Don't panic---where there's life, there's hope! You're on plant time now, so you can take a deep breath and relax.

Many (if not most) of us originally came here in search of answers about plants that were probably in far worse shape than yours. It sounds like you've already read enough to know where at least some of your issues lie, so you're already ahead of the curve.

First thing: pictures of your plants would be very helpful. Get a photo of the whole plant, then do close-ups of things like sick-looking leaves.

Second thing: how long have you had the money tree? Describe what its root system looked like when you transplanted it. Was it all packed together in a dense ball? Were there a lot of very fine white 'feeder' roots, how many thicker roots were there, and were the roots circling the outside of the soul mass? Was the soil soggy and falling apart, or was it bound together inside the root ball? Did the old and new soil get mixed together?

Oops, gotta go, will post more later.

Geez, I'm hopeless today. I just accidentally closed my browser and lost a nice post with links and more info.

Overwatering issues are the most common reason people come here for help, so learning how and when to water is critical. The best way to know whether a plant needs water is to push a sharpened dowel, wooden skewer, or disposable chopstick all the way through the soil to the bottom of the pot, and watering only when the dowel comes out dry to the touch.

The next thing is controlling soil moisture with your choice of soil. Check out info in the links for info about 5:1:1 mix, which works well in houseplants. It needs watering more often than MG, but that's a good thing, because it provides a moist (not wet) environment for the roots, with lots of aeration so the roots can get oxygen from the air.

This isn't a great time of year to do a full repot, because it's better to stress plants when there's ample sunlight to help them recover, but doing it now might be the best option, especially for the peace lily. The pachira might be able to wait until June if it's in good shape now, especially if you use 'ballast' to replace some of the soil at the bottom of the pot. I did this last fall with a sad plant that I had just put in an oversized pot of MGMC, and it recovered quickly and was in really decent shape by late spring.

Give us more info and some photos that show the peace lily's condition, and what the root system looked like when you replanted it, because it sounds like it needs intervention sooner rather than later. Did you let the fine roots themselves completely dry out, or just some of the soil? It's okay if the roots stayed moist, but completely dry roots are dead roots, so I'm hoping that you didn't let the whole thing get bone dry. You'll know quickly if things are bad because the whole plant will wilt, but we can cross that bridge if we come to it.

Here are a few links.

Good Growing Practices

Ficus Trees in Containers

Dealing with Sick and Dying Plants

Post some pics.

Josh