A Penny for Your Thoughts

By Heather Bolen

Photo by author. ©Travel & Culture Salon

The penny trick with tulips is a popular gardening hack that is said to help keep tulips upright and prevent them from drooping. The trick involves placing a penny in the bottom of the vase or container before adding the tulips and water.

The idea behind the penny trick is that the copper in the penny helps to keep the tulip stems strong and prevents them from bending or drooping. Copper is a natural fungicide and can also help to prevent bacteria growth in the water, which can cause the flowers to wilt.

But not all pennies are worth their weight in copper. Pennies minted before 1982 were made of 95% copper, while the pennies we use now—those made after 1982—are made of 97.5% zinc and are given only a thin copper coating.

It follows, then, that the pennies made mostly of copper are better at killing off the fungi and keeping flowers looking fresh longer than the mostly-zinc coins that have just a little copper in their composition. Be sure to double check your piggy bank before putting a penny in it!

Furthermore, according to Terril Nell, a horticulturist at the University of Florida, though copper is a well-known fungicide, the copper in pennies isn't soluble.

So does it work? I’ve had inconsistent success to say for sure. There’s really no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of the penny trick with tulips, but many gardeners swear by it as a way to keep their tulips looking fresh and upright for longer. And there’s certainly no shortage of folks giving it a try on the Internet and Tik Tok.

To use the penny trick with tulips, simply place a penny in the bottom of a vase or container, add water, and arrange the tulips. You can also crush the penny slightly to release more copper into the water.