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Hostas #910823

Asked July 22, 2025, 8:29 AM EDT

Good day,

I usually have beautiful hostas but noticed they all look like the picture along the front of my house. This has never happened before. I thought maybe because I was putting coffee grinds in but the ones on the other side of my door is doing this too. I don't see signs of snails or slugs. Any thoughts? I'm about to prune all the bad leaves off but wondered if I need to just go all plant?

Baltimore City County Maryland

Expert Response

This can be a fairly common look for Hostas by mid/late summer in our area. It can be due to an overlap of slug/snail feeding along with infections like anthracnose. (There is no single type of fungus that causes anthracnose...it's a general name for a group of diseases that cause similar symptoms and damage.)

For now, just trim back any affected leaves, even if it mostly denudes a plant for the short term. Throw out (don't compost) the debris. Coffee grounds can be added to a compost pile, but should not be applied as-is to garden beds. You don't need to use a fungicide, but avoid getting the leaves of the Hosta wet if you irrigate the plants during dry weather. (Water only the soil around the roots, or if you can't avoid getting the leaves wet, try to water early in the day so the foliage dries off quickly. The longer leaf surfaces remain damp, the easier it can be for disease spores to infect.) This is partly why years with wetter weather can have more outbreaks of foliage diseases.

Miri
Thank you  


On Jul 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

The Question Asker Replied July 22, 2025, 3:50 PM EDT

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