Help-elegans leaf

[boops]

Is this from too much sun or what is causing this-this is the second leaf on it to do this.

[Mark Raw]

Is the Elegans a big
one? One of mine did that kind of thing a lot and I blamed the sun however if it's one of it's smaller or first leaves I wouldnt be too worried however from the greeness of the leaf colour I would guess maybe too much sun. Is there any sign of anything else on the petiole (leaf stem) or anything lower down?

[boops]

It was one of leaves that was there when the plant arrived from the seller. No other signs of stress. I moved it after I posted the photo to a little shadier spot.

[Mark Raw]

I would guess at too much sun then.

[HostaDesigner]

I would check the crown for rot. It looks just like the beginning stages of rot (not southern blight). The other option is it was severely stressed with lack of water from the drought. I have a Dorothy Benedict seedling that has completely disappeared. The entire plant turned brown just like this and went dormant.

[boops]

It can't be drought, we have had 3 straight days of rain here. I dug it up and moved it this AM and will keep an eye on it and there was no rot that I could see. I'm thinking some of those really steamy days of blaring sun maybe.

[Pieter]

The kind of symptom you see I associate with water uptake issues, either because of a lack of water, or too much water. Over watering can quickly lead to root rot, which reduces the number of roots available to move the water to the plant tissue which leads to browning and eventually dessication, precisely what you are seeing here. Root rot will lead to crown rot which leads to a plant simple withering away. It sounds to me as if this is a recent addition to your yard, the problem may well have started at the source.

[boops]

I pull the plant, rinsed the roots best I could-here are two photos of the roots-please let me know if they show signs of root rot. this plant was shipped with a biodegradable pot and was told the pot would mulch into the soil.

[Mark Raw]

Personally I hate those biodegradable pots and those that come wrpped in so called bio degradable wrap round the roots. I always remove them as they never seem to rot and just seem to stunt the plant.... no matter what the plant is.

[boops]

Most of the time I remove them before planting ANYTHING-but stupidly I left it on this one. Now it is totally removed, roots washed, I'm going to replant it now.

[guardbear]

I agree with Pieter that it is a water issue. I don't know about overwatering, but I have leaves like this on many hostas each year - usually the larger, older leaves that wilt and die and I pull them off and the plant is fine and comes back the next year. The dessication of the leaf means that either water is not being transported to the leaf tissue, or the leaf tissue has been damaged and cannot properly transport water to the cells for evapotranspiration. Add the heat and sun, and it dries out.

As far as bacterial root rot goes (as opposed to fungal rot, Southern blight), here' the gist of what I have learned. The roots and the bottom of the corm should be light in color and have good substance. If rot is present, the roots or corm will be darker-colored, have mushy/soft tissue, and may have a disagreeable odor. It's difficult to judge accurately from photos, but most of your plant's roots look very healthy -- I only see one small one (at about 1:00 o'clock in pic) that looks like it may be mushy, or on its way to being so. The bottom of the corm also looks a little suspicious to me, but only you can judge if this tissue is mushy/smelly or if it healthy. Have to have a hands-on looks in other words. A root dying here and there is gonna be normal I think and the plant will survive unless the root loss is so great that the plant cannot survive, and remember, the rotting is a natural process that occurs to all dead organic matter in the ground (via bacterial/fungal action). I've transplanted 200+ hostas, sometimes washing the roots, and it is not unusual for me to find a short piece of rotting root on healthy plants.

And, since you just got this plant, some of the roots may have been "challenged" in being readied for shipment and/or being in the media they were shipped in which gave soil bacteria a chance to invade the tissue. If you check the corm, making sure it is not mushy (being degraded by soil bacteria), I think your plant will be okay. If you find mushy tissue, you should gently remove it by hand -- and there is a common suggestion that you should dip the roots/corm in a dilute bleach solution to kill the overgrowth of bacteria in the plant's cells before replanting. You should however make up your own mind about using the bleach as I've also read advice indicating that one should not do this.


Linda

[boops]

Thanks Linda, I thoroughly washed the roots, cut off the damaged leaves. I removed scraps of the biodegradable pot stuck to the roots also. I didn't use a bleach wash tho. I planted it in a different area with fresh soil in the hole. Maybe I should have sprayed the roots with fungicide? I'm keeping an eye on it to see if there is anymore die off. There are new eyes starting on it, so I don't think I'll lose it. If I do, I will contact the company for a replacement and advise them of the issue and that I don't think Hosta should be shipped with biodegradable pots as the roots are not getting enough air. We'll see what happens.