Maybe "cheating", but Grafted (onto G. thunbergia) gardenias by Monrovia (sold in many nurseries or directly thru website}, though $$ are much hardier/less fussy with watering & dying!!! The only plant I have truly killed is a gardenia! (Rose & fragrant flower nut.) I have an August Beauty (nursery person thinks since tag fell off), whose flowers are Huge! (3 1/2" in Fremont, CA in a 21" pot, now 4 years old & entire plant is enormous 4' x4'x3' with a slight weeping habit.). P. S. It did well but has really started to take off in the last 2 years once I was brave enough to cut off a strong shoot that never really had the right leaves & no flowers, finally figured out that was a "sucker" from the rootstock though situated smack in the center. That said, I've just started growing a double flowered Arabian Jasmine Sambac "Summer Soul" also Monrovia (pic). The flowers are huge for a jasmine 1-1 1/2" & the scent is heavenly (TDF), this beats everything else I have ever grown for scent hands down no contest, roses, gardenias, other jasmine etc.!!!!! P. P. S. Tried several other fragrant "gardenia-like" plants. Easier to grow but not impressed with strength/quality of scent on any. Including: African Gardenia (Mitriostigma axillare) & Orange Jasmine (Murraya paniculata) from Logee. Vietnamese Gardenia (Gardenia (Kailarsenia) vietnamensis) from Top Tropicals, & Double-Flowering Crape Jasmine (tabernaemontana divaricata 'flore pleno') from Kartuz greenhouses, also super slow 1st year. All outdoor pots in Fremont, CA, acid-loving potting soil, & no fertilizer till 2nd year just to be safe.

Hi - thank you all for your help and advice. So I've checked the soil under the surface and it's very damp. Initially when the leaves started turning yellow I mistakenly thought that they weren't getting enough water so made the problem worse. I'm going to try not watering them for a while (I'll try a couple of weeks as suggested). I've also loosened some of the soil up a bit to make it easier for the water to evaporate. The window is facing South-East so not ideal but the best one in the Apartment. I'm thinking of getting a grow lamp of some sort to help them out. How many hours of direct sunlight do they need? Or is the answer "as much as possible"? We're in Virginia and so they peppers are pretty warm through the day particularly when in direct sunlight. I guess it's fingers crossed now and see how they recover. I've been checking out a few of the pepper pictures on the board and am jealous - hopefully I'll be able to followup with some decent pepper pics of my own. Thank you again.

Okay, lets be clear; the brown leaves aren't 'diseased" in that the plant doesn't have a disease. It has a pest infestation - different thing - and the pests are causing the brown leaves. Those leaves are just responding to the pest attacking the plant. The plant itself is not harbouring illness. I make this point: to show you that there's nothing actually wrong with the brown leaves, they're a byproduct, an 'indicator', so don't worry about them. You wont get them to turn green again where they've gone brown and cutting off the brown leaves isnt addressing the problem - the pest. So to address your problem: your pest is spidermites. So this looks good to me: http://www.ehow.com/about_6317228_spider-mites-white-gardenias.html I would treat the spidermites as outlined above. Then I'd repot into 511 (bc gardenias are happier in it and by that I mean they are more resistant to disease and pests). I'd also (given the above post and the fact your gardenia is indoors) think about ways to increase humidity (some ppl like misting, or using a pebble/water tray?) and aeration (can it be placed closer to a window?). Make sense?

Hi everyone. Unfortunately Monstera deliciosa has more culture myths floating around than almost any other plant. The "bright indirect light" myth is the worst. It's everywhere on the internet and it's pure hogwash! :) Most all of the biggest-leaf, massive, mature specimens get from several hours a day full sun up to all-day sun, outdoors. You just really can't give it too much sun if it's grown indoors as a houseplant, unless you switch from low sun too quickly and sunburn it. Next is the "fast draining soil" myth. Many plants love that, and Monstera do great that way, but there must be some houseplants that don't absolutely require it as much as others, right? Monstera deliciosa is that plant. It will grow extremely well in wet mud, in plain clay garden dirt in a pot, and yes also in premium free-draining expensive media too. Another myth are the extreme cautions about being so careful not to overwater it. There is hardly any houseplants that can resist overwatering more. You probably can't overwater it unless your pot has no drainage hole and the soil goes anaerobic. It is still optimal to provide constantly moist-but-not-wet soil, but it's usually UNDER-watering that causes these types of leaf die-off. The last myth is the "increase the humidity" myth. It's great, but just not necessary. They have a tough, thick outer skin and can resist low humidity very well. This one below is grown in a northern heating climate with a central forced-air furnace that really drys the air all winter, often below 20%, yet it doesn't have any brown edges. It gets watered about once every 4 days right now (it needs a bigger pot soon!). It gets lightly fertilized with Foliage Pro at every watering throughout the year. So the plant in the first post needs more sun and more water. Ideally it should be right up in an E, W, or S window (those super-long petioles are etiolating, which is evidence the light is way too low). It needs to have the soil flushed deeply once in awhile, in case that is partially mineral salts fertilizer burn. Also, I would recommend you consider switching to a low-urea liquid fertilizer (like Foliage Pro or similar) more frequently and lightly, as these don't have the strong salt-based ingredients that burn so easily. One concern I had: I do want to know what you mean by "houseplants compost". Thank you. :)