Content
- 1 What are the benefits of eggshells for the garden?
- 2 Rules for collecting raw materials
- 3 How to make fertilizer from eggshells
- 4 When can you add eggshells to plants?
- 5 How to use egg shells in the garden
- 6 How to use eggshells for indoor plants
- 7 Where else can you use eggshells in the garden?
- 8 What plants should you not apply eggshells to?
- 9 Pros and cons of using eggshells in the garden
- 10 Rules for storing raw materials
- 11 Conclusion
Eggshells for the garden are natural organic raw materials. When released into the soil, it saturates it with important substances and microelements. Egg fertilizer is suitable for garden and indoor plants, with the exception of those that need acidic soil. The product helps protect green spaces from pests and diseases.
What are the benefits of eggshells for the garden?
Eggshells, as a fertilizer for the garden, enrich the soil and help reduce the acidity of the substrate. This natural material helps fight insects, is suitable for mulching the soil, is used during sowing and planting in the spring, and has a beneficial effect on the condition of garden and house flowers.
Eggshells are a natural source of calcium
Composition and value of eggshells
In 1980, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences A.L. Shtele deciphered the chemical composition of the shell.
During the research, the scientist found that the shell of chicken eggs contains over 90% of an easily digestible substance - calcium carbonate and more than 20 other elements.
Chemical compounds contained in chicken egg husks:
- magnesium;
- phosphorus;
- potassium;
- iron;
- fluorine;
- zinc;
- aluminum;
- silicon.
Mg deoxidizes the soil, enriches its composition, and makes it lighter. Magnesium in combination with calcium, as well as nitrogen-phosphorus and potassium substances, is the main component necessary for plant nutrition. The substance reduces soil acidity, improves its composition and structure.
Effect on soil and plants
Eggshells, ground into powder, provide nutrients to plants.
When digging up the beds after harvesting, coarsely crushed shells are mixed with soil. The soil becomes looser and allows air to pass through better.
Shells are indispensable for sandy soil due to Ca deficiency. The raw materials should first be heated in the oven.
What plants love eggshells?
There are many vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and shrubs that respond to the application of shells with active growth.
Eggshells applied as fertilizer for plants increase the yield of crops, including:
- tomatoes;
- eggplant;
- swede;
- radish;
- pepper;
- melons;
- legumes;
- leafy vegetables.
Egg fertilizer has a beneficial effect on the yield of garden crops (raspberries, black currants) and fruit trees (cherries, apple trees).
Egg fertilizer contains many minerals and trace elements
Rules for collecting raw materials
Procurement of a calcium source should be carried out in the cold season. Before the onset of winter, chickens lay eggs protected by a stronger shell with a higher Ca content.
The greatest amount of calcium is found in eggs with brown shells.
Boiled egg shells are less useful because they lose a lot of minerals during the heat treatment process, but they can be used for mulching the soil and for pest control. The shells of boiled eggs must be cleaned of the layer of protein film to prevent the spread of bacteria.
Raw egg shells are ideal for use as containers for germinating seeds.
Raw materials from fresh eggs should be washed under the tap and dried, spread in a thin layer on paper.
The shells of boiled specimens can be dried immediately. To save space, the husks need to be crushed and sent to a storage container. Waste should be kept in a cool, dry place until the sowing season.
Large and hard shells can be used as containers for seedlings. They need to be washed and dried. To avoid breakage, it should be filled with cotton wool and placed in a box.
How to make fertilizer from eggshells
In order for natural fertilizer to bring maximum benefit to plants, it is important to know how to prepare it. The shells can be ground to varying degrees of fineness or made into an infusion.
Grinding
Before use, the raw materials should be crushed. The degree of grinding depends on the purpose of use. Washed and dried shells can be processed in a coffee grinder, mortar or blender. You can use a hammer and rolling pin and roll it out on a hard surface to grind it into flour.
Ground shells quickly release nutrients into the soil
Infusion
Organic fertilizer can be prepared as an infusion. For this you will need 1 liter and shells of 5-6 eggs.
Cooking process:
- After breaking, the shells must be washed to remove protein and dried.
- Then grind the prepared material to a powder consistency.
- Pour 1 liter of boiling water over the raw materials and leave to steep for a week. The solution should be stirred during preparation.
The finished infusion will have the appearance of whey, a pungent odor and a layer of foam on the surface.
For one feeding you need to take 1 tbsp. l. composition and stir it in a glass of water with a volume of 200 g. Fertilize with a break of 2-3 weeks.
Egg fertilizer increases fertility and normalizes soil pH
When can you add eggshells to plants?
Egg waste is added to the soil in the spring during sowing and planting. At the height of flowering, green spaces need potassium and calcium. Adding fertilizer when digging the beds before cold weather improves the soil. During the winter period, the shell gives its nutrients to the soil and by spring the soil becomes prepared for new plantings.
How to use egg shells in the garden
Eggshells are good for plants because they contain all the necessary minerals.It is easily digestible and has a positive effect on the growth of plantings, the formation of greenery and root crops.
Using eggshells as fertilizer in the garden and garden
Recycled chicken egg shells, when dropped into the ground, make it more fertile and lighter.
There are several ways to use natural calcium fertilizer in the garden:
- Egg flour. When sowing, it is sprinkled on the seeds and mulched. Add 1-2 tbsp/1 sq.m. to the ground. m. The volume of the additive is increased to 1 kg/sq. m., if the substrate is highly acidified (for lightness of the soil). The product is also used to protect against garden pests and diseases.
- Infusion. The shells of 5-6 eggs are filled with water and left until a characteristic odor appears. The diluted mixture is used to water garden crops at the roots.
- Use of husks. To deoxidize the soil and remove excess water, large pieces of husk are placed at the bottom of the pot/container. They do this for better drainage of seedlings and house plants.
The shells are added to the soil from early spring to late autumn
Fertilizing vegetable crops with eggshells
Ground egg waste is added when planting potatoes, onions and carrots.
The infusion is used to water seedlings of eggplants, peppers and root vegetables. The ratio of solution and water is 1:3.
Tomatoes and cucumbers will like calcium-containing fertilizer.
Methods of introducing eggshells for tomatoes:
- adding a substance to the substrate;
- solution;
- sowing seeds in shells;
- drainage;
- sprinkling green tomatoes to prevent diseases.
During the season, eggshells should be added at a rate of 300 g-1 kg/1 sq. m. area.
If there are not many shells, you can sprinkle them under the roots of the tomatoes.
Tomatoes need calcium from the beginning of the growing season. This element also promotes the formation and development of fruits.
Ca gives a good start to the development of cucumbers. Fertilizer feeding is done after planting seedlings in the beds. During the period of intensive growth, calcium entering the soil from the shell promotes the development of roots, stems and leaves, and helps cucumbers withstand environmental influences.
Seedlings can be nourished with infusion. The calcium-rich liquid accelerates seed germination, stimulates leaf development, metabolic processes and photosynthesis.
Root feeding of vegetable crops saturates plants with calcium
Egg shells as fertilizer for fruit and berry crops
Garden fruit and berry crops need calcium. Stone fruit trees: plum, cherry, bird cherry intensively use reserves of this substance from the soil during the formation of the fruit core. This also applies to pome trees: apple trees, pears, quince.
You need to apply shells under fruit trees along the perimeter of the crowns, where the roots are located.
Crushed shells are sprinkled under the strawberries as a protective layer against the appearance of weeds and the invasion of slugs, snails, or applied throughout the garden bed as compost. Organic fertilizer increases the fertility of the substrate.
Sandy and clay soil requires organic amendments to increase fertility.
How to fertilize garden flowers with eggshells
Egg fertilizer promotes the full development of garden flowers, makes their stems and leaves more powerful, and the flowers larger. Plants are watered with infusion of the shells several times a month. For small bushes take 1/2 cup of solution, for larger bushes - 0.5 liters.
Feeding ornamental plants with eggshells
Ornamental plants are planted to decorate the garden. These can be flowers, shrubs and trees.
Light soil is an important condition for the full development of such flora representatives as:
- lilac;
- hydrangea;
- rose hip;
- jasmine;
- forsythia.
These plants are planted and replanted in spring or autumn. Coarsely ground egg shells are placed at the bottom of the holes as drainage, or mixed with soil for better air access to the roots. Calcium fertilizer is also applied as part of humus.
Chicken egg shells have a positive effect on fruit trees, garden crops and ornamental plants
How to use eggshells for indoor plants
Eggshells for indoor flowers can be used as an infusion. You need to water your home flowers with a diluted solution 1-2 times a month.
Coarsely crushed fragments are used as drainage. A small amount of raw materials (up to 2 cm) is placed at the bottom of the pot and covered with earth.
You can also add powder to the soil (1/3 tsp per pot).
Where else can you use eggshells in the garden?
Chicken egg husks have a beneficial effect on plantings not only when placed in a substrate, but also when used externally. It is used to mulch beds, activate seed germination, or protect against pests.
For soil deoxidation
In order to deoxidize the substrate, add 1-2 cups of ground shells per 1 square meter. m. area.
For mulching beds
Coarsely ground shells are used to mulch the surface of the substrate. They are hard, so they perform their function for a long time. The protective layer prevents the soil from drying out and the growth of weeds near cultivated plantings, and saturates the soil with vitamins.
For growing strong seedlings
Calcium carbonate, which is rich in egg shells, activates proteins in the seeds. They sprout quickly and become powerful.
The shells are ground into flour and sprinkled with seeds added to moist soil. Then cover with a layer of substrate.
This method is universal for seeds sown on the plot or in a seedling box.
Egg shells can be used as containers for growing seedlings
For pest and disease control
Egg waste will help protect plants from pests and diseases.
The use of shells when planting or sowing provides plants with microelements and protects them from pests - mole crickets, moles and mice. It is enough to add 1 tbsp. l. to the hole.
It is worth using eggshells in the garden if the plantings are threatened:
- slugs and snails;
- mole cricket;
- Colorado beetle;
- butterflies;
- moles and mice.
To combat moles, coarse fertilizer is applied to the ground.
The death of mole crickets is caused by eggshells mixed with vegetable oil. Raw materials are buried in the soil between the rows. Adults and larvae of the Colorado potato beetle will dry out if you sprinkle them with shell flour.
To remove snails, sprinkle the surface of the ground with pieces of egg shells.
When growing seedlings, the shell protects the plants from the “black leg”. To do this, you need to grind the shells to the consistency of sand and fill the surface of the soil in boxes or pots.
Whole casings hung among a cabbage bed can repel butterflies.
Egg shells will protect garden plants from pests
What plants should you not apply eggshells to?
There are garden and indoor plants that love acidic soil, and egg feeding will disrupt their growth.
Houseplants that do not need to be fed with chicken egg waste:
- gloxinia;
- violet;
- camellia;
- azalea;
- pelargonium;
- hydrangea;
- gardenia.
Excess calcium can lead to disease.
Garden crops that do not require shelling:
- zucchini;
- strawberries;
- cabbage;
- spinach;
- beans.
Pros and cons of using eggshells in the garden
Egg waste is a natural source of calcium for plants. Fertilizer can be easily prepared, processed and applied to the soil. It will enrich the substrate and repel pests.
But you need to follow the dosage and know when and how to feed the plants.
Excessive amounts of fertilizer applied to the soil can lead to increased concentrations of calcium in the above-ground parts of plants and their fruits. Plantings will receive less other nutrients from the soil. As a result, the growth and process of fruit formation will slow down. It is important not to overfeed the seedlings with egg fertilizer.
Due to its strong structure, the shell does not rot for a long time, therefore it reliably protects the soil
Rules for storing raw materials
If the shell is cleared of protein and properly dried, it will not have an unpleasant odor. It can be poured into a cardboard box and kept in a cool, dry place.
You cannot store the husks in a plastic bag, otherwise the raw material may deteriorate if moisture gets inside.
Conclusion
Eggshells for the garden are a simple and affordable way to improve soil fertility. This organic product is ideal for eliminating high soil acidity and protecting crops from pests and diseases. The main thing is to properly dry the raw materials, prepare the fertilizer, follow the dosage and apply it to the ground at the right time.
