Eggs effective source of protein you eat! They are also good for plants and here are some Excellent Ideas for Using Eggshells in the Garden!
Eggshells are composed of more than 95% of the minerals. Mainly calcium carbonate (37%), which is an essential element required for a plant’s growth. To your surprise, eggshells also consist of magnesium, potassium, iron, and phosphorus in good quantity. If you are wondering how to use them, then check out these Excellent Ideas for Using Eggshells in the Garden!
Check out some great eggshell ideas for gardeners here
Excellent Ideas for Using Eggshells in the Garden
1. Composting
Whether raw shells resulting from an omelet or the preparation of a delicious cake or even shells cooked for boiled eggs, they can join your compost bin. But before dropping them off in your compost bin, finely crumble the shells.
In addition, the eggshells neutralize the pH level of the compost you made from them. One thing you should remember is that eggshells do not make the soil alkaline but neutralize it.
2. Barrier Against the Pesky Crawlers
Coarsely crumbled, eggshells form an effective barrier against soft-bodied garden pests like snails and slugs that eat your plants. They do not risk through these sharp and uncomfortable jagged shells.
To do this, encircle roughly crushed layers of eggshells around the plants that are sensitive to such pests.
3. Seedlings Germination
This is one of the most popular ideas on eggshells you should try out immediately, using them to germinate seedlings. At the bottom of each half shell, do a small hole, for drainage. Fill it with a meager amount of soil and sow seeds.
When the seedlings are big enough and require transplanting, simply crack the shells from beneath and plant them.
4. Disease Free Healthy Tomatoes
While planting tomatoes, place a handful of coarsely crumbled eggshells in the bottom. This will provide a good amount of minerals and trace elements to a tomato plant in all of its growing seasons slowly and steadily.
This will also help in the healthy growth of the tomato plants and develop its resistance to diseases, especially against blossom end rot occurs due to lack of calcium.
5. Natural Fertilizer
You can also use eggshells as mineral fertilizer directly. For this you will need to crumble or grind shells as thinly as possible, then spread this powder at the surface of your crop or ornamental plants and incorporate the soil by a light scratching.
Your plants will thank you for this natural mineral intake and it’ll also help them in recovering calcium deficiency. This fertilizer is also suitable for indoor plants. Eggshell fertilizer is good for olives, oleander, zucchini, and tomatoes.
6. In Chives
This one is certainly recommendable, especially if you are growing chives in a pot. Drop a handful of crushed eggshells around the roots, these will decompose gradually and provide calcium, which chives like so much.
7. For Mulching
Use eggshells for mulching, an inexpensive and effective way to mulch the plants. One more advantage is that eggshells look like pebbles from far and add decorative elements if you spread them on pots.
8. Deer Resistant
If deer munch your plants, use eggshells to deter them. Spread crushed shells around plants, which deer love to eat. They do not like the smell of eggs. But a caveat, the same smell that deters deer away also attracts rodents who like to eat eggs.
9. Soil Amendment
You can add some powdered eggshells to your garden to reduce the overall acidity of the soil. The eggshells improve the air circulation and structure of the soil, making it better for absorbing nutrients, water, and advantageous microorganisms.
10. Prevents Blossom End Rot
This disease is common in tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Mainly it is caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil. You can overcome this issue by adding some powdered eggshells to the soil while planting these vegetables or scatter them after planting near the base of the plants.
11. Garden Pot Scrub
Cleaning of pots is essential at the end of the growing season, it not only eliminates soilborne pathogens but also improves the overall appearance of the pots. As eggshells are quite caustic and abrasive, you can use them to remove the accumulated grime and dirt on the planters.
Simply, crush a few shells into a dirty pot with some hot water and liquid soap, scrub gently clockwise and anticlockwise, wash with water, and have clean sparkling planters at no cost.
The Bottom Line
Most of the time gardeners are afraid of using eggshells due to the risk of salmonella, you can get rid of this danger by baking them in the oven for drying before grinding. This easy trick will dry out the inner sticky thin membrane and kills salmonella, sterilize at 200 F for 30 mins, to destroy the bacteria.
Great ideas!
I usually just put them straight in the Compost
Thanks for this. I have slugs bad in early summer with all the rain. They not only destroy the yard but try to come into the house (have done so once) and are all over the deck. My defense thus far has been salt but I don’t like that either. So thanks again.
I planted a bed of potatoes last week and put egg shells all over the bed for the snails, slugs and cats. The cats don’t like the smell or the roughness of the shells. So far no cat bathroom trips in my bed. Donna
Eggshells powder is an excellent way to add instant nutrition to soil. I have had great results from adding it to seed starting mix.
Offering somewhat crushed eggshells to birds in late winter will keep jays from pecking the paint off your house to get the calcium they need to produce strong eggs of their own.
We like to keep our eggshells in a big glass container on the counter until they dry out. [In the meantime, they look like a strange work of art.] Once dry, we put them through the coffee grinder which gets them nice and fine powder, and from there they go into the compost or right to the garden. Before, when we did not grind them, it seemed like it took eons for chunks of eggshell to break down, which made me think the calcium was not available in other ways for those same eons. But perhaps this is not really an issue, not sure. You do need a good strong coffee grinder, and the grinding does take some time. Also, I just saw another video which recommended putting an entire egg in the bottom of the hole when planting tomatoes. Cracked, at least. They swore by it. Jeez, if only eggshells would keep the deer away!
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Mix crushed eggshells with your coffee grounds for smooth coffee. The calcium in the eggshell helps to reduce the acidity of coffee and will also help any loose grounds sink to the bottom of the cup.