Question
QUESTION: Hi;

First-off, my Jasmine Maid-of-Orleans (Jasminum Sambac), is 26" tall (I got it from Jene's Tropicals, in Florida, as a 28"-30" tall, 3-gallon specimen, but, had to cut the tips off some because they were damaged by the cold they encountered during shipping, in Feb., I believe it was), &, I am in Alaska.
Before I drew back the curtains, it was growing really nicely, but, not long afterwards, I began seeing leaves withering, &, now, all of the new tops are bare, &, new growth is slow to start up again, but, they are never in actual sunlight via window or not, & temp inside is upper 70's to low 80's., &, 50-55+% humidity.
With the window it's in facing the south, less than 2' away, its fine for light requirements, including the red & blue-spectrum LED lights above, for 18 hours, on all of my plants.
It's in a 14" self-watering container,, which opening I only use to monitor, &, take out excess water from, when it accumulates too much there in the saucer.
While it is somewhat more soil than it actually 'needs', I'm leaving it that way, as, I'm expecting it to grow into that size, and more, if things will go as I'd like..

The current thing with it is that when the blooming leaders go long, & the buds develop, they are fine at first,; then, I'll see one or a pair of, leaves, wither, &, at more-occasional times, even the stem with the buds also, down to the place where the flower stem starts, plus, even the flowers that do develop, bloom smaller, or, don't even fully open.

I do not detect any kind of bugs or other problems; I did have hard scale on a former plant, but, this one doesn't have any, as, I'd see the 'honeydew' if they were around again.
Right now, they are planted in Pro-Mix BX, &, I use Dyna Grow's 7-9-5 fertilizer.

What could be the problem?  

I also have a Tabernaemontana Holstii (from Gardino's Nursery also in Florida), planted in the same soil,&, using the same fertilizer, but nearer to the window, &, it came with weird curled-like leaves, &, still develops them, &, is now about 25" tall. I seem to see a few softer-bodied scale on it, &, small splotches of 'honeydew' on a couple of its leaves, tho the Scale aren't spreading to the other plants nearby; will a Neem oil mix hurt this plant if I spray it with it?
I'd do so away from the other plants that don't need it.

Maybe I should again use a solution I got off of the Internet called Protogrow, an 'off-the-Eastern seaboard' Kelp solution, to get them back to optimal health again?

ANSWER: Hi Mel,
  First off, the Maid-of-Orleans needs to be put in the right size pot. Houseplants do NOT work in 'grow into' pots. The soil in a pot that is too big can and will stay wet too long and cause root rot. Same thing with self watering pots, they do not allow the soil to dry out enough. Repot the plant into a smaller pot with good drainage and in the future, never repot a plant into a pot more than 2 inches bigger than the pot it was in.
When watering, as a general rule, allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry between watering then water just enough for a small amount of water to drain out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

Just because you do not find honeydew does not mean there are no insects or mites on your plants. Spider mites are very common, very destructive and do not produce noticeable honeydew. In a spray bottle, mix distilled water and about 5-6 drops of dishwashing liquid and spray the plants with it. Make sure to wet all plant surfaces. This is safe for most plants (except ferns). If you have a large or difficult infestation, you can add a small amount of rubbing alcohol to the soapy water.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
     Thanks
       Tracy






---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Just because I said, that, the plant 'may' have some extra soil around it, I'm supposed to take it down one size or more?
It is 26" tall, &, was 22" after I cut its old leaders off due to the cold, &, to look at it, its really not overbalanced with a 'huge' pot!
As the grower said to me about it on a phone call, it may not have had its roots spread out sufficiently when I was re-potting it.

Also, I was finding practically every spider mite that ever came onto my last Jasmine, &, don't you think I'd have seen the webbing by now?
I can detect them very capably, so, when I said it wasn't buggy, I meant it!

Sorry, but you rather failed this one!

Answer
Hi Mel,
  I am so sorry that you were dissatisfied with my answer. The size of the plant above the soil doesn't matter nearly as much as the size of the roots. You told me the plant is in a pot with more soil than it needs, since I can not examine the plant, I took your word for it and made a judgement call based on the information you gave me. Too much soil equals too much moisture and that usually leads to root rot.

Spider mite webbing usually happens once there is a high population of mites. Unless you look at every inch of every leaf with at least a +5 magnifying glass, you came no where near finding them all. Spider mites tend to be resistant to chemical pesticides and even a small population (which often can go unnoticed) of young mites can do plenty of damage. The spray I told you to use will not harm the plant and kill any mites (or other insects) that may be lurking around unnoticed.