egg shells

[Minnesota Mato]

I work at a restaurant and I save a lot of egg shells. I have been putting them in the oven for 30 min to kill any bacteria then putting them in my coffee grinder. It comes out like white sand. What is the best way to incorporate it into my soil so my plants get the most out of it?

[digsdirt]

Despite the many unscientific claims to the contrary, direct benefit from eggshells in the garden soil is minimal. Plus they are calcium carbonate and so not a form of calcium most plants can benefit from even if one's soil is low in calcium (which is rare).

The best way of incorporating egg shells is adding them to your compost pile where the many beneficial bacteria can go to work on them for the long period of time it takes for them to break down.

Understanding Calcium

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com.h...m-supplements/

Don't get me wrong, they won't hurt anything unless your soil happens to already be quite alkaline as they will increase that if used in large amounts. But the benefits are not all they are cracked up to be,

Dave

[Minnesota Mato]

I was told that my hot peppers needed a lot of calcium and also adding vinegar to it some how made it more usable to the plants.

[digsdirt]

Well I don't know the source of that info but peppers don't require and more soil calcium than most any other vegetable. Did they say why? Usually when that old claim is made it is because you have had some BER problems wre" it.ith your peppers. Old garden lore claims it is caused by a lack of calcium and that TUMs or egg shells or milk or all sorts of things will "cure" it. Nope.

There has been decades of research into the problem since Grandpa's days and the truth is there is plenty of calcium in the soil and what causes the BER is inconsistent moisture levels (like lots of rain or or drought or poor watering techniques) that affect the distribution of it into the fruit when the plant and its root structure are young. As the plant matures and the roots develop and the soil moisture levels stabilizes it goes away all on its own.

All the vinegar does is allow the acetic acid (a weak acid) in it to break down the egg shells a little faster and compensate in part for the alkaline nature of calcium carbonate.

So as I said if you want to add your egg shells to the soil and do all that baking and grinding they won't hurt anything and a year or so from now when they are fully decomposed they may be of some benefit. But if BER is your issue and it disappears please don't credit it to the eggshells. Credit it to the maturing of your plants.

Dave

[Nematode]

Friend of mine grows potato and dry beans, thats how he makes his living.
He gets truckloads of eggshells free and its one of his main fertility inputs, he is a no chemical kind of guy.
Eggshell
N 1.19
P .38
K .14

They are raw and rude. Not cooked.

[Redbaron]

I mix them with coffee grounds and then I sprinkle them on the surface of the ground before I cover it with mulch. Works for me.

I figure all I am doing is feeding the earthworms. But that's a good thing in my book. Many indirect beneficial things come from that. It may be a while before the nutrients make it to the plants, but they will get there eventually.

Organic growers need to look at the long term not just the short term. Eggshells along with all decomposing plant animal and microbiology materials are definitely beneficial long term.

So as long as you view it as part of a long term regime of soil health, and not a "magic bullet", then go for it.

[efisakov]

I collect eggshell and coffe on my countertop and add it to my soil once containers are full. I am doing it for years.
Another thing that is beneficial to plants is shrimp shells/heads/tails. If you add it raw is great, cooked will do as well. Suppose it helps tomatoes to fight deceases, I read somewhere. In my garden they decay fast, few months.

[4season]

Last year I put crushed not powdered eggshells in every tomato hole. I have alkali soil with high calcium and didn't see any benefit. Shrimp, lobster and crab shells and fungi contain chitin which may help control root knot nematodes. Whatever "eats" chitin increases and root knot nematodes eggs have a chitin shell so more are eaten.

[kygreg]

Like all or most of you I have had incidents of BER; some years I have had inconsistent moisture levels and have some BER, other years with inconsistent moisture level I have none. Like Digsdirt said in almost all cases it goes away(even without any soil additives). In my years of gardening I have lost only one plant that was totally wipe out by BER and that was a plum variety, the name of which escapes me at the moment but I will remember about 3am tonight.

[Tracydr]

I feed them to the chickens to make more eggs. They are pretty broken down once they are chicken poop!

[salix]

Mine go in raw and crushed - and I do not take pains to drain off all the egg white either, I figure it adds a bit more protein (nitrogen)... Like Scott, it is part of a long range plan.

[Lycopersica]

I imagine the calcium carbonate in egg shells would have the same effect as calcium carbonate in lime (unless the structure of the shell makes it less available to the soil). Of course, it would take a lot of eggs to add up to a box of lime.

[Labradors2]

We (dogs and humans), eat a lot of eggs and I toss the shells into my compost.

I did try grinding them and adding them at planting time for a couple of seasons - for the worms mostly, but it was a lot of work to grind them all so finely.

One year I had horrible BER on Roma's and Rose de Berne varieties. I haven't grown those varieties since!

Linda

[Lindalana]

Adding eggshells to the worm factory takes them a long time to be digested. Worms still do the job though.

[Gardeneer]

For any element ( N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Mn Fe...) to be uptaken by plants, those elements should be in ionic solution state. Let me give you an example. When you dissolve table salt (NaCl) in water it is in an ionic form ( Na+Cl-). But if you put some Gypsum in water it won't be in ionic form. The ionic form can be in a compond form too, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate ..
The same is with eggshell. No matter how finly you grind it, it will be still in solid state.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:
grind your eggshell in your coffee grinder, keep adding household vinegar to it, while stirring. Until no more bubbles appear. Let it sit few days, stir. add some more vinegar. If no more bubbling, then it is done. There will some sediments. Don't worry. Because the eggshell was not pure Calcium Carbonate.
What you've got now is CALCIUM ACETATE in ionic form than plants can use. You can put a half a cup of it in a gallon watering can and water your plants with it. It will be immediately available. to the plants.

Gardeneer