How to Use Eggshells in the Garden
If you are a big egg eater like we are you probably have lots of discarded shells you are simply tossing in the trash. If you compost, you likely know that eggshells are great to use in your bin, but did you also know you can toss them directly onto your soil?
Clean, dry egg shells ready to use.
Egg shells are an excellent source of calcium and they are a perfect amendment for plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants (nightshade family). Crush some of the shells and place them into the hole before planting and they will provide much needed calcium to plants like these that are prone to blossom end rot. If you have already planted, simply crush the eggshells next to the plant and work into the soil as closely to the plant as is possible.
Egg shells placed around the plants on top of the soil.
Egg shells are also a great organic pest control in the garden. Any soft-bodied insect like snails, slugs and cutworms will be unlikely to crawl over the sharp edges of the shells so they are a deterrent to these pests who would otherwise devour your young plants or seedlings.
Egg shells placed around your plants for pest control.
You can also use the cleaned eggshell halves as small planters for seedlings by placing the halves in the empty egg carton and filling with soil. Or you can just soak the eggshells in water for several hours until the calcium leaches out for watering pots and household plants.
Lettuce seeds grown in eggshells then transplanted to the garden. Discarded shells then used for calcium and pest control.
However you use them be sure to rinse your eggs and allow them to dry thoroughly. Wash your hands after handling eggs and eggshells to avoid risk of salmonella exposure. Once the shells are dry I crush mine and scatter them directly into the soil of my entire garden. (I do the same with my coffee grounds) You can also scatter larger shell pieces to deter cats from using your veggie beds as a potty.
Crushed egg shells, ready to use.
If you have more eggshells than you can use, store the clean dried eggshells in a paper bag for later or pulverize them in a coffee grinder and to make a powder you can add to water.
Happy plant 😉
Now go get your garden on,
Lisa LaPaso
Lisa’s Landscape & Design (“like” me on Facebook!)
“Saving the Planet One Yard at a Time”
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