I have questions about some of my plants.

Louise
by Louise
My hellebores seems to have a problem. In one photo, you can see some white stuff on the leaves. There are also leaves that have turned brown. This leaf browning is most evident on the bottom of the plants. What's the problem? And what's eating my basil and how can I stop it? After I first planted it, it grew just great. After I cut lots of it for pesto, the new growth is what you see. And why is my orange pepper so small and what can I do to make future ones larger? (I put a pine cone next to it so you can see the size of the pepper.) But the plant doesn't look particularly healthy, anyway. Maybe I don't have enough sun for it?
  5 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Jun 18, 2016
    The Hellebores seem to have more than one issue going on. The first being mildew,second being black spot. and the third possibly aphids.You can try using a horticultural oil on the plants. cut away as much of the diseased leaves as you can and then start your control. Repeat as necessary. As for the bail it could be slugs,worms even rabbits. Again try spring with the oil and see if that helps keep your situation under control. As for the pepper plant , It needs full sun to promote healthy fruit.
  • Anne W Anne W on Jun 18, 2016
    Old leaves on the bottom of Hellebores die and should be removed. I have hundreds of them and this is normal.
  • TexnBrit TexnBrit on Jun 18, 2016
    I agree with Anne, hellebores replace the previous year's leaves during the spring with a fresh new set. The dark patches may be Hellebore leaf spot but I simply snip the old leaves off carefully at the base of their stems which keeps the plants looking fresher and tidier (disposing of any old, possibly diseased, leaves in the garbage rather than composting them). I don't waste time and money on treating the plants with anything.
  • Louise Louise on Jun 18, 2016
    I've had these about 4 yrs and this has never happened before. Do they do this after a period of time? And what about the white spots on the leaves?
    • See 2 previous
    • Louise Louise on Jun 18, 2016
      We had a lot of rain a few weeks ago but not much lately. I don't eat eggs, but can probably get some shells from someone.
  • Bryan's Workshop Bryan's Workshop on Jun 19, 2016
    Hello! Your Hellebores look fine to me. You need to clean up all of the dead stuff though. Your basil looks like beetles or grasshoppers are eating it. They usually don't eat the middle veins of leaves. That basil should be grown in a pot by itself. Be careful what you spray on it too, because you'll end up eating it. Your pepper plant should definitely be in a pot. You can buy a large cheap pot and put a tomato stake in the middle to hold up the peppers with string or tomato clamp rings. I grow peppers both ways, but your soil looks pretty dry for the plant. Good luck!