Improve Your Garden Soil Using Eggshells

82 Comments

1. I do this too! I also add the ash from fires to my compost. My gardens have vastly improved. In Perth, Australia, we have zero nutrient sand so we need to boost the sand with good compost and soil. By adding a bit of clean clumping cat litter, the moisture is retained and doesn't just filter out through the sand.
   

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2. Found this post through pinterest. Great ideas! Thanks every one!!
   

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3. I put coffee grounds in my garden and the cats would not go near!
   

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   1. Do you know if this would deter rabbits?
      

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4. If you leave the shells somewhat rough they cut up the snails as they try to get to the base of your plants!
   

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   1. Thanks for the great ideas!
      

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5. Our local Starbucks has a Grounds for Gardeners program. If you ask, they will tell you when to check back and give you a big bag of used coffee grounds. Sometimes you have to pick out a couple filters or the bag drips so I keep a bucket for pickups but it's free! :) Usually they still have a hockey puck shape from the coffee machine. I break it up and throwing around on my SoCal soil which tends to be alkaline clay-ish. Earthworms love it, after a few years my soil is very loamy. One tip, make sure you sprinkle it, if it's too thick it repeals water.
   

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6. Calcium as a soil additive for tomatoes need to be broken down beyond just being crushed because the calcium in the eggshells is not readily available to the tomatoes. To make the calcium available they need to be ground powder fine and mixed with distilled white vinegar. Mix 2T DWV with 1T eggshell powder. Let this mixture sit for about 1 hour stirring occasionally. To this mixture add 1 quart warm water and stir. When planting your tomato plants add 1/4c. to each planting hole.
   

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   1. Thank you for the tip!
      

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      1. Sounds like a wonderful tip! I can't wait to try it!
         

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   2. How often do you recommend that I add this . Can you over do it ?
      

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7. Hi all Great ideas shared by everyone, really enjoyed reading. Will keep the great tip in mind Thanks
   

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8. No one ever takes the last serving of coffee from the pot in the morning, so if one of us doesn't remember to turn it off, it sits all day on the burner and coagulates into a syrup. Instead of dumping the seriously syrupy espresso, I top it off with water and dump it out the backdoor onto my flower/herb bed or water a few choice indoor recipients.
   

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9. Years ago when I had lilacs, I used coffee grounds to brighten their color. I now have a balcony garden and want to grow herbs and spices. Any tips?
   

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   1. Just be sure to pick them frequently otherwise they may not last very long.
      

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10. eggshells crushed In your hand are great for slugs and snails. Just sprinkle around edge of pot or garden. It cuts their bodies.
    

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11. Another great tip chopped up banana skins, directly into the soil around plants, great for roses ,
    

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12. Be careful not to breath in the egg shell dust as it is not good for your lungs. When you crack an egg open put the two halves straight in your worm farm, compost or garden (buried under some mulch). the worms like to lay their eggs inside the shells as it protects them and keeps them moist. Also if you lay a few eggshells under plants that the cabbage moth like to lay their eggs on, the shells help to keep the moths away as they think the shells are other moths that have already laid their eggs on those plants so they go somewhere else to lay their eggs. (Well that's the theory but it seems to keep the numbers down.
    

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    1. Thanks for the tips Deb!
       

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13. I use my empty egg shells after I bake them at 400 degrees for at least an hour to kill any unwanted bacteria. I then put them through the blender. I put alphalfa hay on top as a mulch which will break down & add nutrients to the soil. When I've composted in the past fire ants have taken over. I don't want to use chemicals on the compost so I stopped composting separately from the garden. Lately, I've been putting kitchen scraps in the garden under the alphalfa mulch. I buy a bale of the alphalfa at Treactor Supply. I've notified the local Ace store also carries alphalfa bales.
    

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14. I have been doing this for quite sometime. It is such an easy method for adding a much needed nutrient to your soil.
    

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15. Hi. I use my grass clippings as mulch. Worms love it and its free.
    

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16. The music is not necessary and is too loud.
    

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17. Hi I've heard this one from three different experts and seen it on youtube. The Amazonians used coconut charcoal to mix with their garden soil. That's it ! There were millions of people living in the Amazon Delta before the European white explorers came along, gave them their diseases and wiped them all out. In spite of the flooding of the Amazon River every year, the growing season was amplified incredibly with the addition of the coconut charcoal, and with the abundant increase in food production helped millions survive in a floodplain in the tropics. An Australian has duplicated the process and is selling growing soil with the CC in it already. An American has duplicated the principles with a patented product and is selling it there. But anybody can buy coconuts, burn them (while cooking steak) and use the charcoal to add to their garden soil and increase yields very substantially for any plant.. And all this without artificial fertilizers and toxic killicides like Glyphosate (RoundUp)
    

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18. If you rinse remove the film in the eggshell. Let them dry completely they don't smell.
    

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19. Great post Missy! I am at a beginner-level stage with gardening and just started last year. Will definitely try blending up some eggshells for the soil, thanks for the tip!
    

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20. Once you grind the eggshells, leave them there in the blender covered for 15 minutes to settle. When you open it, there will be no floating powder to get in your nose. :)
    

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21. Open the blender outside! Passing along a household hint that I used recently for cleaning that slip resistant texture in the bathtub. Using the amount of shampoo that you put in your hand to do your hair, close the drain; drop that amount into the center of the tub; add 1/2 cup of white vinegar and swish that around the tub using a brush and leave it for about 30 minutes. Return and add a little water to wet all the tub and leave that for about 10 minutes. Return and swish with a brush, rinse and look what has happened. I am 74 year old woman, a general contractor and wish I had known to do this a long time ago.
    

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22. Composting is a great way to utilize plant materials to enrich your soil. It’s not hard to do and really make a rich soil additive for zero cost and just a little effort. You don’t need a $100 container. Just find a hidden spot - behind a shed perhaps - and start discarding peelings, rinds, eggshells, dried leaves, a little bit of soil now and then to add the things that make compost rot quickly. Then the secret is to turn that pile often. Shovelsfull from the bottom of the pile every day or two will help it to rot quickly. NO meat, bones, dairy, plastic etc. these will draw pests and vermin. A good compost never smells and is not unsightly. And your outdoor plants will love it. I have a compost container on my counter lined with bio-degradable sacks that I use to collect all plant scraps like used coffee grounds and banana peels daily in my kitchen. The bags get tossed into the pile with the plant materials, and rot away to add to the compost. Simplifies the process quickly. My husband enjoys taking the bags out when full and stirring the pile. He has created a beautiful pile of compost that we will be using this growing season. He’s started a second pile already, which should be ready by the time we use the first one. and you’re thinking: Does it smell? NO! Not if done properly, and it’s not a demanding process. Saves the landfills from more stuff and is better than fertilizer. Can’t beat it. Jo ann
    

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23. Why dont you compost? I add coffee grounds in the filters, vegetable peelings, dust and pet hair from the vacuum...almost anything organic that isnt meat.
    

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    1. We give most of our scraps to the chickens.
       

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24. Pingback: 27+ Clever Gardening Hacks and Tricks That You Never Thought Of
25. I'm going to try this... I'm trying to get my rose bushes to grow
    

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26. Me agrada descubrir que otras personas pueden compartir y unirse desde su experiencia para incentivarnos con un objetivo común: cultivar nuestras plantas muy utilizadas a nuestra alimentación. Cordialísimo saludo, desde Colombia.
    

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