As far as the 12" pot is concerned, that would depend on how much plant/s you have in it. Generally sizing of pots with regard to how much soil feeds the plant within it can determine whether it is overfed or overwatered. The roots will go out into surrounding soil and nourished by much soil, it can cause problems. Right now tho, let's assume the pot is ideal for the number of plants yuo have in it. You have listed many common complaints about what happens to houseplants. Yellow leaves can come from: not enough or too much light; lack of or too much ferrilizer; nighttime temperatures that are too high---plants usually prefer cooler temps at night...in the range of 60º = 68º Overwatering is the biggest concern. When first sighting yellow leaves, if such persists in numbers, that should be your first thought...you are being too kind with the watering. A couple of yellowing leaves once in a while is of no conern...that commonly happens. They are just removed. Browning tips and edges can be clipped with scissors to keep the plant looking natural. But there again, browning tips and edges should be noted for what might be happening. Under or overwatering, too much sun or heat through a window, too much fertilizer, watering with a high degree of salts. (salts can come from the fertilizer) Then too, water that comes from a softening system should not ever be given plants. A tap outside of the system should be used. Another cause of problems is pests that are common to houseplants. Aphids (just like the ones on outdoor plants) meallybugs, whiteflies (again, like the ones outdoors), scale insects, thrips, and the one that seems to be the most found...spider mites. These cause different problems and are treated mostly different. The one treatment that is given most initially, is water. A hard stream can knock pests off. Soap and water solutions are also given and cause no problem to the plant if it doesn't solve the problem as long as soap is not allowed to remain on the plant. You can read many articles on such treatments. Make sure your pot drains well. When you water, water to drainage, let the water drain out thoroughly, then dump what's in the saucer below. Don't let the water sit else it can be drawn back up around the roots.

Most home orchardist don't even consider fumigation. The best materials are not practical on a small scale. If you must plant back in the same area, try to give some consideration to rootstock. I won't use the dwarfs. I notice you are in zone 5. A cooler area like that will likely have less to worry about than the Southeastern US where nematodes and the like are a serious problem.

systemic should kill the scale, but it will remain dead on the leaves: so it will be hard to say if it's gone or not. so cleaning them off helps to monitor for appearance of new ones. if it's just a few you can rub them off with a soft toothbrush or tissue. you can make a solution of 1:1 water rubbing alcohol and soak the paper towel with that and wipe them off. but you have a large plant :) - it'll take while... it's prudent to check after 1 week of spraying if you still see any thrips crawling and if so then spray again. if your scale infestation is bad you might need to reapply systemic say after 1 month. also make sure to apply full dosage based on the size of your pot and try to dig it in with a spoon to mix with soil: moisture activates it. if it is dry on the surface it won't be working, only when you water the plant. since it's a large plant once a week watering might be expected, but it's better in this case to water lightly twice a week to make sure plant is absorbing systemic continually.

Hi Nandina Our church, Hillister Baptist in Woodville, TX has a project called Gardeners for Jesus. It's a donation-based non-profit to benefit our youth programs, with four retired growers and a total of about 10 acres. I have 5 acres under irrigation at my place - two acres with a gravity drip system and the rest under sprinklers. Can you suggest a spread rate for the molasses? I'm wondering if we could do it in a row-banded application, say 12" wide for each row - since nematodes only move a few inches a year - or, maybe directly under each pepper transplant? It's sure worth a try if not too costly. Thanks for the tip. We grow tons of greens every winter - Florida Broadleaf op mustard. Savannah hybrid mustard, Alamo and Royal Crown hybrid turnip and Georgia Southern op collards. There's usually not much residue left though because we harvest whole plants and market them intact. I planted Elbon rye once, years ago, but it left a terrible mess in the spring - doesn't decompose quickly in the cool soil. My worst RKN problem is in the older plots, with the drip system - 100% failure of okra in one 2500 sq ft plot this year! If I were younger, I'd take those plots out of production and starve-out the nems with tilling and Roundup (they eat weeds too!) - or plant corn there for a trap crop. But I'm 73 and don't have that many gardening years left. LOL So I'm going to plant RKN-resistant tomatoes there instead (Niko and Amelia determinates from Harris Moran have iron-clad resistance - for awhile anyway), and do that each year until the nems break the resistance. Then I'll just use that land for onions and brassicas and let my kids deal with the nematodes. My new three acres were planted last year for the first time. No RKN there yet, and we're being careful to wash tractor implements, tires, etc. It's just a matter of time, though - the other day I forgot to wash the tiller and moved from the infested to the clean area before realizing it! I suspect that, with Methyl Bromide fumigant being phased-out, we're going to see some new nematicides come on the market that are safer to use, and not so expensive. As a last resort, Dow's Telon 11(dichloroprpene) is still labelled for vegetables - but it has to be professionally applied. We have a licensed ag professional that works with our project, but it's hard to justify those costly chems for this small operation. Vydate from DuPont is very toxic and I wouldn't use that one even if we could afford it. Our chem suppler says he can't even legally ship Vydate by usual means! I'm hoping we see more resistant vegetables. The field trials for Carolina Wonder pepper - available now in small quantities from So Ex Seed Ex - are very positive. I may try a few of those plants in the most heavily infested areas next year. Have you tried that one? Next year, I'll plant all the cucurbits and peppers in the new areas. Only problem is that it's all sprinkler irrigated which causes fungi and bacterial diseases, especially on cukes and squash. But, copper hydroxide (Kocide 3000 or Champ WG) will hopefully control that. If it's not one thing, it's another! LOL Thanks again for the helpful reply. Jack