Increasingly, gardeners and gardeners are looking for a substitute for mineral fertilizers when growing vegetables and fruits. Difficult ecology and increasing frequency of allergic diseases force owners of home gardens to use natural methods to increase soil fertility. Indeed, nature itself is able to take care of itself, and therefore has a whole arsenal of tools that, with skillful handling, will increase the yield and improve the taste of the fruit. The most valuable source of elements necessary for fertility is eggshell. About what its benefits are, as well as how to use eggshells in the garden and in the beds, will be discussed in this article.
Eggshell is your irreplaceable assistant in the country
Contents:
Eggshell – chemical composition
The main chemical element in eggshell is calcium carbonate. The main one, but not the only one. In addition to calcium, the shell contains various organic substances, phosphorus, fluorine, copper, iron and many other elements (27 in total).
Shells are often used as a source of natural calcium. And not in vain, because this substance was synthesized in the bird’s body, as a result of which inorganic calcium was obtained at the output. Therefore, using eggshells as a source of calcium is much preferable to chalk.
Preparing eggshells for use in the garden and vegetable garden
Poultry egg shells work best for fertilizer use. In chickens raised in the wild and receiving not only good nutrition, but also sunbathing, eggs, and therefore shells, have a full set of nutrients.
The eggshells of factory hens’ eggs, although they will be a little poorer, are also quite suitable for use in the beds. Also, shells from raw eggs are preferable, because during cooking, some of the valuable substances decompose. And one more nuance – brown shells in terms of the content of trace elements, a little richer than white.
The shell must be rinsed and dried before use. This is especially true for raw eggs, and, washing, you need to remove the inner film. For drying, it is not necessary to use heating devices – within a week, the shell will dry safely at normal room temperature.
To use eggshells as fertilizer, you need to turn them into powder. The finer it turns out to grind the shell, the better – only in this form will it quickly give the soil all its useful properties. You can grind the shell in different ways – in a mortar, blender, meat grinder, coffee grinder or using a rolling pin, rolling the shells between two layers of oilcloth. It is better to store the resulting fine powder in a glass jar with a tight lid until use.
To use eggshells as fertilizer, you need to turn them into powder. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com aljamila
Using eggshells in the country
Eggshells in the form of a powder are introduced into the holes when planting seedlings in the ground. A handful of eggshells are poured into the prepared hole, spraying along the walls. Tomatoes and bell peppers respond very well to such a dressing. With a calcium deficiency, many varieties of these plants are prone to apical rot.
The addition of eggshells to the soil and all types of cabbage, eggplant and melon will be appreciated. When sowing onions, spinach, lettuce and beets, the grooves in the beds are sprinkled with powder.
Not all garden crops love alkaline soil, and since eggshells, like chalk, deoxidize the soil, you should not add powder for legumes, strawberries, cucumbers, zucchini and other pumpkin seeds.
Shells in the fight against pests and diseases
Eggshells not only enrich the soil with useful elements, but also help in the fight against pests and diseases. The shell powder applied when planting cabbage prevents the appearance of such an unpleasant disease as keela.
Experienced gardeners use coarsely ground shells in the fight against slugs. To do this, powder with coarse fractions is mixed with 1/1 wood ash and sprinkled with aisles. This becomes an insurmountable obstacle not only for slugs, but also for other soil pests.
When picking seedlings, experienced gardeners dust the seedlings with shell powder. This measure protects plants from the appearance of a black leg.
Large pieces of shells, laid in the hole during planting, serve to protect plants from bears and moles.
Other ways to use eggshells for plant health
Eggshell infusion for feeding seedlings and indoor plants
Eggshell infusion is often used to feed seedlings and indoor plants. For the preparation of liquid top dressing 5 tbsp. tablespoons of eggshell powder are poured into 1 liter of boiling water. The mixture is cooled and insisted in a dark place for 5 days, periodically shaking the container. In the process of infusion, an unpleasant smell of hydrogen sulfide may appear, but there’s nothing you can do about it – they are eggs.
The resulting infusion can be watered with seedlings of vegetables, flowers and indoor plants. Top dressing is carried out once a month, alternating with other types of fertilizers.
Eggshell drainage
Amateur flower growers use eggshells as drainage. To do this, when planting or transplanting indoor plants, a layer of eggshell is placed on the bottom of the pot. For these purposes, the shell is not crushed, but simply broken into large fractions, 1,5–2 cm in size.
Eggshells can be successfully used for growing seedlings. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com athomeinyourlife
Seedling containers
Recently, many have been using egg shells for growing seedlings. To make cups, raw eggs are not broken in half, but carefully remove part of the shell from their tip, in the form of a lid. The egg is poured and the shell is washed and dried. The dried shells are placed in a container and filled with soil, into which the sowing is carried out.
The shell is convenient for further use – grown seedlings can be planted in pots or in open ground along with the shell. It is enough to crumple it just a little so that the roots can grow without unnecessary obstacles.
Deacidification of the soil with eggshell
To deoxidize and fertilize the soil, once every 1-2 years (depending on the acidity of the soil), eggshell powder is scattered over the beds for autumn digging at the rate of 3 glass per 1 m2… The process of releasing nutrients is not a quick matter, so such events are carried out ahead of time.
For all methods of soil deoxidation, see the material Soil acidity – how to determine and deoxidize.
Improving soil structure
Coarse powder, in addition to increasing fertility, will improve the structure of the soil. Since the process of decomposition of the shell is long, its effect, as a baking powder, of the soil will last for several years.
Composting
To enrich the compost, crushed shells are placed in compost heaps.
Dear readers! Eggshells are our indispensable and free assistant on the site. It is not difficult to prepare it, but it will bring a lot of benefits. Fertilizer, soil baking powder, pest control agent are the main uses for shells. If you use it to increase soil fertility, share your experience in the comments to the article.
