Neat! My jungle val's new growth is turning red!

[gardenman]

I've had this jungle val for about six months now and for the first three months it largely just sat there and did nothing. About three months ago it started growing and it now grows about a half inch per day in my thirty high. The longest leaves have reached the top (24"), grown across the tank (another 24") and are starting back across to where they started from (maybe six to ten inches so far). It hadn't put out a runner until a couple of weeks ago but now the new leaves and the runner are putting out red leaves. I've included a photo of the base of the plant below, but the red doesn't come through well on camera. The red is much more vibrant in person. I'm pretty impressed with it. I'll have to see if the red fades as the leaves grow, but so far, it's pretty intense. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

That's really cool is Val supposed to turn red? I thought it was always green?!

[gardenman]

On 8/1/2021 at 7:27 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

That's really cool is Val supposed to turn red? I thought it was always green?!

There is a red variant called v. 'gigantea marmor' or v. 'gigantea rubra'. Since mine had just had green leaves until recently I'd assumed it was just a "normal" jungle val, but now it's looking more and more like one of the variants. I don't know if it waited until it was established to show the color, or if the leaves that have reached the surface are getting more light and feeding the parent plant more, but it's kind of neat. I like it. If you Google "Red jungle val" you can learn more. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I did Google it, seems like it's not a full red, and some people (like myself) might have thought the plant was dying so good to know! 😄

[gardenman]

It's a very happy and healthy plant right now. I say right now as val has an annoying habit of just melting away for no apparent reason, but for now, it's happy, growing a half inch a day and developing very nice red leaves. The red coloration was a pleasant surprise. I like it. I'm not sure why it's doing it, I'm not sure it'll keep doing it, but for now, it's neat.