Spots on Jasmine leaves

Question

I have a potted Jasmine Sambac (Belle of India) that I got back in May and it hasn’t been doing too well I think. When I first got it, it was flowering like crazy and I read that it would be good to cut off the flowers once they began to shrivel up, so I did. However, after doing that, the Jasmine stopped flowering but it has sent out new shoots which have flower buds on them (though in irregular patterns – when I first got the plant, most of the flowers came in groups of three at the end of the stalk, but I have two stalks that have just a single bud on them). I also noticed that the “bark” (the part closer to the soil? I’m not sure what it’s called) looks a lot drier, almost a beige color and is much different from how it was when I first got it.

I’ve also noticed what looks like speckles of brown on the underside of the leaves (however, they don’t move and when I rub my fingers over them they don’t come off) and I’m starting to wonder if I have spider mites, though I can’t find any webs. Additionally, I noticed two little pieces of something that look sort of silky, which I got rid off and am wondering if these could have been the webs (But didn’t really look anything like webs, they were more like a small mass of silky fiber). I guess my question is, if my Jasmine has spider mites and I’m also wondering if there’s anything I can do to get it to flower as heavily as it did and get my plant on the road to recovery?

Answer 1

It does sound like it could be a pest of some sort. If not spider mites, it could be mealybugs. At any rate, treating the plant with Neem oil should help. It’s effective against many types of insect pests and doubles as a fungicide, should this be causing the spotted leaves. Here is more information: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/pests/neem-oil-uses.htm