Fertilize soil with eggshells

Content

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Method 1 of 3: Using crushed or pulverized eggshells
Method 2 of 3: Using eggshell tea
Method 3 of 3: Use eggshells as breeding trays
Tips
Warnings
Necessities
Use crushed or pulverized eggshells
Use eggshell tea
Use eggshells as breeding containers

Eggs are delicious and nutritious. Most people throw the bowls away, which is the best part for plants. Instead of throwing out the eggshells, you can use them to enrich the soil in your garden, as eggshells are a good source of calcium for your plants and work great for fertilizing them. You can easily add minerals and nutrients to the soil by using crushed eggshells or tea made from eggshells. In addition, you can use the eggshells as breeding containers to ensure that your seedlings grow well.

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Method 1 of 3: Using crushed or pulverized eggshells

Save your eggshells. When you use eggs in a dish or recipe, keep the egg shells. Break open the raw eggs, rinse the shells with warm water and let them dry in a sunny spot. While rinsing, brush the inside of the dishes to remove any residue, but try to keep the membrane. Most nutrients are in the membrane.
- For best results, use four or five eggshells per plant you wish to fertilize.
Crush the eggshells or grind them into a fine powder. You can crush the eggshells into small pieces with your hands or use a food processor. You can also grind them into a powder with a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder. It is possible to add whole eggshells to the soil, but they decompose much more quickly if crushed or ground into powder.
- To make crushing easier, fry the eggshells in advance at a temperature of 180 ° C until they are light brown.
Add a few teaspoons of eggshell powder to the hole when planting a new flower, herb, or vegetable. When you have put some eggshells in the hole, put the plant in it and press the soil around the plant. By putting the eggshells in the hole together with the plant, you can be sure that the plant absorbs nutrients from the decomposing eggshells.
Sprinkle crushed eggshells around your plant. There is no need to cover the eggshells with soil. During the decomposition, nutrients such as calcium leak into the soil. This helps your plants to grow and become strong and healthy.
Add crushed eggshells to the potting soil. When you buy plants from a garden center, you should plant them in the garden or in new pots. Consider putting a handful of crushed eggshells in the soil before planting. When the eggshells decompose, the nutrients leach into the soil, allowing your young plants to grow into strong and healthy plants.
- If you can't use the eggshells right away, you can also crush them and put them in your compost bin.

Method 2 of 3: Using eggshell tea

Break open a few raw eggs, rinse them with warm water and let them dry in a sunny spot. While rinsing, brush the inside of the dishes to remove any residue, but try to keep the membrane. Most nutrients are in the membrane.
- Save the yolks and egg whites for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Crush the eggshells into large pieces. You can use your hands, a coffee grinder, or even a food processor. Crushing the eggshells makes it easier to measure out quantities.
Place at least two tablespoons (30 grams) of crushed eggshells in a large saucepan. This is enough to make about four liters of eggshell tea.
- Consider adding a tablespoon (15 grams) of Epsom salt to further enrich the soil. Epsom salt contains a lot of magnesium and sulfate, both of which are good substances for plants.
Fill the pan with water and let it boil for a few minutes. You need four liters of water for every two tablespoons (30 grams) of crushed eggshells. Boiling the water causes the nutrients in the eggshells to leak into the water more quickly.
Remove the pan from the heat and let the eggshells steep for at least 24 hours with a lid on the pan. You can even let the eggshells steep for a few days. During this time, the nutrients in the eggshells get into the water.
Strain the water into a jar and leave it out overnight. This way, the water cools down to the outside temperature, reducing the chance that the plants will go into "shock" because the water is too hot or too cold. According to some gardeners, this also ensures that the plants can better absorb the nutrients.
- Place the pot outside in a shady spot without sunlight and turn the lid on.
Water your plants with the diluted eggshell tea. For best results, use the eggshell tea once a month. The water contains calcium and other nutrients, so that your plants grow faster. Keep the leftover tea in a cool, dry place.

Method 3 of 3: Use eggshells as breeding trays

Break open a raw egg and take out the yolk and white. You can just break the egg in half, but then the eggshell will not be big enough to plant seeds. Instead, think about cracking open the egg with a spoon by the top third. Save the yolk and egg white to eat later.
- Do not use hard-boiled eggs as the shells are brittle. If you have already boiled the eggs, keep the water you boiled the eggs in, let it cool, and use it for watering your plants.
- Do not use colored or painted eggs as Easter eggs. The pigments in the paint and markers contain dyes that can be harmful to the delicate seedlings.
Clean the bowl inside and out with warm water and place it in the sun to dry. While rinsing, brush the inside of the bowl to remove any residue.
Consider poking a small drainage hole at the bottom of the bowl with a pin or thumbtack. It is easiest if you do this from the inside. This is not absolutely necessary, but it will prevent the young plant from getting too much water, which could cause it to die.
Fill the eggshell with moist soil suitable for breeding containers. If you are not successful in getting the soil into the eggshell, roll up a sheet of paper into a funnel and use it to direct the soil into the eggshell. You can also use a small spoon.
Sprinkle two or three seeds on top of the soil and cover them lightly with more soil. Smaller plants such as flowers and herbs are best planted in eggshells. Larger vegetables like beans, cucumber and squash can also be planted in eggshells, but you will need to move them outside a week after germination.
- Consider planting herbs that are easy to grow, such as basil, dill, and parsley. Marigolds are also easy to grow in eggshells, and they are edible too.
Put the eggshell in an egg carton and place it on a sunny windowsill where it won't be disturbed. You can just use an egg carton, but egg cups are also suitable. If you are using an egg carton, consider lining it with plastic first so the carton doesn't get wet from the water running out of the eggshell.
Water the seeds and wait for them to germinate and grow. Depending on the type of seeds you've planted, you may see seedlings emerge within a week. Consider using a sprayer instead of a watering can to water the seedlings. This is a lot gentler on the delicate young plants.
- Depending on how dry your home is, you may need to water the seeds every day to every few days.
- Consider turning the eggshell every few days. The plants all receive the same amount of sunlight and grow more evenly.
- You may have to remove smaller and weaker seedlings from the eggshells so that only a single plant grows in each eggshell. This ensures that the young seedlings have enough room to grow.
Move the eggshell out when the seedling has one or two pairs of leaves. Before planting the eggshell in the soil, crush it lightly with your hand - enough to break the shell, but not so much that the eggshell loses its shape. This way the eggshell breaks a bit and the roots can grow through it.
- Eggshells are biodegradable. During decomposition, they leach nutrients and calcium into the soil, which helps young plants to grow.
Ready.

Tips

According to many gardeners, eggshells help prevent rot in tomato plants.
Crushed eggshells leach calcium into the soil when they decompose, making your plants healthy and strong.
The calcium in eggshells can help make the soil less acidic.
Eggshells contain calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. They also contain a small amount of sodium, but not enough to affect the plants.
Consider adding some crushed eggshells to the potting mix when planting plants purchased at a garden center in pots.
Keep the water you boiled your eggs in. Let it cool and then use it to water your plants. The calcium in the eggs will have leaked into the water, making the water extra nutritious for your plants.
Consider adding a few tablespoons of coffee grounds to the soil as well. This way you enrich the soil with nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals that are good for plants.

Warnings

You may not see results until the next season if you add eggshells to the soil when planting new plants. It takes a while for the eggshells to start to decompose and leach calcium into the soil.
According to some people, crushed eggshells have the same effect as diatomaceous earth and repel snails. Other people think that crushed eggshells do not work against snails and actually encourage the snails to eat the plants.