Excellent fertilizer: eggshells

Gardeners and summer residents have long been actively using chicken shells as fertilizer. Why have eggshells been used so extensively as fertilizer for so long? The reason is that they provide a nutrient medium for the development of organisms. This means they contain all the necessary nutrients, including those needed for plant growth.

Specifically, 94% of eggshells are calcium carbonate. It is fully absorbed by plants. The remaining 6% contains varying amounts of magnesium and potassium, phosphorus, and organic protein. In short, it contains everything that both garden crops and houseplants need for active growth and development.

Important! By adding eggshells to the soil in the right amounts and regularly, you can increase soil fertility. This occurs by reducing soil acidity and increasing soil looseness.

How to prepare and use eggshells

After eating, the eggshells should be collected and washed. Wash them as thoroughly as possible. Then comes the most difficult stage of preparation: grinding the egg. You can use a coffee grinder, but if you don't have one at home, you'll have to grind them by hand using a mortar and pestle.

ImportantOnly raw eggshells are used as fertilizer. After boiling, this part of the egg loses the properties that make it beneficial to the soil.

Eggshells can only be used as fertilizer for flowers or garden soil if crushed. Because of the inner membrane, crushing the shells by hand is quite difficult. However, you should try to remove the membrane and crush the shells as finely as possible. The finer the shells, the more effective they will be in infusing the soil. Of course, eggshells will have an unpleasant odor, but it's practically impossible to get rid of.

Options for using eggshells as fertilizer:

• A seedling container. This way, you don't have to crush anything: just make a hole at the top to plant the seedlings, and small drainage holes at the bottom. Then, fill it with soil and plant the seeds. The biggest advantage of this seedling growing method is that you can plant them outdoors with the shells still in place.
• Crush the shells of five eggs and pour a liter of boiling water over them. Let the mixture steep for five days, stirring daily. These eggshells can be used as fertilizer for potatoes, other vegetables, or flowers. The solution should be used at a rate of two cups per square meter of soil.
• If you can grind the mixture into flour in a coffee grinder, you can use this fertilizer when planting. It's extremely effective against certain diseases of seedlings and houseplants, such as blackleg.

What can be fertilized?

Which plants can use eggshells as fertilizer? They're excellent for seedlings and plants like bell peppers and eggplants. They're also great for reducing soil acidity when planting currant bushes. They're also great for growing cauliflower. In general, when used correctly, eggshells are a good fertilizer for any crop.

This fertilizer can be used for indoor plants at a rate of one-third of a teaspoon per flower pot. However, it's best combined with regular mineral fertilizers, which increase soil acidity. Of course, indoor plants don't tolerate excess calcium well, so moderation is essential when applying this fertilizer.

Advice! To neutralize soil acidity in a vegetable garden, apply 500 grams to a kilogram of fertilizer per square meter of soil. This depends on how acidic the soil is.

Once again about proportions

The shell of one egg will weigh approximately ten grams. It may seem small, but this knowledge will help both gardeners and flower growers calculate exactly how much of this type of fertilizer can be used in their plot.

It's recommended to apply this type of fertilizer to the garden soil when preparing it for winter. This will give the soil time to dissolve the fertilizer and extract the maximum amount of nutrients. To make the soil less acidic, add one and a half cups of powder per square meter of soil. If you don't have enough powder for the entire garden, you can add it to the holes before planting.

Advice! You can store this fertilizer in reserve. However, it's important to wash the shells thoroughly. The unpleasant odor will never be completely eliminated. However, the better you wash them, the less intense the odor will be.

Now you know everything you need to know about using eggshells as fertilizer. It's crucial to maintain the correct proportions, and everything else will be fine.