Why Do My Lambs Ears Look Sickly?

Are the leaves spotted or blotched?

Do the leaves have reddish or pale yellow areas on their upper side and dusty orange blisters on the undersides?

Are the plants stunted and yellowed, roots have lesions?

Are the leaves rotting?

Many kinds of leaf spots are caused by fungi that thrive on moist leaf surfaces and cause transparent to brown or black spots that disfigure the leaves. Often spots come together to form larger patches of dead tissue. Pick off and discard infected leaves. Remove dead plant debris promptly from the garden to reduce overwintering spore populations. Dig up and discard seriously infected plants together with the soil of the root ball. Spray foliage at weekly to 10-day intervals with wettable sulfur or Bordeaux mixture, particularly in wet weather.

Likely cause for these symptoms is a fungal disease - Rust. Provide good air circulation around plants by thining them. Avoid making leaves wet when watering. Remove and destroy all garden debris before spring. All infected leaves should be removed. Spray leaves with sulfur early in the season to prevent rust or to treat mild infections.

Several kinds of nematodes occasionally attack leaves or roots of lamb's ears. Infested plants look sickly, wilted, or stunted, with yellowed or bronzed leaves. They will decline slowly and die. The roots are poorly developed, have little knots in them, and may be partially decayed. Control the pests by digging up and discarding severely damaged plants, and by adding lots of compost or moldy, semi-decomposed leaves if they are available, to the soil to encourage beneficial fungi that attack nematodes. If the pests are a recurrent problem, do not plant lamb's ears in that location.

Lamb's ears sometimes develop matted, rotting foliage in the center of large clumps or underneath the stems. This happens when moisture accumulates due to excessive rain, poorly drained soil, or overcrowding. Gently clean out the rotting foliage. Usually, the improved air circulation solves the problem. Sowbugs are attracted to diseased foliage, so removing the dead leaves helps prevent the pests.

Some environmental issues may have caused your plants sickly look. Drought, drowning, and edema can cause an issue with Lambs Ears. It will lose some of the older leaves during dry spells (they brown up and look quite unsightly, so remove them), but the plant will survive.