Hi DS I've been an interior landscaper for 30 years, and I have to consider myself pretty much an expert on pothos, having cared for ten's of thousands of them in all sorts of light conditions, etc. Pothos are pretty tough little customers, so they're good for beginners to experiment with. When their roots are staying too wet for too long, the first sign you will see is browning on the edges of the leaf stems (the stems that attach the leaves to the "vines"); the next sign will be small brown tips on many leaves, newer and older both. Conversely, if its not getting enough water, the older leaves will turn yellow. I think I'll have to disagree with advice to use 'temporary wilt' as a diagnostic tool. Your real tool to figure out what the soil is doing, how much moisture it is holding, is to actually feel it with your fingers. You can use a spoon to reach into the pot and pull up some soil,and squeeze it between your fingers. It should feel cool and soft, stick together a little bit, and fall apart easily when touched. Or you can insert a small wooden dowel or kebob skewer, as if testing a cake. When you pull it up, there should be only a few crumbs of soil, and the skewer should feel barely damp. This is the point at which you can water again. (These are the descriptions for pothos, other specie may require different moisture levels.) Now, as to your plant, the answer to your question is that yes, the new leaves may be lighter in color when the plant is moved to higher light. Did you mean you moved the plant closer to an electric light? Or just closer to the window? Just moving it closer to the window would probably not affect the leaf color. Don't worry so much about the vagaries of each individual leaf - just let it grow, and observe the overall appearance. Be aware that since you up-potted, it will be awhile before you see much leaf growth, the plant will occupy itself with growing roots before leaves. I don't know how long you've had this plant, or how big it is, but pothos really don't need to be repotted more than every couple of years.

Lennie...sounds like fun. Are you saying all campgrounds are off limits now? Sheesh! We used to go camping every weekend..we found an 'unknown,' secluded area to set up our little tents. :) The area resembled an island..we named it Cujo Island, after our dog who loved swimming in the Des Plaines/ Kankakee River and play with the beavers in Channahon, IL. We had so much fun. I made breakfast, lunch and dinner on a 1.99 metal grill. Couldn'd do it anymore though. The meals were delicious. We used old wood, not coal brisquits or gas. We do not hunt in the literal sense, but we used to hunt for wildlife..to look at...not harm..sorry. :) Lennie, I have relatives in MI. As a child, we'd visit my aunt, uncle and cousins in Allegan, MI..Ever hear of Allegan? They had a beautiful farm. Think I was 4 or 5 when we first started visiting, that I remember..I also think, browsing large fields of greens initially got me hooked on plants. lol I remember standing in one field w/zillions of berries. I snuck inside, awestruck. Anyway, MI is a beautiful state. Well, at least cities, 'I remember Kalamazoo,' not too far from my aunt and uncles farm. Don't know if it's changed. My aunt and uncle passed away several years ago, but cousins remain in MI. When my uncle was diagnosed with cancer, they sold the farm, then rented. She once confessed how much she missed the farm. Sorry, talk about ranting. lol. Funny, we went from Pothos, to camping to MI. You're lucky you get to travel. Toni

Hi Kris. Here are some excerpts I copied from a book I have, Variegated Plants; The Encyclopedia of Patterned Foliage by Susan Conder. (I have left out parts that refer to other colors of variegation.) Variegated plants originate naturally as random seedlings, or as sports - mutant variegated shoots on otherwise plain green plants. Yellow and white variegations are caused by imperfect or absent chloroplasts, the granule-like plastids within a cell which contain chlorophyll. In a white- or yellow-edged leaf, the green pigment functions normally in the inner layer of leaf cells, but the outer layer lacks chloroplasts, making the edges white, or contains a preliminary version of chlorophyll, protochlorophyll, creating yellow. A yellow- or white-centered leaf, with green edges, has a defective inner layer of leaf cells. The intensity of leaf colour is affected by the amount of light available. There are exceptions, but generally, variegated plants with glaucous foliage, such as rue and certain hostas, tolerate more sun than all-green kinds. Yellow-variegated leaves colour best in full sun or light shade. White- and cream-variegated leaves, such as variegated apple mint, tend to prefer shade, especially where the soil is dry. I'm confused, too since the explanation of how/why variegation occurs doesn't give any info for mottled or splotchy variegation like that of pothos. I don't like yellow flowers, but I do like yellow leaves - they look great with my other plants, most of which have purple leaves. Agree your plant looks healthy!

I cannot just limit this to ten trees. So here is my second set of ten: 1) Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) - Fantastic tree. How can you not love a tree with heart-shaped leaves. The fall color on this tree is usually a bright peach color mixed with a little bit of orange or red. The tree gives off a distinct scent of cotton candy when its turning. You feel like you are in the land of Willy Wonka when it has this scent. This tree is finicky though. It does not like drought, sandy or compacted soil, or high wind and will start losing it's foliage in the summer in response to these conditions. 2) Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) - Some may be surprised to see this tree on anyone's list. It's considered a trash tree by many. I love it. If you drive down Memorial Drive in Cambridge in late September - early October, you will see all of the Green Ash trees turning their bright golden - yellow color. It's a beautiful sight. This tree produces good shade and is tolerant of just about any conditions. Several male cultivars are now on the market, which avoids the prolific seeding observed with the females. I do hate the fact that this tree is one of the last to leaf out in the spring and one of the first to lose it's leaves in the fall. 3) Norway Spruce (Picea abies) - I love these trees. Giant Christmas trees the whole year through. The have a very dark green color and I really love the way the branches curve up at the ends. It gives this tree a very graceful look. A very large tree in time. A fast-grower for a spruce. 4) Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata) - Zone 5 is the limit for this species. It would be wise in that zone to get the "Village Green" cultivar which has greater cold tolerance than the species. The vase-shape of this tree makes it a good replacement for the American Elm. Between the shape and the tree's tolerance for just about any conditions, it makes a great street tree. Zelkovas are in the Elm family and consequently are not totally immune to Dutch Elm disease but they tend to be highly resistant and this disease is usually not a problem. This tree can have spectacular fall foliage (ironically they did not this year around the Boston - Cambridge area) turning a bright burnt orange color. The Village Green cultivar has the best fall coloring that I've seen. 5) Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) - Had to include a member of the red oak family again. Oaks are not thought of as fast-growing trees but this species is definitely an exception. Becomes massive in time. Fall color is variable but can be quite good. A very strong, shade tree. 6) Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - One of the few evergreens that tolerates shade. Very graceful foliage. Probably the most graceful of any evergreen. The tree likes moist soil (found in shade). The woody adelgid is killing many of the hemlocks in New England. Hope they find a way to eradicate it before it kills all of them. 7) Black Birch (Betula Lenta) - Absolutely beautiful tree. The bark is a shiny, dark grey and peels to a certain extent. The bark looks very similar to the bark of many cherry trees only with a dark color. Very ornamental especially in winter. This birch has very good bright yellow fall color, too. 8) Crabapple (Malus) - The perfect tree. An explosion of white or pink bloom in the spring. A ton of crabapples in the fall. Beautiful bark on most varieties similar to cherry bark. Hundreds of cultivars to choose from. Most of the modern cultivars have resistance to fungal diseases that were a problem on older varieties. These trees tolerate drought and bad soil rather well. 9) Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella Pendula) - Beautiful tree. So graceful and very striking in bloom. It get quite large in time for a flowering tree. Not as prone to problems as most cherry trees. Needs to be sited in a moist area though. 10) Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) - Wanted to put cornus florida here but zone 5 is pushing it for that species. I like this one too. Flowers in early summer and can put on quite a show. The giant red fruit of this dogwood is more visually appealing than cornus florida. Fall color is spectacular. Many cultivars to choose from.