Eggshells as fertilizer - the benefits and use of valuable feeding! Eggshell as a fertilizer for plants Do you need eggshells in the garden.

Eggs are a constituent part of the diet of a person who eats well. It could be like chicken eggs, and goose, quail, and some generally prefer ostrich. In any case, people eat what is inside the egg, but most of the shells are thrown away. Statistics show that every three people eat approximately 900 eggs in one year. On average, one shell weighs 10 grams. This means that these three people are capable of accumulating 9 kilograms of egg waste in a year. Scientists have also calculated that 1 square meter of soil can be added to it from 0.5 to 1 kilogram of egg waste. It all depends on what the acidity is on this soil.

The structure and composition of the eggshell

In its pure form, calcium is a metal. But in nature, its compounds are mainly found - bicarbonates and salts formed from it. It is these salts that are the constituents of chalk, limestone and eggshells. The hard egg shell contains approximately 95% potassium carbonate. In addition to potassium carbonate, it contains 27 more various elements, which are included in the periodic table. These substances are:

1. Sulfur;
2. Iron;
3. Potassium;
4. Aluminum;
5. Phosphorus;
6. Magnesium and its phosphate.

Based on their percentage, they don't take much. But if you regularly use eggshells for the garden and its fertilization, then the result will become obvious.

The films that are contained inside the shell contain a lot of organic substances in their composition. The most famous of these organic substances are keratin and mucin.

The structure of the potassium bicarbonate inside the eggshell is different from that obtained chemically... Due to the fact that the shell is created by nature, a different crystal structure is observed in calcium salts. It is much better absorbed by plants.

Eggshell as fertilizer - how it is useful for plants

In water infusions and in milled form, the eggshell is well absorbed by your plants. It will have a particularly good effect on acidified, heavy and rotten soils. It contributes to:

In what ways can you use egg shells

After crushing the eggshell to a powdery state, you can use it in the following ways:

1. Fill it in the ground and close it up with a rake. You can do this before and after planting the plants. This is especially good for onions and potatoes;
2. Sprinkle the earth on top. This will help you protect your garden and crops from clutches of cabbage butterflies, cruciferous fleas. It will also reduce weed growth and mulching;
3. Apply in infusions and decoctions for watering.

Crushed egg shells can be scattered manually. But it will be more rational to build a facility specially designed for this purpose. To do this, you need to evenly make small holes in a plastic bottle through which a powdery shell will pour out onto the surface of the soil.

Shallow embedding is very useful for trees, applied around the entire perimeter of the trunk circle so that the roots are not damaged. To take advantage of the beneficial substances that the shell film contains, you can make shell infusions without removing it.

Mostly enough 7-14 days so that the water with the eggshell in it begins to become cloudy and the smell of hydrogen sulfide appears. This indicates that the infusion is ready and that it is already possible to water the plants with it. This infusion is prepared like this: 5-10 shells are immersed in 1 liter of water... When the solution is ready, it can be diluted 10 times.

How to properly collect and store egg shells

Those people who tried to collect and store this product should have noticed a significant disadvantage of these processes - the smell that appears over time from the remains of organic egg white and thin films that remain inside. To eliminate this disadvantage, experts recommend storing this product in the following ways:

1. Rinse the eggshells under running water. This will rid the shell of the film and organic particles. In this case, you get the opportunity to dry the fertilizer without any problems that will be associated with odor. But in this method there is also a minus: the useful substances that are in the film will wash off along with it;
2. Oven baking as shells build up. This method is more troublesome. But it will allow you to crush and crush the shells much easier.

Each gardener has his own methods of grinding and crushing eggshells:

1. Scrolling through a meat grinder;
2. Grinding in a coffee grinder;
3. Manually crush using a pusher;
4. Wrap in a tight canvas bag and beat well with a hammer.

You can store dried eggshells for a long time. It is advisable to do this in glass containers that are not tightly closed or in paper bags. Storage in polyethylene is not recommended. The fertilizer you have prepared for garden and horticultural crops must breathe.

For which garden crops are egg shells used as fertilizer

Each plant has its own individual preferences. Each of them likes less or more soil acidity. It is for this reason that you need to know for which plants the egg shell will be useful, and for which harmful. Do not add alkaline additives for asters... But for seedlings of eggplants, peppers and tomatoes, it is better to use watering than direct application to the substrate. Egg shells are very useful for such garden crops:

Important nuances

In order to find out what type of soil is in your garden, you can use the official method. To do this, take soil samples and take them to the laboratory. After the experts carry out all the necessary research, you will be given accurate data.

But in recent times began to gain great popularity indicator tapes... Such a tape must be moistened with damp earth and you can immediately get the result of the acidity of your soil.

But there is also more affordable and quick way: Put about 50 grams of earth in a bottle and add up to 200 ml of water. Instead of a cover, a compressed rubber teat (finger pad) is used. After that, shake the bottle vigorously for several minutes. A chemical reaction will take place and bubbles will appear. If the rubber on the nipple stretches a little, then the soil is weakly acidic. And if there is strong gas formation, then you cannot avoid liming.

Another way to measure acidity is by using weeds in your garden.

If the soil is neutral, then coltsfoot, chamomile, clover grow on it. In acidic soil, mint, Ivan-da Marya, horsetail, plantain feel great. But in an alkaline environment, mustard and poppy grow well.

You can use egg shells with purchased fertilizers. But you can combine it with fertilizers. natural origin... These include: potato peels, walnut shells, nettles, orange peel, banana skins, ash and onion skins... Scientists have proven that in order for the potato to grow even, large and healthy, when planting it in the hole, it is necessary to add dry onion husks, shells and ash.

But it is better to make infusions or decoctions from the zest of various citrus fruits and banana skins. Here is an example of one such decoction: 2 orange peels and 10 eggshells must be crushed and boiled in 3 liters of water for 30 minutes. After the broth is infused and cooled, for several hours you can water the seedlings and various indoor crops that suffer from a lack of fertilizers, especially in the spring.

Fertilizing indoor plants using egg shells

Eggshells are used as fertilizer for indoor plants and flowers. It is used in the form of a powder, an infusion is prepared for fertilization, or used as a drainage. Powdered egg shell is used to loosen the soil.

Good drainage is obtained from the shell crushed into large pieces. Lay it on the bottom of a pot with a flower approximately 2 centimeters thick, and sprinkle it with soil on top. After that, the flower is planted according to the usual pattern. This type of drainage improves root ventilation. Suitable for all plants.

Another well-known method of using egg shells as fertilizer for house flowers is infusion. It is prepared as follows: 10 shells, crushed for 7 days (not less), are insisted in 1 liter of boiling water. During this week, more useful elements will pass into the water from the shell. The readiness of the infusion is checked by the appearance of the smell of hydrogen sulfide. This smell is the main disadvantage of this fertilizer, as it lasts for several days.

For gardeners who love chicken eggs, shells can be a real boon. And its benefits are not limited to mulch near cherries. Let's take a look at five ways to use eggshells in the garden.

Chicken eggs contain in large quantities protein, vitamins and minerals, thanks to which this product is one of the most nutritious. According to statistics, the average person around the world consumes about 150-250 eggs per year. This means that the inhabitants of the whole world eat a huge number of eggs per year. But few people think about the use of egg shells and about its benefits. And it is obvious, if only thanks to calcium: in the shell of one chicken egg contains about 96% of calcium carbonate crystals, bound together with the help of proteins.

Most often, eggshells are used as a garden fertilizer or natural source calcium, which is added to animal feed. But most consumers usually throw eggshells into the trash bin with their kitchen waste. You should not rush to get rid of it - it can be of great benefit in the garden. For example, here are five ways to use it in your garden:

1. Fertilizers

Eggshells contain a large amount of calcium, so when added to compost pit organic fertilizer enriched with this mineral, which improves the growth and development of horticultural crops. The shell decomposes quickly in the soil, so it is not necessary to chop it up. It is useful to place it at the bottom of the planting pits.

You can leave the eggshells in the soil for the winter - they will not deteriorate until spring planting... Calcium is an essential substance for plants. Therefore, using the shell as a fertilizer, you can grow excellent harvest peppers and tomatoes, which react very strongly to calcium deficiency.

2. Weapons against garden pests

If the garden is inhabited by slugs and snails, it is recommended to scatter unmilled egg shells around the plants that the pests like to dine on. Snails and slugs are afraid of sharp edges - they will not be able to overcome the barrier of eggshells and will leave the garden to find more comfortable spot for habitation.

3. Capacity for germinating seeds

Eggshells decompose rather quickly in the soil, therefore, they are excellently used for sowing seeds for seedlings. For this, it is most convenient to use the shell of fresh eggs, in which you can make a small hole, leaving the shell almost intact.

Then you need to rinse the inside of the shell with boiling water from the remains of the egg and pierce the drainage hole in the opposite side of the shell. Then it is placed in a special box, filled with moist soil and seeds are sown in it. Sprouted seedlings can be transplanted into looser pots or soil.

4. Food for birds

Birds that lay eggs need high amounts of calcium, which must be added to their daily diet. First, it is advisable to sterilize the eggshells in the oven (temperature should be 120 degrees C) for at least ten minutes. You need to make sure that inner side did not turn brown.

Then the shell is crushed and left in the open air throughout the spring and summer period. You can mix egg shells and regular poultry feed, add lard and mealworms to the feeder. Then insect pests, damaging the plants in the garden, slide down to this aroma to the feeder. And a bird can eat them with great pleasure.

5. Garden decor

Finely ground eggshells are of great nutritional and aesthetic value. If there are many people in the family who like to eat chicken eggs, you can collect the accumulated shells, boil it as a sterilization and chop it. The shells can then be stored in a glass jar for an extended period of time, with new shells being constantly added. After collecting a sufficient number of them, you can scatter them around the plants in the garden and vegetable garden. Not only for fertilization, but also for beautiful mulching.

With the help of eggshells, you can get rid of pests, as well as enrich the soil with a valuable mineral - calcium. Scattered white, small shells can look like a decorative piece in landscape design... For beauty, you can add various shells and stones, which will give the garden even more interesting view... So the shell will become a beautiful and at the same time useful decor for the soil and the entire garden.

If you set a goal, then in a few months you can collect 1-2 kg of shells and fertilize the soil. Thus, it is possible to increase the yield and harvest 2 times more crops per season.

Often, amateur gardeners simply distribute the shells from eggs over the surface of the earth. This method does not apply to soil fertilization, since the shell simply lies on the soil in large pieces. But just for the birds, who flock with great pleasure to feast on delicious and wholesome food, in this form, eggshells are much more beneficial.

How eggshells are useful

Let's talk about the beneficial properties of eggshells for soil and plants. Let's go back to the birds: after the body has processed the eggshell, the main useful component is calcium carbonate (93% of the shell consists of this substance) - it becomes useful and well absorbed for plants. Naturally, in huge numbers you can't get such bird droppings anywhere, so it's worth considering more affordable option... Most summer residents may have heard of eggshells for the garden, but stubbornly continue to fertilize the soil with chalk and lime. Somewhere they are right, since these components also contain calcium carbonate, which is used to deoxidize soils, but there are no such useful microelements like sulfur, phosphorus, silicon and other substances useful for plants.

In the composition of the eggshell, potassium carbonate is predominant - about 93-94%, magnesium - 1.3%, phosphates - 1.7% and organic matter - 3%.

Eggshell photo:

How to collect the shell

A family of 3 can consume up to 100 eggs per month! The shells from them, of course, go to the trash can. By simple mathematical calculations, it can be determined that about 10 kg of valuable fertilizer can be collected in 1 year.

There are rules for collecting the shell - after the egg breaks, the shell is folded into a spacious paper box and leave to dry. You need to choose warm place so that in a few days the protein film does not deteriorate, but dries naturally. After the eggshell is completely dry (it usually takes 3 to 5 days), knead it and put it in paper bags... Raw materials are stored in a dry place. You can not put the shell in plastic bag to prevent moisture and deterioration.

There are certain rules for collecting eggshells:

1. You can just put the shell aside and wait until it dries - this concerns raw eggs.
2. Or do otherwise - rinse the shell well, and then dry it. The second option is the most acceptable, since the adhering pieces of protein (thin film) will not deteriorate.
3. They also collect the shells from boiled eggs, only you need to carefully remove one shell, without the inner part - such caution will allow you to collect real useful fertilizer.

Fertilizer preparation

So that the process of crushing eggshells does not cause a lot of trouble, this must be done gradually. If you have collected 1 kg of raw materials, you can start grinding.

Place a soft, clean cloth on the table (you can use heavy oilcloth). Then spread out the eggshells and rub them well with a wooden rolling pin. Dry shells will crumble faster. Now it remains to grind the raw materials in a coffee grinder or pass through a meat grinder. This must be done, because large pieces of shells will not benefit the soil, as they will decompose very, very slowly. The finished egg flour is put into jars, rubbed tightly with lids.

You can do otherwise and make a combined fertilizer - bake egg shells along with ash on a fire or in an oven. Such fertilizer will be rich in phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium carbonate. Such a cocktail, as well as the crushed eggshell itself as a fertilizer, will bring more benefits for sour clay soils improving their structure.

Naturally, to say that the introduction of only egg powder will not replace the complete liming of the soil, but if you do this from year to year, then you can increase the yield.

A small nuance: look at the inside of the shell - a thin dried protein film remains there. Protein is a good plant nutrient. If you burn the shells in a stove or over a fire, the protein will be destroyed, so it makes sense to make several types of feeding from the shell.

How to use eggshells

Let's prepare a liquid fertilizer from shell powder:

1. Dry the eggshells.
2. Grind it naturally, pass it through a meat grinder or coffee grinder.
3. Put the powder in a glass bottle, fill it with water. Close with a tight lid.
4. The jar can be placed in a cool, dark place.
5. After 2 weeks, the water will become cloudy and appear bad smell... This will indicate that the nutrient fertilizer is ready.
6. Before feeding the plants, it must be diluted plain water in proportions of 1 to 3.

Using this fertilizer you can get good harvest cabbage, root vegetables, onions, vegetables, plums and cherries.

Egg shell application:

1. As protection against moles. Thus, you can permanently get rid of these pests if you put a few pieces of dry eggshell into the hole during planting. The rodent will not like sharp edges and will no longer dig holes.
2. By using the shell, it is possible to protect the plants from decay of the root part of the plant ("black leg"). For the purpose of prevention, powder is sprinkled on the soil where the plants are planted. WITH therapeutic purpose, if some of the plants are already affected, they are completely pulled out, and the soil is abundantly sprinkled with crushed shell powder.
3. How to perform soil deoxidation. If you have large stocks of shells (it can be taken in huge quantities at poultry farms), then 500 grams of crushed shells are added to 1m 2. If you don't have a lot of fertilizer, then put a handful of egg powder in each hole before planting.
4. How to make fertilizer for all plants: take 10 eggshells (from 5 eggs), fill with 5 glasses (you get 1 liter of liquid) hot water and insist 5 days. When the infusion acquires an unpleasant odor, you can just use it. They feed this healthy drink any plants for the purpose of enrichment with microelements.

Egg shells for plants

You can get a good harvest of cauliflower with 1 fertilizer - crushed eggshells. All you need is a handful of powder, which is added when planting in the hole.

As mentioned earlier, moles do not like large pieces of shell, therefore, these rodents can only be discouraged in this way: add pieces of shell to each hole.

You can also declare war on slugs with the help of this fertilizer - sprinkle some of the crushed shell and some large pieces on top of the cabbage bed.

To get rid of the bear and protect the plants, you can also add a little crushed eggshell powder to the holes when planting.

They are very fond of the "white blanket" made from crushed shells of peppers, eggplants, watermelons and melons. It is necessary to add 2 glasses of powder to 1m 2 of land.

You can often face such a nuisance when tomatoes start to turn red early, and then it turns out that their bottom turns black and dries up. You cannot get rid of this right away, but if you feed the soil in advance before planting, you can get a good harvest. This is common when the soil is calcium deficient.

If the tomatoes are starting to turn black, try adding a little crushed egg-shell fertilizer to the soil. You should not expect an instant effect, but after a while the plant will begin to recover.

Eggshells need to be added to compost heap as well as in not a large number in the soil for seedlings and for growing indoor plants to loosen the ground.

In what cases the shell is not useful

You need to know that in large quantities, eggshells will be harmful to seedlings of peppers, tomatoes and early seedlings. You can not add eggshells to those plants that like acidic soils - violets and gloxinia.

Large pieces of shell can provide good drainage for growing strong seedlings- it is necessary to put a little eggshell on the bottom of each glass, and then add earth on top. All plants, without exception, will love this drainage.

Indoor flowers can be watered with eggshell infusion. To prepare it, you need to take a part of the shell - scald it with boiling water, fill it with plain water and leave it for 4 days. Then you can use the fertilizer to water the plants.

How to determine the acidity of the soil

To fertilize and get a good harvest, you need to know the acidity of the soil. It is not always possible to check the soil from the garden in a special laboratory. Amateur summer residents have their own secrets - you can find out the acidity of the soil yourself. You need to take a little soil, grind it, pour it into a bottle (for feeding babies) up to the 2nd mark, then add water to the 5th mark, cover with a teat and shake well for 3 minutes. If there is a lot of acid in the soil, the teat will expand. When there is little acid, the nipple will unfold slowly or even remain retracted.

EVEN IN OUR FAMILY, WHICH IS NOT PASSIONED WITH EGG DISHES (COMPARED TO MY FAMILIARDS WHO ALWAYS EAT EGGS FOR BREAKFAST), MORE BUCKET OF EGGS MAY BE COLLECTED IN A YEAR. IT IS FULLY ENOUGH TO FERTILIZE THE BEDS DURING THE SPRING SOWING, TO GROW STRONG SEEDLINGS, AND I SPREAD THE EXCESS UNDER THE SHRUBS AND TREES GROWING IN MY GARDEN.

EGGSHELL ENRICHES SOIL WITH CALCIUM, HELPS IT TO STAY LOOSE AND REDUCES ITS ACIDITY. ISN'T TRUE, IT IS BETTER TO USE LIKE "WASTE" FOR GARDENING PURPOSES THAN TO SEND THEM INTO THE WASTE BIN? AFTER PREPARING ANOTHER SERVING OF EGGS, BE SURE TO START STORING THIS FRAGILE BUT VALUABLE COOKING PRODUCT.

ON ACID AND POOR SOILS

The sandy soil on my site required increased doses of organic and mineral fertilizers, otherwise my plants would starve. Added hassle and increased acidity to my garden soil: in such conditions, high doses of mineral fertilizers acidify it even more, and it turns out vicious circle: Plants that would normally develop on soil with a neutral or maximum slightly acidic reaction feel worse and worse. In this situation, homemade natural fertilizers become almost the only way out, and eggshells are an irreplaceable source of natural calcium and a complex of important microelements.

If the shells are regularly applied to the soil, the soil pH level gradually shifts towards neutral indicators: calcium "separates" and converts nutrients into water-soluble forms, which in an acidic soil environment would turn into compounds inaccessible to plants. With a sufficient amount of calcium in the soil, the garden and vegetable garden receive their organic ration in full and therefore actively develop, bloom magnificently and

Calcium indirectly affects the fertility of the garden land, since it stimulates the activity of beneficial soil microorganisms. The decomposition of organic matter into humic compounds available for plants is accelerated.

By increasing the pH of the soil, calcium suppresses the activity of pathogenic microflora, which is brutal in an acidic environment. This means that there is less risk of damage to vegetables and flowers by various fungal diseases.

The optimal amount of calcium in the soil prevents the development of some physiological plant diseases - there are no more signs of top rot on the fruits of my tomatoes and peppers.

ON A NOTE

Eggshell takes one of the leading positions in calcium content. It contains up to 95% calcium carbonate, and in a bioavailable form. Also in her chemical composition contains important amino acids and a rich complex of trace elements, among which silicon, phosphorus, iron, potassium and magnesium stand out.

The shells from chicken, as well as any other eggs, introduced into the soil, significantly increases the immunity of plants. In contrast to the purchased "chemistry" with this product can not be overdone, so it is absolutely safe for the garden and for the gardener.

Waste from eggs makes the soil more air and water permeable, which again has a beneficial effect on the development of the root system of plants.

Eggshell as fertilizer

WE PREPARE THE SHELL

The shell is valuable only from raw eggs! Wastes from boiled eggs in boiling water lose most of their compounds and cannot serve as a valuable top dressing. But they can be applied to the soil as an excellent baking powder. And with the "broth" left after boiling eggs and abundant in useful substances, I regularly water indoor flowers; if I boil eggs in the country, then I pour it into the garden with some vegetable or give this valuable delicacy berry bushes.

Do not neglect waste from either homemade or purchased eggs. The shell of the purchased egg is completely free of any chemicals. Even if the chicken was fed with some "bad" additives, its immune system, genetically tuned to reproduce healthy offspring, completely neutralized these feeds. Therefore, there is no difference between home-made and government-made eggs.

Because large pieces of eggshells take a long time to decompose, you need to crush them first - and the smaller the better. The shell, ground into flour, will give its nutrients plants in the same season. After using the contents of the eggs for culinary purposes, I rinse the shells hot water under the tap to remove protein residues and film from them. Then I put this waste on the newspaper and dry land. A few hours after complete drying, I grind the shell in a coffee grinder. I pour the resulting powder into glass jar and store it under the lid for up to X hour.

HOW TO IMPROVE SOIL PROPERTIES BY APPLYING A SHELL

1. I already find application for shell stocks in early spring when I start sowing seeds for seedlings. For 1 bucket of seedling soil mixture, which I harvest myself since autumn, add 2/3 cup of ground egg waste and mix the mixture thoroughly. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but since I started adding this product to the seedling soil, the seedlings began to turn out to be strong, stocky and among them I no longer find a single weakened specimen.

2. Before spring sowing or planting vegetables in a garden bed in the form of transverse lines (onions, carrots, beets, etc.), I sprinkle the shell in an even layer on the surface, and then dig up the plantation. For 1 m2 of the garden, I bring in 1.5-2 cups of crushed product. After that, I make furrows and sow the seeds or plant the seed in the usual way.

3. After 4 - 5 weeks after the emergence of seedlings or planting seedlings in the ground, I give vegetable crops one more top dressing, but this time I use the powder to prepare a nutritious infusion. I pour one glass of flour from the shell into a bucket with a volume of 10 liters, fill it with water to the top, keep it in a warm place for 7-8 days, stirring 3-4 times daily; then I dilute the infusion clean water(1: 1) and I feed vegetables at the rate of 0.5 liters per 1 hole or 1 liter per 0.5 running meter beds (with line planting). Before and after such a procedure, I do not give plants any nitrogen fertilization, since nitrogen and calcium, when applied simultaneously to the soil, bind to insoluble compounds.

4. Before transplanting seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbage, etc. from cups, I add 3 tbsp. To each hole in the garden. l. powder from the shell and mix it thoroughly with the soil.

ON A NOTE

If you sprinkle the surface of the soil in cups under the seedlings with powder from ground eggshell, this will reliably protect the seedlings from damage by the black leg.

Prick the bear, block the path of the slug

The eggshell will protect garden plants from pests - slugs, snails and bears. Fortunately, I don't have them on my site, but my friend long time could not cope with the invasion of these dirty tricks. She solved the problem with the help of "prickly" shells: when planting seedlings in the ground, she once poured handfuls of such waste into the holes (not in the form of a powder, but in large pieces) - and the bear, having stumbled upon sharp shells, bypassed the garden bed with delicious roots of young plants ... After such a successful experiment, my friend zealously collects shells and every year tries to add it to all crops.

And with slugs and snails attacking her plantings in rainy seasons, she fights in a different way. In order not to give this voracious living creature the opportunity to get to the vegetables, "decorates" the edges of the beds with a small side of the shell, crushed into small pieces. The soft, delicate body of a slug or snail is in no hurry to scratch itself against this pointed fence - and the pests cannot reach the vegetables! Also, my friend scatters the shell around the circumference of the trunk circles of young trees and berry bushes so that they do not needlessly attract slugs with their juicy foliage and buds.

ECO-STYLE SHELL CONTAINERS

Take a raw egg, carefully "dismantle" only upper part its shells, pour the protein and yolk - and you have a convenient pot for growing seedlings! In such egg pots, I grow slow-growing seedlings, for example, seedlings of garden strawberries, celery, petunias: at the stage of initial development, they do not require a large volume of earthen coma.

I procure the right amount whole shells (I wash them thoroughly with hot water and dry them), make several holes in their bottoms with a sharp needle for the drain of excess liquid and fill them with loose fertile soil. I put the pots in the cardboard tray in which the eggs were sold, and plant the seeds there. Pads with shells are compactly placed on the windowsill and do an excellent job of the task, saving me from spending on buying containers for seedlings.

When the time comes to plant the grown seedlings on the garden bed or dive them into a larger container, I take such a "kinder surprise" in my hands and gently upholstery the shell with a spoon so that it cracks. Then I take out a piece of the shell from different sides, making small windows in it, and plant the plant along with the remaining shell on the garden bed or in a new, already real pot. The roots of the plant are found through the left holes of the loopholes and go beyond the shell, as it grows, completely destroying it. Thus, it is possible to avoid injury to the root system of the seedlings, which, in addition, receives top dressing from the shell, which decomposes under the action of soil microorganisms.

In egg pots I also root shoots of cacti and succulents, cuttings of pelargonium, begonia, saintpaulia and others indoor crops... Noticing that the shoot has taken root and released new leaves, I transplant it into flower pot along with eggshells.

EGGS FOR BERRIES, APPLES AND MORE

Eggshell-based feeding was also very popular with my berry bushes - currants and gooseberries. On the "egg diet", they become less sick and give more large berries... To make up for the lack of calcium, I put 2 cups of shells crushed in a coffee grinder under each bush. The procedure is carried out once a year in early spring, which has a positive effect on the development of young growth and the quality of the ovaries.

I do not have enough shells for feeding adult trees, but for young seedlings fruit crops I try to be sure to keep it, it contributes to an intensive new growth and development of the root system.

I also put 2-3 glasses of powder under young trees in the spring, sprinkling it in an even layer into trunk circle and burying into the soil to a depth of 7-8 cm with a hoe or a hand ripper.

Since calcium, which regulates the processes of building tissues and the root system, is especially necessary for plants in their "infancy" age, feeding with powdered eggshells will come in handy when planting annuals ornamental plants-they will please with active development and lush bloom.

EGG SHELL AS FERTILIZER - VIDEO

Shells as fertilizer for my garden

In the spring I go to the dacha with seedlings, my favorite cats and always with a jar of ground shells. Using it for five recent years, I realized how it is really useful for soil and plants.

In the garden, I prefer to use simple and sustainable methods, and ground eggshell is just a natural fertilizer and pest control. And it does not require any costs - neither material nor physical.

It is very simple to prepare the product. First, I break the shell with a rolling pin until small pieces are obtained, and then use a coffee grinder (or a mortar, or a meat grinder) to grind it into flour. I store it in a tightly closed container, without access to moisture.

The type of grinding depends on the purpose for which we will use the shell. For example, large pieces will not benefit the soil as they take a long time to decompose, but can be useful for other purposes in the garden.

What do I use eggshells for, and what results I have noted for myself.

Fertilizer for soil

Horsetail always grew on our site, moss appeared - obvious lovers of acidic soil. Three years later, as I began to apply the powder from the shell, they disappeared.

Eggshells are able to neutralize excess acidity.

The soil on our site is clayey, it has always been difficult to work with it. Now it has become looser, I can directly see the "voids" in the clay.

The shell improves the structure of the heavy soil, making the soil friable, which facilitates better air delivery to the roots. Thus, the shell flour increases the fertility of the soil. When dry, it does not form a dense crust.

Of course, I do not have a laboratory where I could test how effective this fertilizer is. But I shoveled a lot of literature about the shell. Yes, it does not give a momentary result, like manure, but accumulating in the soil, fertilizes it. The shell contains all trace elements necessary for the growth and fruiting of the plant, such as easily digestible calcium (93%), magnesium (0.55%), phosphorus (0.12%), potassium (0.08%), as well as in small quantities of sulfur and iron. The shells turned into flour are perfectly decomposed in the ground, which means they are absorbed by plants.

The shell contains all trace elements necessary for plant growth and fruiting, such as easily assimilable calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, as well as sulfur and iron.

Eggshells also go well with mineral fertilizers... But mineral water often increases the acidity of the soil, and shell flour reduces it. Acting in a complex, the shell neutralizes the effect of chemicals, while maintaining beneficial features mineral fertilizers.

Remedy for pests and diseases

Slugs and snails - a big problem for my favorite garden. To repel these pests, I slightly grind the shells and scatter them around the trunks of trees and shrubs. When slugs crawl over them, they get cuts from the sharp edges of the shell and die.

Slugs and snails have become much smaller. It seems to me that these bastards are smart enough to somehow inform their relatives not to visit such life-threatening places, and they themselves stay away from the eggshell. At the same time, I continue to use other methods of collecting them.

In the past, moles have often come to my site, especially in the spring. They, bumping into sharp objects underground, go to other places.

I put crushed eggshells into the soil, which discourages moles from coming to visit me.

An interesting way of dealing with the Colorado potato beetle and the bear, which is used by my neighbor. She mixes the ground eggshell with sunflower oil for smell and drips into the aisles with potatoes.

The bear, having tasted this "treat", dies. Beetles and their larvae are sprinkled with prepared crushed eggshell powder. They do not die immediately, but the action of the powder gradually nullifies the presence of these insects in the beds.

Of course for the soil shells are healthier from eggs of domestic chickens, but store ones are also not so bad. To obtain high-quality fertilizer, you need to take shells from raw eggs. It is believed that when cooking, beneficial substances under the influence high temperature collapse.

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The shells should not be discarded after cleaning the eggs. For lovers of home plants, owners of summer cottages, they will provide invaluable assistance in carrying out useful dressings that are necessary for many plants. Egg husks are used to make fertilizer that is environmentally friendly and natural. To use it correctly, you should know what its value is, how to prepare such a top dressing, when to use it.

When and why shell fertilizers are used

Eggshells contain more than 90% calcium carbonate. The presence of it and other useful components: copper, iron, zinc, phosphorus ensures rapid germination of seeds, plant formation, strengthening of the root system, improvement of metabolic processes, photosynthesis.

The prepared fertilizer from the shells is used in different cases... These include:

• High acidity of the soil, adversely affecting the yield of the crop. The addition of shells lowers the PH of the medium..
• Insufficient percentage of calcium in plants, this causes loss of color in foliage, dying off of plant tops, slow development of the root system. The amount of calcium is increased by the introduction of eggshells along with complex fertilizers.
• Improving the quality characteristics of the soil. Such fertilization helps to loosen the soil, increases its aeration, and the access of the required oxygen. Top dressing from egg shells will not allow moisture to stagnate in the ground. With it, nutritional components, trace elements will be better absorbed.

There are no strictly defined periods when plants require such feeding. It is possible to implement them:

• at the time of planting the culture;
• in the fall, in the spring, when they dig up the ground;
• for periodic feeding of plantings.

When the seedlings are planted in planting glasses, the shells of the eggs are laid down, while receiving both top dressing and high-quality drainage.

The shell can be used as drainage

Which crops need such feeding and which do not

Husk from eggs can serve as a fertilizer for plants. It is used in its pure form or insisted and made into a liquid fertilizer. It depends on the types of crops. Plants need this feeding:

• Garden ones (use crushed shells or infusion), of which it is especially needed:
  • onions,
  • carrots,
  • salad,
  • pumpkin,
  • swede,
  • parsley
  • dill,
  • celery,
  • watermelons,
  • melons.
• Room (use infusion):
  • green perennials,
  • flowering annuals,
• Garden (use infusion). Among them, calcium is especially required for stone fruits: cherries, plums. The fertilizer has a beneficial effect on pear, apple, currant, raspberry, gooseberry, citrus and conifers.

Photo gallery: which plants will be happy with shell fertilization

Celery
Melons
Onion
Carrot
Succulents
Ornamental perennials
Parsley
Swede
Salad

But for some crops, such feeding is harmful.... The following indoor flowers are fertilized with high level calcium can threaten with various diseases:

• violet,
• hydrangeas,
• gloxinia,
• azaleas,
• camellias,
• pelargonium,
• gardenia.

A negative reaction to the addition of shells to the wells is observed in strawberries,spinach, beans, cucumber.

Photo gallery: which plants should not be fed with ground shells

Garden strawberry
Cucumbers
Violet
Pelargonium

Shell fertilizers: recipes, application schemes

The procedure for preparing fertilizer from shells begins with the preparation of raw materials. The duration of storage of this fertilizer will depend on the correctness of this step.

Powder production

Fertilizer from crushed egg peels is absorbed faster by the soil. Step by step process its manufacture:

1. The shells of fresh eggs are freed from the contents, they are well washed from the inside.
2. The shells are dried in the sun or in the oven until they become brittle.
3. Grind them in a mortar, blender or through a meat grinder.

As a result, a powder is obtained from the shell. In the future, this product is used for top dressing when introduced into dug holes, made grooves, for sprinkling the soil surface near plantings. Liquid fertilizer is also prepared from it.

The powder obtained from the eggshell is used as a fertilizer or an infusion is made from it for plant nutrition

In the shell of boiled eggs there are less valuable substances than in the shell of raw eggs, since during cooking they lose them under the influence of high temperatures.

When the shell is freed from protein residues, does not have a nasty smell, is well dried, it is placed in a cardboard box and stored in dry and cool conditions for up to a year. Putting the shell in plastic bag it does not follow. Moisture gets inside it, and the powder fouls.

A shell that is rotten cannot be used, otherwise the plants may get sick.

There are many options for using shells among gardeners:

• Large chunks of shells can be added directly to the barrel containing the water that is poured over the ridges. For 2 or 3 days, while the water is in the barrel, it does not have time to rot, but it heats up and absorbs the necessary microelements from the shell of the eggs.
• The shell, divided into small parts, is added when digging the soil to a depth of 10 cm. The consumption rate per square meter is 100 pieces of shells.
• When disembarking garden plants 2 cups of this shell powder per 1 m 2 should be placed in the holes.
• Reduce soil acidity by mixing 1 part of the shell and 1 part of ash.
• Liming 1 kg of soil will require 2 teaspoons of the mixture.
• For drainage, lay a 2 cm layer of large egg shells on the bottom of the hole.
• When adding shells to the soil when planting (transplanting) home crops, put about 1/3 teaspoon on a flower container.

The shells are also placed on the surface of the ground next to the plantings to prevent the appearance of slugs.

Shell liquid fertilizer

You can prepare a liquid fertilizer, a universal infusion from the shell, by taking 50 g of shells or powder. Place them in a 3 liter jar, pour a liter of boiling water there. This mixture is infused for about a week. The readiness of the fertilizer is indicated by the turbidity of the solution and the appearance of an unpleasant odor... The working solution used for dressing is obtained by diluting the shell infusion with water in a ratio of 3: 1.

Plants are watered with egg husk infusion at least once every two weeks.

Garden, home plants are watered with infusion, fruit trees and shrubs so that the ground next to them becomes moist. This procedure is repeated after 1-2 weeks..

The use of egg shells as food for cultivated plants allows you to turn an egg shell, often discarded, into a useful one, the right fertilizer which is easy to make at home.