My Reaper plant is literally chrome-plated right now.
The stems and leaf veins are this deep oil-slick purple that shifts when the light hits it. Photos make it look just “dark” but in person it’s straight-up metallic purple and black.
Wildest part: when it was a tiny sprout and the leaves were still that bright lime green, the purple was even MORE obvious. That contrast was unreal. It’s mellowed a bit now that the whole plant hardened off to dark green, but it still looks like someone spray painted it.
I know it’s just anthocyanin, but man… it’s the prettiest stress response I’ve ever seen.
Anyone else get distracted for 10 minutes every time they water because the plants look too cool?
by squallcalisthenics