http://www.jstree.com/api/#/?q=sert_icon&f=set_icon%28obj,%20icon%29Basically you need to get a reference to an instance and call set_icon with the node id as first parameter, and the icon as second. In your case it would be easiest to add classes for that in your CSS like:
.mycustomicon { background:url(path/to/sprite/image.png) 0px 0px no-repeat !important; }
.myothercustomicon { background:url(path/to/sprite/image.png) 0px 0px no-repeat !important; }
And then call:
$('#mytree').jstree(true).set_icon("mynodeid","mycustomicon");
Best regards,
Ivan