Thanks everybody for the feedback. carolb_w_fl I saw that mildew photo and my leaves aren't fuzzy, just dying on those brown spotted areas. I also haven't been spraying anything - and no changes to the soil or how I water them. coorscat, I was thinking it might be something like that. It's affecting most of my plant (the genovese one, though not as bad on the other basil types) so if I pick off the bad leaves I'll lose all the leaves. I may try to cut it all the way back to see if it will make a comeback though. I did a little more research and it looks like it might but fusarium wilt or late blight, both of which are a bummer. Anyway, if anybody has any more ideas of how to treat it/avoid it, I'll take suggestions!

Those aren't pots. The black things you see at the base of the 3 plants in the middle and the 4 plants in the back are "tomato savers". They are two peices of plastic that snap together at the base of the plant to prevent cutworm, warm the roots, catch and slowly drain rain water to the main rootball and keep the soil damp around the rootball. The tomato savers that they sell now are red but I bought mine a long time ago and they only came in black which I prefer. I mainly use them now because I have them.

What cheeze said may sound harsh but it's definately the truth. My potted bhut is in standard Miracle Gro potting soil with a bit of bonemeal and fish emulsion. That's it. I water it when it goes dry. The rest are in the garden with plain garden soil and a little fertilizer and I may have used bonemeal upon transplanting. They're all prolific. Fact is, too much attention can be worse than neglecting the plant. Especially when you start throwing in chemicals without being positive of what the problem actually is. I've had quite a few pepper plants show purple stems, especially where they branch off near the top of the plant. I believe that's just from the sun. As far as the leaves go. They could be overwatered. Personally, I water when the plant starts showing stress.

This is the one we like. Chinese Sweet And Sour Pork Pork Tenderloin 2 green peppers quartered 1/2 cup salad oil 1 clove garlic 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pork tenderloin, cubed 2 eggs~ 3 TBSP flour 1 tsp salt pinch pepper 1 cup chicken broth 1 can pineapple chunks, drained 1 TBSP corn starch 3 tsp soya sauce 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar 1 TBSP molasses Parboil peppers for 5 minutes. Saute garlic in oil. In separate bowl, beat flour, eggs and seasonings. Dip the pork in the mixture and brown in the oil. Pour off excess oil add broth, pineapple and peppers. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Blend remaining ingredients. Add to pork. Stir until thick. NOTE: If using pork steak I would pound it out a bit before cubing.