Beginner Gardening: Zebra Plant stems drying out, 2 by gershi

gershi wrote:
Hi

I took some cuttings from a zebra plant which died due to some bugs on it that I couldn't identify. I rooted them in water for a few weeks and then transferred to a pot. There were five cuttings and through lack of knowledge, I simply planted them evenly spaced about the pot.

This was a year ago and everything has gone fine until about a month ago when growth seems to have slowed dramatically. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a few leaves had dried up (maybe about twenty) but no big deal I thought - it's got plenty more.

What is a concern is that the stems nearest the soil (these would be the 'oldest' stems) have gone incredibly thin and look dried out. It seems almost impossible that these five, skinny stems are able to supply all the nutrients to support the rest of the plant. I don't know how long they have been in this state.

I wonder if this could be the cause of recent lack of growth. Its recently turned winter here, but the room mostly stays at a constant temperature, maybe dropping a couple of degrees at night. The window is West facing. It's watered regularly with Miracle Grow added. I would be most grateful if anyone can give me some advice on saving my plant, if it needs saving that is. Can these skinny stems be beefed up in any way? Is it the end? I so hope not.