Are you someone who consumes lots of eggs every day and has tons of shells to throw out?
Well, let me tell you something: those eggshells you’re throwing away can quite literally be gold for your garden plants!
In this article, I’ve curated a list of plants for you that would greatly benefit from eggshells. If you have any of them in your garden, that’s reason enough for you to not throw those shells away.
But first…
Why Should You Use Eggshells In The Garden?
Well, if you didn’t already know, eggshells contain tons of natural calcium which can not only help improve the overall integrity and root system of your plants but also aid with better soil drainage.
How To Use Eggshells For Plants?
I definitely wouldn’t suggest you just bury the half-cracked eggshells into the ground. They’ll have a hard time decomposing and it’s just impractical.
A better solution would be to grind or crush your eggshells into a fine powder and mix that in with the soil to allow for the nutrients to release much more easily.
Plants That Will Appreciate Eggshells
1: Tomatoes
In tomatoes, the calcium from eggshells can actually help prevent blossom-end rot, which is often caused by a lack of calcium in the soil.
The ideal way to go about it is to mix crushed eggshells into the soil right before you’re about to plant your tomatoes.
2: Peppers
Using eggshells for your pepper plants can be useful as the additional calcium aids with fruit development and prevents rot from spreading in the plants.
For this, you may want to grind your eggshells into a fine powder because you’ll be sprinkling it around the base of your pepper plants.
3: Eggplants
Eggplants very much need additional calcium to produce firm fruit with better overall structural integrity.
In the case of eggplants, you want to work the crushed eggshells into the ground before you transplant your eggplant seedlings. That’s the right way to do it.
4: Roses
As you may already know, roses prefer slightly more acidic to neutral soil for the best growth. The calcium from eggshells can help balance pH levels in the soil and lead to better blooming.
Finely crush your eggshells and scatter them around the base of your rose shrubs once every few weeks.
5: Strawberries
When it comes to strawberries, a calcium boost can actually limit the production of soft, mushy berries, which…yeah…you don’t want that…
Right before you plant your strawberries, add crushed eggshells to the soil and work it in for stronger, more robust growth.
6: Cabbage
In cabbages, calcium from eggshells can help prevent tip burns which is a common deficiency that affects leafy greens.
For cabbage, you don’t have to do anything fancy or technical. Simply crush and mix your eggshells into the soil around your cabbage seedlings and that’s pretty much it.
7: Squash & Zucchini
Because squash and zucchini sort of fall under the same overall category, I thought I’d mention them together. Additional calcium helps prevent blossom-end rot and keep these fruits relatively firm.
To use, work eggshell powder into the topsoil near the base of the plant.
8: Spinach
Spinach can potentially benefit from a calcium boost and it may allow the leafy green to produce healthy, vibrant leaves that hold their shape no matter the conditions.
For spinach, just add finely crushed eggshells to the soil before planting or as a top dressing.
9: Basil
Wow, glad we finally have a herb here. Basil can utilize calcium to produce stronger stems and larger, more flavorful leaves.
Simple mix crushed eggshells into the soil of herb beds or pots and enjoy better-tasting basil harvests.
10: Beans
As much as beans can go on their own, a little nutrient boost doesn’t hurt. Beans need calcium to support strong stem growth and healthy pods.
Since beans are commonly grown in planting holes, sprinkle your eggshell powder into the planting hole and let it work its magic.
11: Broccoli
Calcium is an essential nutrient for broccoli as it allows the green vegetable to form firm and dense heads, which is what you want with this one.
Ideally, you should crush and mix your eggshells into the soil a few weeks before planting your broccoli.
12: Marigolds
Although marigolds are king when it comes to pest and insect repelling in the garden, slugs and snails can be a little more tricky to deter.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to spread crushed eggshells around your marigolds as they act as a protective barrier protecting your flowers from unwanted insect intervention.
Conclusion
The next time you have some eggshells lying around after your morning breakfast, try not to throw them away. Even advise your friends and family not to do that and try to collect some from them too to use in your garden. Your plants will greatly appreciate this effort from you.
I love the ideas that you share. Thank you 😊
Hi Cynthia! 😊 Thank you so much! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, eggshells are such an easy little garden booster!
Hello i am a HS student and I’m taking an environmental science class. My project is to grow a plant and i decided to grow a radish. i was wondering if you have any more tips on how to fertilize plants. Well specifically Radishes.
Hi! 😊 That’s a great project choice! Radishes grow fast, so they don’t need much fertilizer, just mix a little compost or balanced fertilizer into the soil before planting. Too much nitrogen can give you big leaves but tiny roots.
Are eggs shells good for any house plants?
Hi Lisa! 😊 Eggshells can help some houseplants, but only the ones that like extra calcium, things like pothos, snake plants, and philodendrons. Just crush them very fine so they actually break down.
The eggshells need to be rinsed with water, then baked to kill off any chance of poisioning the soil with salmonella, the oven will work, I use an air fryer.
A perfect bait for worms is coffee grounds, bananna peels, egg shells, and corn meal. A garden with worms is a good garden.
Worms provide aeration and worm castings. The casting are a good natural fertilizer.
Everything must be chopped up to a size smaller than a fingernail so the worms can devour the materiel. The egg shells also need to be subjected to heat so the shell is chemically broken down to make the minerals available to the plant. Everything breaks down faster if it is cut up. People have criticized the use of egg shells in the garden because they claim it takes to long to influence the soil. My response is don’t they wish that they themselves or a previous owner of the garden had mixed the egg shells into the garden in the past ?
Consider the mixture of coffee grounds, bananna peels, egg shells, and corn meal, mix them together. Cover the mixture with cardboard or newspaper, and remember to moisten the materiel before you cover it with soil. This process will also have a positive affect on the pH.
The worms will find it. Again, a garden with worms is a good garden. Following this process will also decrease the amount of garbage going to the landfill. This is the best natural ammendment for the soil and the $ Price $ is Right.
Hi James 🙂 Yes, crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, banana peels, and other kitchen scraps can be great compost ingredients, especially when chopped small so they break down faster. I’d just avoid saying eggshells must be heated to make minerals available. Drying or baking can make them easier to crush, but the biggest help is grinding them finely and letting them break down over time.
For using coffee on plants. Do you use your perked coffee grounds? I’ve been dumping used grounds in a container, then when needed I put them around my indoor & outdoor plants. Please tell me I’m doing it right. Haven’t tried egg shells yet.
Hi 🙂 Used coffee grounds are fine in small amounts, but I wouldn’t pile them too thickly around plants because they can compact and hold too much moisture. I like mixing them into compost first, or sprinkling a thin layer and covering with other organic material. Eggshells are best rinsed, dried, crushed very fine, and mixed into the soil or compost.
WOW ,
Thank you so much for the egg shell information.
I never knew it would help strawberries, roses and even marigolds, besides all the other plants, 🪴
We live and learn all the time with gardening 👌
Hi Patricia 🙂 You’re so welcome! Gardening really does teach us something new all the time. 🫶