health
Houseplant hacks: is putting a penny in the soil a copper boost or an old wives’ tale?
Even old pennies corrode too slowly to be useful. You’d be better off saving them up and buying proper plant feed
TL;DR
- A popular gardening tip is to put a penny in a plant pot, believing the copper will act as a fertilizer and fungicide.
- This tip is often passed down as folklore.
- Experiments involving burying pennies in plant pots showed no significant difference in plant health compared to plants receiving standard care.
- The copper in pennies corrodes too slowly to be useful as a plant feed.
- Modern pennies are not made of much copper.
- Balanced plant fertilizer is recommended over using coins for plant care.