It is potted in miracle grow indoor potting soil. I water it about once a week but don’t have a specific schedule for watering. I have smaller, plastic pots I can place these in. Thank you for your advice. It really was a beautiful plant when I picked it up so I want to save it. Do you suggest removing the affected/ browned stems and leaves?

also, I have seen images on google of scale and it really doesn’t look like what I see on my plant. I sprayed the plant with baking soda water thinking this would help if it was a fungal issue. So you can see some of that sitting on the plant in the pictures

Yep,

Too large of a pot, combined with a soil that is too water retentive and since you’re watering once a week, that likely means you’re watering too often.

Never water on a schedule, water as the plant needs it.

I would get in into a smaller pot. If MG is your only soil option, mix 50/50 with perlite.

Try to find some large perlite or pumice and mix it with the potting mix you have. Don't buy the miracle grow brand of perlite, the pieces are too small and full of fines!

Maybe 25-50% perlite/pumice. Rinse it bery well before you ise it to remove the dust. This will help with drainage. When you water, you want to pour water so it flows through the bottom of the pot. If the medium is very dry, you may need to do this a couple times to remoisten the hard, dried medium. Peat is notorious for being hydrophobic when it's dry.

As for the brown and yellow stuff: if it's mushy, cut back to the healthy part of the plant. Sterilize your cutting utensil. This will help to prevent spread of any rot there may be. I leave dying leaves on the plant so the plant can use those resources to build new roots/stem/leaves and once it's all the way dry, cut it off.

I water mine when the pot feels light. You can use a chopstick or bamboo skewer to poke into the medium to test if there's moisture (actual wetness). Sometimes it will look wet and feel cool but when you run your fingers together it is crumbly (which means dry) and this is the ideal time to water.

Also, you WILL need to address the scale infestation. If you do not, it will weaken the plant and cause failure to thrive and ultimately death.

Will tropical/cactus miracle grow soil work you think? I am new to this plant stuff and I’ve been hearing a lot about perlite. Not sure the difference between cactus soil and perlite

Any Miracle Grow bag of medium will need added perlite or pumice since it's mostly peat moss.

I purchase my perlite (size #2) from an organic garden shop.