Q. I read somewhere that putting crushed up eggshells is
good for the garden, so I have been doing that. I also throw tea leaves and
coffee grounds on the garden which I know is good, but I was wondering about
the eggshells. Are they helpful and I should continue or forget it and throw
them out?
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| Eggs and bananas at our farm in Batangas, Philippines. Ground up eggshells are better chemically for the soil in out tropical, high rainfall soil than in the desert where there is plenty of calcium. Banana peels release more nutrients than the eggshells. |
A. They do two things; organics improve the structure and
texture of the soil and add to its chemistry. Warm wet soil decomposes the
smallest stuff first. Put eggshells and tea leaves in a blender with some water
before composting or adding them to a soil. Coffee grounds are already “ground
up” so it’s not necessary to use a blender.
Any kind of “organic” breaks down
in the soil through the action of organisms where it turns into “Black Gold”,
improving soil structure and slowly releasing the chemicals they contain. There
is a lot of information available on the chemicals released by eggshells, tea leaves and coffee grounds. But get them small if you want them to be released quicker. When adding stuff to the soil it is better to add a whole bunch of different stuff than just one thing like all eggshells or all banana peels.
Eggshells are mostly calcium, the same kind used to increase alkalinity in soil It is better for soils that are more acidic such as higher rainfall areas. But still eggshells are not bad for the soil.