Homemade Eggshell Plant Fertilizer

Garden plants require food to grow. If the soil in which it is planted is rich in nutrients the plant will be more successful than a plant that has to struggle for food. Plants also deplete the soil's nutrients over time. Adding fertilizer improves the nutritional quality of the soil. An alternative to buying commercial fertilizing products is to make your own using eggshells.

Put used eggshells in a jar of water with the lid screwed on loosely and leave them for about a month. You can keep adding your used shells all the while but when the first shells have been in the jar for four weeks, the fertilizer is ready to use. Dilute the liquid at a ratio of 1 cup of eggshell water to 1 gallon of water and use this to water your plants. Use this fertilizer about as often as you would any regular fertilizer.

Note that this solution is not going to smell good. This is not something that you are going to want to spill so keep it in a safe place where it can't be knocked over. You may want to keep it in the garage or someplace else that usually stays at a moderate temperature instead of in your kitchen.

Let your discarded eggshells dry out by leaving them in an open container in a dry place or by putting them in a warm oven for faster results. When the eggshells are dry and brittle, crush them into small pieces and then pulverize them into a fine powder in a blender or food processor. Sprinkle this powder around your plants, flowers and vegetables as you would with a commercial fertilizer.

Eggshells are rich in calcium, an essential nutrient for growth and cell manufacture in plants. In fact, the shells are about 93% calcium carbonate. The are also composed of about 1% nitrogen, another essential component of fertilizer. In addition, eggshells contain other trace minerals like phosphoric acid that are beneficial to plant growth and health.