Causes of Broken Petioles

10 years ago

Every year it seems in late August or so, in addition to ragged leaves and ever mounting slug damage some of my hostas suddenly appear to have several healthy looking leaves break off at about the middle of the petiole--almost as if a large dog had sat on the clump. Can anyone name a likely cause? I have guessed hot dry winds, but it is just a guess. This year Formal Attire and Sagae seem to have the most damage while nearby hosta have little or none. The leaves are not entirely severed and whether I leave them to dangle or cut them down the damage causes blank spots in larger clumps.

Mark

Comments (9)

don_in_colorado
10 years ago
Well, personally I've seen raccoons, squirrels, opossums and even neighbors' cats that get scared when they see me, causing them to bolt through whatever plant is in their way to get out of the area. Causes damage like you describe sometimes. Sometimes 'my' raccoons will demolish almost all the petioles on a hosta, depending on their size. Luckily that doesn't happen too often with the raccoons. So my guess is animals running through the hosta.

Regards,
Don B.
hostahillbilly
10 years ago
slugs eat thru, or part way thru also cause this
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mosswitch
10 years ago
Pillbugs eat partway through the petioles also,At least in my garden. I don't have slug troubles, thanks to the turtle patrol.

Sandy
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
Bless the Turtle Patrol!

Don B.
ci_lantro
10 years ago
Happens in my yard about this time of year, too. Squirrels & chippers are scurrying around on the ground gathering acorns with an 85# Labrador Retriever in hot pursuit.
coll_123
10 years ago
In my garden, slugs definitely bore holes in the petioles, causing them to collapse. Happens more towards the end of the season, for whatever reason. I've caught them in the act, many times.
mosswitch
10 years ago
I've noticed some of the hostas seem to have really fragile, or brittle petioles. Doesn't take much to break them, just moving the leaves aside will do it sometimes, Not all of them are that way tho.

Sandy
idiothe
10 years ago
Seems like all the replies fall into one of two categories - either "mechanical" damage... varmints, wandering pets... for me it is often dragging hoses to try to get water around the place... maybe really sharp wind bursts, though I don't think I've ever seen this...

or some kind of insect damage.

Should be relatively easy to tell which... lf they are broken the way I think they are - clean or twisted breaks showing no sign of insect chewing (which will often get brown edges before the petiole snaps)

I suspect mechanical damage - certainly the most frequent cause in my gardens in late summer and fall...
MadPlanter1 zone 5
10 years ago
Yep, in my garden half the time I'm the culprit. No matter how careful I am and how many hose guards there are, dragging hoses around to give everything a daily watering tends to break petioles. The squirrels have been racing around acting silly every time we have a cool day, and they do get into roll around on the ground fights. Sometimes they even grab the leaves on the bigger hostas and pull. Trying to see what's on top, I suppose, but it does cause breakage.

The raccoons have been wrecking things all summer. I'm just about to the point of telling my husband to go ahead and shoot them.

At least it's the end of the season.