Evy, I'm not sure but the first plant looks like Peperomia obtusifolia... Is the leaf thick or thin? Second plant looks like Syngonium/Arrowhead Plant. Evy, does the Oyster Plant have Fungus Gnats? If so, it's too bad you didn't see them sooner. There were a few things you could have done. In the future, make sure soil dries between waterings. Not to the point it cracks..The top should look crumbly..Stick your finger or a stick inside the soil. If your finger or stick comes out wet/moist, the soil is still wet in the center to bottom. If dry, it's time for a drink. Plants in the Rhoeo family, like Oyster and Moses don't like wet feet. Sometimes, the top is dry, but the center and bottom will be wet. It depends on soils, pot material, house temp and sun. That's the reason it's best to insert your finger/stick in the soil. I agree, Oyster Plants are hard to find. However, they're sold online, not too difficult to find. Rhizo..nope, cats and birds don't mix..especially smaller parrots like Parakeets and Cockatiels. We had birds and a cat, Halloween. He knew not to bother the birds, but when we left the house, the birds were caged. He was great with them, but we all know a cats instincts..17-yr-old Halloween passed away a few summers ago. As long as we have birds, I'd never get another cat..'though I love them.' However my birds are precious. So, no matter how much we adore felines, our birds safety comes first. Sorry Evy..") Toni It's sooo funny Georgia fed Homer..what's funnier is Homer ate Nutra Berries. lol..Toni Compare 'inserting finger or stick' to baking a cake. When you insert a toothpick to check if the inside is done?? If you bake, you'll know what I mean. lol.

Well, when we sow tomato seeds we usually get several sprouts in one pot. Once they reach a certain size with a couple of sets of leaves, we just pop the ball of soil out of the pot and crumble it until we can separate the plants and pot them on into individual pots. I believe you could do the same thing, even at this late stage. I would use a slightly larger pot than you are presently considering for the "golden" item. And fortunately with tomato plants, you can plant them deep. This means you can strip the lower leaves and plant so that only the top several inches of the plant are above the soil. Roots will form along the buried stem. When separating tomato plants from a ball of soil, gently crumble away the soil (sometimes a chopstick or other dull implement can be useful in this exercise). Then, handling the plants by the top leaves and stem, gently try to pull them apart from each other. Try not to touch the roots. And after the separation, gradually acclimate them to full sun again, especially if it is very warm or just plain hot where you live. Experience is how you learn and it is a road we have all travelled. Keep your eyes open and observe what happens. Good luck. I think you have a good chance of success here.

No plant likes to be rootbound. What they like is for their roots to NOT rot, which can happen so easily in a pot with dense soils, like ground dirt, or bagged mixes of predominantly tiny particles of peat. Having very little soil around the roots makes it difficult for even the most dedicated plant-overwaterers to rot the roots of their plants. This is not ideal, just a way of coping with inappropriate "ingredients" in a pot. A more porous, chunky soil (like cactus/palm, if one is buying bagged,) can have air in it even when it is moist. Roots need oxygen and moisture at the same time to function. When there are tiny particles of any kind in a pot, such as peat, sand, silt, clay, they filter into all of the tiny spaces in a pot, eliminating the air. "Overwatering" is the label and manifestation when roots have suffocated and/or rotted, combo of both. There is no one thing folks can put in to make soil better, but removing tiny particles of any type will definitely help. Over time, organic bits decompose into smaller bits, so even the "best" soil, if it has organic components, will need to be replaced when this happens. The speed at which this happens depends on many variables, but on average, about 1-3 years.

Garden soil is meant for the just that, a garden or anything outside. Use potting mix intended for indoor use. Making a 5:1:1 mix would be a good choice. 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite and some dolomite lime. again, regarding garden soil, top soil, compost, etc, use that outdoors only. Do not use pine straw either. Pine bark mulch / fines would be the right thing to use. Just because one has done something for "30 years and never had a problem" doesn't mean it's good advice or others won't have issues. Indoor potting mix is similarly priced and comes sterile so you don't have to worry. Not trying to call anyone out, but when advice like that is posted on a public forum, especially where there are a lot of new comers and beginners, it's just not helpful.