I havent had much luck with the miracle grow soils they seem to hold to much moisture and kill by rotting the roots on my plants. Almost all my indoor plants are in some sort of bonsai fast draining soils now.
Not sure if this is your problem tho, do you own a cat?
Looks like some of the leaves are torn, also it looks like something was dripped or sprayed onto the leaves maby a house hold cleaner of some sort? sorry I couldent be of more help.

Mz, first, remove your D. Janet Craig from the basket.

If they were my plants, I'd take each to the sink 1-2 times a week, hose leaves, not soil.
They'd also get a daily misting.

Both my Pachira and D. Janet Creig's soil dry out between waterings. Thoroughly. To the point soil looks and feels crumbly..if a finger is inserted in their soil, finger comes out clean/dry. Only then are they watered.
Both are underpotted.

By looking at your two plants, I'm inclined thinking the brown is caused by dry air. Perhaps the room is too hot/warm.
Do you have a cool, bright spot? Toni

What size container is your Pachira in.

hi & thank you both for your responses. i do not own a cat so thats ruled out. I have other plants that are planted in an organic soil type thing which on the bag states is a mix of "compost bark, sphagnum peat moss, pasteurized poultry litter, and an organic wetting agent" that are doing quite well. do you think i should replant these 2 in this type of soil? the room my plants are in is approx 16x18 and the only source of natural light is through my sliding patio doors. the room temp is at a constant 65 degrees Fahrenheit. i dont know what could be causing those burn marks on the leaves of my janet craig, its kept in a low lighted corner. the pot that the pachira is in is 7"tall x 6"diameter, the tree itself is 13.5" tall from the soil line to the top most leaf.

Your soil really does look extremely heavy, along with the "organic wetting agent" I'm going to go with root rot also. I'd take it out and repot it in a less heavy mix. cut any rots off which are not white & healthy water to settle in, then leave the plants to recover before watering again, about two weeks. What soil you have could be ok if you mixed it about half & half with perlite. Otherwise I'd be looking for something else.

I've followed jeanne7's advise about using only distilled or rain water on my JCraigs until it runs out the bottom. I also make sure it never, ever sits in any water. I have also had great success with using Hoffman's Bonsai mix for almost all my plants, thanks to it's distant approximation to Al's Gritting Mix. To learn a lot about watering and soil mixes, do a search for "water retention" and soil essays on this Forum.

I'm going to suggest that the MiracleGro organic potting soil is a primary culprit, along with the difficulty of watering properly that comes along with using it.

I'd strongly advise against misting at this time, in the event that the lesions on your plant are fungal (caused by the moisture situation). That's one sure-fire way to spread the spores of most (not all) plant diseases.

I might as well toss my $.02 in. I think there's almost certainly a soil issue at the heart of the problem. Wet soils can cause root-rot, drought response, nutritional deficiencies, and excessive accumulations of salts (which is most prevalent in the early spring) from the necessity of watering in small sips.

Though my feeling is that misting is ineffective anyway, you surely do not want to be showering or misting a plant that shows possible symptoms of fungal infections.

Al