would get to it everytime.....lol.

now is not the time for spraying ... its fall ...

full fall cleanup ... spray mulch with 10% vinegar ...

and start the battle about 5 months earlier ...

NEVER spray anything .. until you ID the bug or slug ...

ken

I also suddenly got a lot of little holes on hostas with thin leaves. I noticed baby slugs, though I place anti-slug pellets around hostas. I also noticed that some animals seem to eat my pellets. So just when the little slugs ran around that critter finished off my pellets. Bernd