How to Use Eggshells in the Garden (2024)

FAQs

How to Use Eggshells in the Garden? ›

If you're simply using the shells to get things started or pest control, I just crush them into little pieces. This allows them to slowly decompose into the soil around the plant while they keep pests away. Eggshells are also excellent for feeding back to your chickens!

Wondering what plants don't like eggshells? It's best to avoid using them on varieties that naturally prefer more acidic soil, such as azaleas and geraniums.

This makes hot composts the best home for uncooked eggshells, as it reduces the risk of any food poisoning in your fertilised fruit and veg. If you don't have a hot compost, we recommend giving the eggshells a quick wash before they plunge into your pile.

It is advisable to crush and incorporate eggshells into your garden soil regularly, as they provide valuable calcium and minerals that benefit plant growth. Aim to scatter crushed eggshells around your garden every few weeks or as needed.

Depending on the size of your garden, compile enough of each component to contribute a moderate amount to each hungry plant. Combine the two together, crush the eggshells by hand even more (which should be easier now that they're fully dry), and sprinkle the mixture across the soil bed.

Calcium is very good for tomatoes because it prevents blossom end rot. When starting from seed indoors will need 4 essential items: clean eggshells, egg carton, seed starting mix and tomato seeds (or any other plants of your choice – herbs, flowers, vegetable, etc).

Eggshells give the plants that extra boost to ensure there's enough calcium available to the plants, which, in turn, provides enough nutrients for healthy fruit. There are multiple plants that benefit from eggshells in your garden.

Alternatively, you can add crumbled eggshell directly into the bottoms of your planting holes. It is beneficial to use egg shells when growing your own vegetables like tomato, pepper and aubergine or plants such as roses, hydrangeas, spider plants, ferns and ivy.

"Eggshells can attract pests like rodents or insects, which might come looking for food," says Duford. Eggshells should be cleaned before using them in the garden or tossing them into the compost pile to avoid spreading pathogens.

Coffee grounds have a high nitrogen content, along with a few other nutrients plants can use. In compost, they help create organic matter that improves the ability of soil to hold water. It's best to add coffee grounds, not whole beans, to compost.

Do I need to boil eggshells for plants? ›

If you have lots of eggshells, you can make a liquid fertilizer. Boil 10 to 20 eggshells, then let the pot sit out overnight. Strain out the eggshells the next day. Water each plant with up to 2 cups of the liquid, as often as every two weeks.

The biggest benefit after tomatoes is to cucumbers. Place the crushed shells of a dozen eggs right down in their planting holes to provide easy-to-reach calcium, and your cukes will be noticeably crisper — and that crispness will extend to any cukes that you put up into pickles.

Not all plants like coffee grounds because they are slightly acidic, contain caffeine and are nitrogen-rich. Some plants that won't thrive in these conditions include vegetables like Chinese mustard, grasses like Italian ryegrass, rosemary, lavender and flowering plants like geraniums.

Plant feed: Used tea bags double as a handy fertilizer because of their tannic acid, which in turn foster increased nitrogen levels. Many plants, including roses and potted plants, will benefit from the elevated levels, so mix or spread those steeped tea leaves right onto the soil.

Allow the shells to sit in the water, soaking and cooling overnight.

Does calcium from eggshells leach into the water when boiled? Yes, but not much. If you want to absorb more of the calcium, you can grind egg shells in a mortar and pestle, so there's more surface area for absorption, then eat it with your food.