I have other plants and have never seen things like this before. (I don't know what kind of plant this is. It's all green (no flowers) with lily-pad like leaves. I believe it's tropical. It's about 2 feet high.). What are the brown things? Are they roots? Why are they growing out of the middle and top of the stems, like 8 inches above the dirt? Should I put them in water? Should I cut them off? I feel like I'm in Little Shop of Horrors. One of them is almost 4 feet long!

maybe it's too big for the pot? or they're new shoots that are dying?

I don't think they are shoots (if by that you mean stems). The plant is very healthy and green and growing very fast. I just tried to take a picture but my camera battery is dead.

The stems shoot off each other (green and think) and all point straight up. But these brown things are much thinner and thicker, like rope, and shoot straight down and are growing faster than the stems. If they are dead stems wouldn't they at one point be green and then turn brown and die and fall off? These are very securely attached to the plant. I doubt I could even snap them off without a knife or scissors.

You're right that it may be too big for the pot. I'll transfer it to a larger one though I've never done that before. I bought a few bags of dirt a few years ago that I never unsealed (very tightly sealed bags)... here's the stupid question of the day: is the dirt still "good"?

green and thick, I meant.

And by "thinner and thicker" I meant much thinner than the stems but more ropier... meatier.

the dirt's totally still good. maybe get a few of those grow stick things tho, if you're worried. moving pots is a shock to plants.

maybe they are roots?

Okay, so I just moved it to a much bigger pot. I had to cut the old one away with a knife as the plant was really wedged in there.

And ... inside, I expected lots of dirt but the hole plant root system had taken over and was all windly spindly down in there like a little world. So, I assume that the roots had no where else to go so decided to rebel and start growing out of the top looking for more dirt.

So... assuming they are roots... what now? Is this a sign I wasn't watering the sucker enough? Can I cut the ugly buggers off? If I do, should I cut 'em all off or just enough so that they're above the dirt again and can then grown down into the soil?

Ugh, who knew plant stuff was so complicated?!

grow, not grown! arrgh, my typing be poo tonight.

you can cut them, but it might be best to get a pot deep enough so that all of those things are under dirt to begin with. maybe also look online about safe trimming of roots? or about cutting off parts to make new plants?

Gotta pic?

Sounds like something a philodendron would do, the climbing variety have aerial roots. I wouldn't cut anything since you've just transplanted it give it some time to adjust to its new pot and if it is a philodendron then they need to stay.

dobbs, your plant is in heat. ;- )

Seriously, one bit of advice I got was that when one is replanting a plant from a pot it has outgrown and the roots are all wrapped around the pot, it is a good idea to take a knife and run it down the roots on the outside of the root ball, cutting through smaller roots, at several points around the circumferenc. Doing this stimulates the roots to branch out into the new dirt in the larger pot. (If you haven't done this, you may want to do it if you just transplanted it in the last day or so.)

if it is a philodendron (or rhododendron), they're very very hardy--it's really hard to kill em.

About the only thing that makes old dirt "go bad" is that it can dry out so much you can't get it to absorb water, which is usually just the peat moss part. (You can defeat that by pouring boiling water on it, but it's a mess.) If there wasn't much peat in it or none, no worries. Besides, you'd have seen the water bead up on it, so yours should be OK.

I have a plant, all green no flowers and thick (fat even) round leaves which did that root-sprouting the in April. Since I had already moved the whole plant to a bigger pot I decided to cut off the branches with the root-type things on them and stick 'em in some fresh earth in new pot. That has now become a second plant almost as large as the first one.

I just like the word tendrils.

Tendrils.
Tendrils!
Tendrils tendrils tendrils.
Eight nine tendrils!
Tendrils tend to drill.
Barbara Mandrell has tendrils!
Tendrils.

googling it brought me balloon tendrils! (and many more)

They're aerial roots. They're nothing to worry about. Don't cut them off, the plant likes them.

Specklet, but they're hideous and will take over my apartment if kept unchecked. If they're roots, why don't they go into the soil? Should I shorten them and dangle the new end right above the soil? Is it a sign the bugger is thirsty that I have so many of them?

Thanks everyone else for answers as well. Been crazy busy and unable to check back in.

They're not going into the soil because they're aerial roots, designed to take in nutrients from the air, not the soil. (For some plants they're for anchoring climbing stems to vertical surfaces.)

If they're taking over, trim them, but don't cut all of them off. Mist them with water a couple times a day, you'll make the plant happy.

Incidentally, if the plant was healthy and growing fast, I wouldn't have re-potted it. Some plants love to be pot-bound.