I was a little nervous about the blue-green stains in my gutters, so it’s good to know that’s just the copper doing its thing.
That copper patina definitely throws people off at first, but it’s actually a good sign your system’s working. I had the same worry when we first put in copper strips up top—looked like something out of a chemistry set for a few months. The splash block idea is solid, especially with edibles nearby. I’ve read mixed things about runoff and veggie gardens, though; some folks say trace metals can build up over time, others think it’s negligible unless you’re harvesting right under the spout every season. Have you noticed any difference in your soil or plants since the stains started showing up?
On the algae front, I get what you mean about moss thinning versus roof stains. In my case, the copper cut down on black streaks but did make the north-facing side look a bit patchy where moss used to be thick. Did you go with full-length copper strips or just smaller tabs? Curious if you saw any difference in coverage or how long it took to see results.