Well that's ominous- sounding isn't it? Ew! I kinda thought they looked like tiny little crickets myself. I hope they've moved on far, far away! Thanks Fori : )

I had precisely the same situation: a store-bought plant that was doing great for a while under fluorescent light (a CFL in a gooseneck lamp), then the lower leaves started yellowing, showing spots, etc. I took a really close look under a low-power microscope, and found out I had mites. These little suckers are nearly transparent, unlike the black ones that are relatively easy to spot. I believe that the plant cuts off nutrients to the infested leaves as a defense mechanism, since the mites can't suck the juices from a dry leaf. Use a miticide if you're OK with chemical treatments; Bayer's 3-in-1 has a particularly effective agent in it. If not, or if your state hasn't approved the stuff for sale (you cannot buy it in NY), you can try my approach: fill a bucket with soapy water (dish detergent, ca. 1/2 tsp per gallon), and shove the entire plant, upside-down, into the water. Slosh it around, and up-and-down, for about a minute. This removes the bugs, drowns the ones who won't let go, and I think it might even damage the eggs (tiny white specks on the bottom of the leaves.) Repeat once a week for at least 3 weeks (the mites have a 10-day life cycle), and maybe once a month after that to keep 'em down. The mites prefer a dry environment, so this treatment, along with misting, will prevent them from doing noticeable damage. I think the real problem with keeping these plants indoors is that the mites are not exposed to their natural predators, so their population can explode very quickly. They are incredibly persistent, and they will keep coming back time and time again if you don't manage to kill off every last one of them (and every last egg as well!) Unless you like having ladybugs crawling around the house, you're stuck with regular washing, or chemical treatments, to keep them under control. Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Spider Mites

Agreed. When the bits of organic matter in the potting soil decompose, they become smaller bits, with less air between them. This causes things to stay moist longer, and the reduced air can suffocate the roots. Roots need oxygen & moisture at the same time to function. Removing the old soil & replacing with new helps restore things to a functional situation. Not packing soil tightly around the roots can also help preserve those tiny air spaces, as well as watering very gently the first few times, so the force of the gushing water doesn't compact the soil. If the soil is airy and not packed tight, it can stay more moist without causing issues for your plant. No need to add water if still moist, but no need to let it get wilty dry to avoid "overwatering," root rot. As seasons change, a plants' moisture needs can change, so trying to prescribe a schedule can be frustrating and doesn't usually work well.

Susan - Tiffany is pointing you in the right direction with her comments pertaining to root health. You simply can't hope for a healthy plant unless you can provide an environment conducive to a healthy root system; and even if you could make every other cultural factor that influences your plant perfect, it wouldn't make up for or counteract the limitations imposed by a sick roots. Using rocks as a drainage layer can be counter-productive or it can be helpful, depending on what's going on in the bottom of the pot. Used as a drainage layer, they are almost certainly counter-productive. Used as ballast, they can range from somewhat helpful to very helpful, depending on how they are situated in the pot. I'll try to illustrate with a little science. In the picture above, PWT means perched water table. Perched water is water the soil holds so tightly, it won't drain from the pot by the force of gravity alone. Most commercially prepared soils hold from 3-6" of perched water, meaning that if you water fully, until water is exiting the drain hole, after the pot stops draining, the bottom of the pot is fully saturated with water. Since water and nutrient uptake is energy driven and requires oxygen, you can easily imagine what effect the lack of oxygen has on root function. If you add a "drainage layer" water simply perches in the soil above the drainage layer (see the middle picture). Obviously, that's worse than the first picture because there is considerably less 'healthy' soil for the roots to use in the middle pic than in the first pic. Using ballast correctly reduces the amount of soil that the PWT can occupy. There is less soggy soil, so less excess water in the picture with ballast than in either picture, so even more ballast would be helpful. The problem is, the ballast doesn't fix the soil that causes the excess water to be retained. It just uses physics to reduce the amount of excess water the soil CAN hold. Are you still with me? What we CAN do, if you're up for it, is put together a strategy that will help you rid your planting of SOME of the limitations causing the problems that are related to water retention. The links that Tiffany left are good primers and can provide something of a framework of knowledge that can be expanded upon. With a little effort, you can very quickly learn to avoid all the most common pitfalls that bring people here, looking for help. I don't want to assume anything, so I'll keep an eye out for a reply and what you think of what I said. Thanks for the referral (thread you linked to), Tiff. ;-) I DO notice when you do that, and want you to know I appreciate it. Al