Help with identifying what is chewing on leaves

[DavidU]

I was hoping some of the pros on here could help me with a problem that I just can't seem to resolve.  The photos below tell the story: something keeps munching on new leaf growth!  After talking with others and searching the posts here it seems that it may be some type of caterpillar or worms since the chewing appears to be on the outside edges.  The strange thing is I never see any insects on these plants and they have been kept indoors since purchase.  Something must be chewing on them at night I suppose.  I've tried several methods of resolving this issue including completely washing the plants several times, spraying/misting with soap and water regularly, using Monterey garden insect spray with spinosad, and finally using AzaMax, which contains Azadirachtin, an antifeedant and insect growth regulator which controls pests through starvation and growth disruption.

My plants look decent and they are growing, (they receive plenty of HVH fert and supernova) but this is really frustrating since all of the new growth gets munched on first and I fear this may also be disrupting bud development as well.  I've also noticed that the new leaves are what I'll term as crunchy and bubbly. Below are some photos showing the leaves on my prosperity and true love plants.  The last photo is on blue ballerina.

Has anyone else dealt with this on their indoor plants?  Also, should I remove the chewed leaves and or prune back the areas where this has occurred?  Any help here would be greatly appreciated!
 

[Charlie]

I've not seen anything that looks exactly like that. At least it does not look to be threatening the survival of the plants. Often mysterious problems disappear as mysteriously as they appeared. Let's hope that happens here.

Charlie

[Kyle]

I have seen this before on my hibiscus including now.     After I prune, the 1st leaves to grow back in from a dormant node are often deformed and appear something was eating it.     The damage seems to occur when the leaves are real tiny as they may be getting hung on bark and other leaves.    The leaves continue to grow larger but the damage was done when they were real tiny.   
Kyle   

     

[DavidU]

Thanks, Charlie & Kyle.  Perhaps this isn't a pest issue after all...

Kyle I did pinch the tops of these plants to increase branching as they were received as 4" plants last year, so your explanation makes some sense to me. I'm surprised that this isn't a more common issue for others then since it may have to do with pruning.  Have you found that the plants begin to grow normally again after these first leaves continue to grow larger and other leaves begin to grow in? Also, Do you see the bubbling on your leaves as well?  I was concerned that the bubbling may be due to either over fertilizing young plants and/or disease from pests initially. 

[Ellen]

A real not-an-expert answer.  I have leaves like those in your picture.  Sometimes the damage looks like bites taken out of the leaf, sometimes more of a crumple-sided deformity.  I'm wondering if these aren't leaves that were very new growth that survived a spider mite infestation since I'm not aware of any other pests on the plants

[DavidU]

I thought that to be a possibility too, Ellen.  My blue ballerina definitely survived a mite attack and is coming back, but the other plants in the top 3-4 photos (prosperity & true love) had never had a mite infestation that I am aware of.

[Kyle]

I'm begging to think this is some type of hormone imbalance resulting in a genetic defect and not from leaves scraping the bark or any physical damage from pest.   
Seems to only happen for me indoors and starts to show after I prune/pinch.    Crazy things happen when you prune as it jumpstarts hormone production.
I know for sure mine were not caused by mites and I don't have caterpillars.
Relieving news is that mine will clear up on it's own and stop as future foliage grows in.       
Here are some photos after going back and observing after you brought this up. 
As far as the bubbling it may just be a type of burn from fertilizers particularly the Booster.   If the sun or light source is to intense, the water in the leaves and stems gets pushed back down towards the roots and all those chemicals are left in the leaf as the sun bakes and permanently damages them.


     

[DavidU]

Kyle your leaves do seem to look very similar to mine. Good to hear that this usually clears up on its own. I am new to pruning and pinching so perhaps this just comes with the territory.  I am very interested in seeing the results!  Good news is that my true love cv has had it's first bud forming and it looks like she could bloom any day now.

[Kathleen]

Kyle - I am seeing this exact same thing on the new growth on many of my plants.  Did you ever figure out what this is and how to treat it?  I use the Booster, as well as SuperNova ever time I fertilize.  Should I stop this?

Kathleen