DIY Water Soluble Calcium Fertilizer Using Eggshells and Vinegar
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.พ. 2023
- In this permaculture gardening video I show you how to make water soluble calcium rich fertilizer using eggshells and vinegar. Eggshells are difficult to compost since they take a long time to break down. Using acetic acid or vinegar helps speed up the decomposition process and the chemical reaction releases the calcium in water soluble form that plants can use. Calcium is an essential nutrient that plants need to make foliage, cell walls, and fruit. Using this method to return nutrients back to the soil is just one of the ways we are using to be zero waste and reduce our waste footprint.
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For drying the eggshells, in the summertime I simply leave them out in a bucket in the sun and they dry quickly, in the winter I put the bucket near the woodstove. If you do need to use your oven, wait until after you have baked something, and then put the tray of shells into the oven. You can turn the oven off, as there is plenty of heat left for drying the shells.
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Thank you so much for the tips! Two hours in the oven uses a lot of energy.
I do the exact same thing, after making breakfast I toss them in to the residual heat
Hi Christina, Greetings from Windermere, Florida 9b
Excellent video ❤
I have used eggshells in my garden for 50 years. But my uses have changed. Now I pulverize them and use as grit in my Worm bins. Their Castings are now calcium rich ❤
Thank you Florida friend! That's a great idea for supercharging your worm castings with nutrients! I want to start a worm bin soon - any tips for keeping them happy in our Florida heat?
Excellent video. Thank you for educating us about garden ideas
Yes, been using this method as I watched filipino channel & they call them CalPhos.. I panfry my smashed eggshells & then use my old blender. So far it works. Very informative video. Thanks for sharing.
I gave up saving eggshells because they never broke down in my compost; now I can start saving/using them again. Thank you!
Takes 3 years to start leaching until 10 years. Not a waste. No harm done.
I feed small eggshell pieces to my chickens in there mash along with diatomaceous earth in small amounts keeps the parasites away.
Your chickens will love you for that!
Very thorough! Thx!
I dry out the shells and turn them to powder and add to the worm farm or mix into potting soil. A flour sifter is good to dust around plants and scratch into the soil. I do the same with charcoal.
Thank you so much for the advice .😀
Very cool love this thanks ,
Very nice sharing friend.
Very Good. Thank you very much
Thank you for sharing this video
Thank you Lady I will do it in my garden
actually, the powdered eggshell are great to add in the compost pile. the calcium will become available readily if add at the beginning of the heating process. indeed there is a wonderful process in biodynamics called cow pat pit you can use and tis very much like your ordinary compost in terms of maturity...blessing
Interesting about the cow pat pit. I will have to try it when I have access to some basalt. Thank you for the tip! I love learning about all these different biodynamic methods.
Wow, thank you for sharing your video ❤
Well. Thank You!❤ I'm an organic gardener and have been making eggshell flour for couple years now but was not aware of this method. I'll definitely give it a try! Thx again!
Well done, clear, informative
Watched all your vids Loved all of it need more please.😊🖖
Thanks a lot. From Malaysia.
Good information 👍
Excellent video thank you can be store for along time
Thank u from africa Tanzania 🇹🇿
I love those flowers in the kitchen it’s different
Your simplicity and netcharAl
Thanks, from Nepal. I just found your channel and subscribed.
I like your video so much you have a good idea very good see you for next videos thank you.
Nice. Tks God bless you.
good information
Thank you, thank you!
Alaska native love you be safe stay strong God bless
Greeting from Queensland Australia Chrsina, even though I'm seventy five I'm as active as and a keen garner. I'M quite a big environmentalists and greeny, I have chocks what you would call chickens I never dispose of the shells they are thrown into buckets and crushed. I'm so impressed with your way I'll do it that way from now on. I'll start tomorrow with shells and crushed one's. I also eat a lot of oranges I never thrown out the the pills as they contain Nitrogen, after peeling, place into the fridge to remove moisture for a fortnight the sit them in a sunny spot till the become stiff place in oven at 250 C for an hour, then food processor. Plus I collect used Coffee grounds where I'm a regular, they also have Nitrogen slugs and snails love it and it kills them with a hart attack, with the result there is no resistance built up unlike chemicals
Greetings from the land up over.
Thanks, Forever Food Forest. ❤❤❤
I always save all my egg shells for the garden. I'll make the foliar spray. Thank you.
I just discovered your channel today and I love your videos. I am learning and laughing all at once. I love your authenticity. Happy growing!
Thank you so much!
Nice, thank you 😊
Hi... Nice video!
But ... I would like to give you a few hints!!
First... Just throw the shells into a frying pan... Crush them up and on low heat cook them and stir them until they darken but not burnt... 10 minutes +/-
Just crush them up while cooking... Do not powder them...
Then using your same ratios put in big glass jar ... Put vinegar first and add eggshells slowly so it does volcano on you... Cover with cloth and tie with string.... Put somewhere cool and dark and place on some eruption if jar is not big enough.
Any vinegar will do!!
In about a week or so reaction stops... Strain put away... It last very long time in cool place.
Always spray in late evening.. never early morning unless you are sure it will be cool and cloudy all day.
Thanks for the tips! I'm currently trying this method with kombucha that turned to vinegar, and not powdering of the eggshells.
Followed instructions but did not achieve same outcome.
Thanks so much
this is very good to do..tnx for sharing
Most welcome 😊
Great information never knew to add vinegar to it and that it benefits soooo much thank you for sharing this vital information stay blessed
Great!
great dear queen
Thanks friend
Thank you
Definitely worth trying out. Thank you.
My pleasure!
Nice dear ❤
Sending support idol❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks very much for this video, it was as informative as the one on composting.
I wash eggshells with hot water. I gather anywhere from 1 to 2 dozen over the course of a week or so together and then microwave them for one minute. I assume that you’re putting the shells in the oven to kill any bacteria, and I am quite sure that putting them in the microwave does the exact same thing. I have been hand grinding them inside of paper towels with the edge of a jar, and I think I’m going to move to the electric grinder method. First of all, it looks a hell of a lot easier, and second it definitely grinds it to a finer powder than I can by hand. I will be adding some of the diluted mixture to my worm bin, and the rest I will add to my compost pile.
I did teacher I'm confident my test score will be 100 thanks love you.
thanks
Thanks for sharing. Will be doing this. I have a huge bucket of eggshells. 😮 im a organic Gardner. 😊
Garden like a Viking, explained how the frying pan cooking breaks down the membrane so the composting is quicker, I'm sure the oven does the same thing.
i use an old coffee grinder i got at a garage sale for a few bucks. the only thing i would change is evening spraying of leaves is less than ideal. as a general rule avoid doing this especially in humid places like most of usa. with tomatoes, when i plant the starts outside, i put in some of the powder in the hole. adding it to the compost is also excellent. excellent channel.
Watching from Teacher Seve.
Great in time for me tomatoes
Thank you for the information. You say an ounce mixture to a gallon of water, but in the video you add about 3 ounces to a quart.
Good eye! Its not an exact science. A more dilute mixture will last longer.
@@foreverfoodforest Thank you.
Can I use it on all my plants including orchids?❤
Actually, eggshells are very similar in composition to our own bones. Many trace and more significant minerals are in the shells. That red-pinkish color in the dust is magnesium and manganese which the latter combines with silica of the shell to make dolimite. Limestone with dolomite makes lime more usable in plants. Thanks!
2-3 hours@ 300 deg.
Add 5 cups white vingar to egg shells
@@simple4me2 Why so long? I baked mine at 375 for about 45 minutes and they powdered out well in the past.
Which is why this solution is also a good idea for humans to consume : try replacing the vinegar in your homemade salad dressing with calcium vinegar.😉
@@tmckmusic8584 Probably real viable.
Hello Christina, Greetings from Michael Staten Island NY 7b. how often do you spray your plants with the eggshell solution. Thanks
Hello from zone 4b in Quebec. I’ve only been growing veggies for our years and have a question. How often do I use this spray, and at what stage of maturity of the plants?
I don't wash them but sun dry the egg shells. Will it make a difference. Thank you for your video ❤
I do the same but use a 1:1 ratio and it works fine. I add 1 TBSP/gallon of water and water it into the soil. I don't need to wait with the 1:1 more than 20 minutes or once all the bubbles stop.
Crazy really this doing
I just throw them in the compost pile. I’ll let the natural process takes it course.
But this works too. 😃👍🏼
I've heard it takes a very long time for egg shells to break down and become bio-available in regular compost. That squares with my observations of how long the shells are intact. I just started hand-crushing them (mortar & pestle actually) then soaking them in vinegar for a couple days before putting them in my compost to speed up the process a bit.
Thanks. Another guy who uses a 1:1 ratio says the egg shells will neutralize the vinegar so that dilution is not necessary. Is it different cuz you use a 10:1 ratio?
I’m just wondering if you need to do the vinegar. After drying and grinding into a powder, can’t you just use it like a dry fertilizer, or will it just not produce the calcium that way?
It'll help but still isn't really available for at least 4 months. The membrane needs to break down during watering which won't happen for a long while. So it's better to add long before planting, or compost the ground up shells instead... but the vinegar method usually activates faster as shown.
@@freedom_born thank you! Interestingly, I was just shoveling some, “finished,” compost and found a nearly intact eggshell in my compost pile that’s probably been in there for several months at least. I try to break them up but must have missed this one. Anyway, the durability of eggshells is amazing, but I’d sure like to make use of all those nutrients.
😊
This amazing information. Thanks for sharing how to make calcium available for plants using egg shells
Eggshells are the closest form of our bones which exists outside of the body. Which also makes it a superb calcium supplement (for humans) after being ground up. ❤
I Sun dry mine. Then I blend them to powder. I use my own homemade vinegar. Works great minimal electric used.
Why do you bake the eggshells? Can I use an fryer or microwave and for how long?
Can I leave the mix to fermentation in a plastic container, for the 2 weeks?
Hi! What is the purpose of baking eggshells? I love cutting corners and if its only for killing possible salmonella bacteria, vinegar will do it anyway.
Baking them not only kills bacteria, but also dries them out and creates a chemical reaction that helps extract water soluble phosphorus along with calcium. It is possible to cut corners and still get a good result. I made my first batch without baking, just eggshells smashed by hand. Strained off the vinegar every two weeks and filled it with fresh. It took about 3 months for the eggshells to dissolve into a fine powder.
i would normally use shredded egg shell directly into the Vermicompost bin for future humus amended or directly into my tomato beds who loves extra calcium especially in the fruit production phase. So i didn't understand what's vinegar really does ?
The calcium in egg shells is unavailable unless the shell is crushed to a powder using a blender or coffee grinder. The vinegar is for creating water soluble calcium that can then be applied in diluted form as a foliar spray. However, you don’t need the vinegar if you have reduced the shells to a powder. The powder can be applied to the surface of the soil much like you would agricultural lime.
I usually put ground up egg shells in the ground when I plant tomatoes and they seem to grow faster. I'll have to try this method too. Do you put this on pepper plants too?
I haven't tried it with peppers. I only apply this when plants show a deficiency. But it should work with peppers too!
It’s a good video to simplify methods.
I follow Garden Like Vikings and his prescribe use of liquid calcium is about 1-2% while an ounce to a gallon is also around the same ratio of less than 1%
How often you recommend to use as foliar spray and or drench.
I have recommended a friend in Pakistan to use the concentration on their vegetables like tomato and eggplant.
Tanveer Taj Calgary, Canada Zone 4
Hi welcome! I use it as a foliar spray at the first set of blooms to prevent blossom end rot. How often it needs to be applied depends on your irrigation/rain schedule/soil type. I have sandy soil so during dry season I only drench once sometime after transplanting and before blossom set. During rainy season I have to drench every two weeks as the rain washes it out of the soil and its too humid to apply it as a foliar spray.
@@foreverfoodforest it’s a heavier clay with lots of organic matter. I used it once, but will be applying foliar spray and soil drench with other liquid fertilizer upcoming weekend. Also, I handed over this formula to a farmer friend in Pakistan‘s so they can apply on their crops which are calcium deficient.
Thank you for detailed reply.
@@VOTE4TAJ Thank you for passing along the info! Good thing about clay soils is that they hold on to nutrients far better than sandy soils.
When growing potatoes, at what point do you add the eggshell fertilizer to the plants?
Out in California leave them out for a day. It’s summer here so they will get dry after once day.
Last season I ground the egg shells and then just sprinkle around the veggie plants and watered. Did not have any tomatoes with end rot.
Thank you. Every other source I looked at either gave me incorrect ratios or didn’t tell me what the finished product looks like.
???I watched another video on this and my concoction 5 cups vinegar to 1/2 cup eggshell. It quit bubbling after about 2 1/2 days so I filtered out the eggshell mush. The color of the liquid is still mainly clear vinegar. The taste is different but still slightly vinegar in taste. Can I still use this as foliar?
Can you store pulverized eggshells in a mason jar to have at hand when you are ready to make the fertilizer?
Absolutely yes
will boiled eggshells work or do they have to be roasted?
Boiled will work, it will just take longer to dissolve. You can also put them in a black container and set them outside in full sun for several days.
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Can the calcium fertilizer be stored in plastic containers or should it be stored in glass? Ty
👍👍❤
For How many days it can be stored?
And instead of viniger can i use lime juice?
You can use lime juice! Any acid will work. I've even used over brewed kombucha. I've stored it for up to 3 months in a dark place under the sink.
You said the preparation time is 10 days.
Should we have to mix or shake daily?
can it be pour on soil?
Nice videó. Which one ís best á) foliat spray or b) giving to plant( watering to plant)?
Ör both are same.
Can you give me qty of eggshell-Vinegar dilute liquid require for chillies, eggplant & okra vegetables plants at fruitting stage?
At what interval We should give this liquid?
Hi! Great questions. Foliar spray acts faster and is good if you have sandy soil. Sandy soil and rainy climate cause calcium to wash out of the soil. Use as soil drench if you have clay soil. Clay holds on to calcium and it also helps make heavy clay soil more workable over time. Use at transplant stage when plants are establishing if on clay soil - that should be enough to last through the season. If you live in a rainy climate with sandy soil use about once every 2 weeks at fruiting stage as a foliar spray. Plants only need a small amount of calcium and normally there's some in the soil already, unless you're growing in soil less potting mixes.
Can you answer a question for me? is there any reason we can't just dissolve a calcium supplement from the drug store in water?
Why do you bake the eggs shells for 2 hours? I live in Japan where ovens are not common, except small toaster ovens. Also white vinegar is not available. We do have apple vinegar and rice vinegar. Would either of these be suitable?
Baking them does two things - it dries them out and creates a chemical reaction that makes phosphorus available as well. Apple cider or rice vinegar will work. You can use any acid that's around pH 2-3.
What's the shelf life of the calcium concentrate?
I have no oven. Can you provide an alternative? I just have a stovetop.
So using the power grid is a good thing.
You can also bake them in a dutch oven over a fire, but not everyone has access to that.
What is the reason for heating the eggshells in the oven at the start?
I am wondering the same thing.
Very costly on energy putting them in the oven for two hours. I never use the microwave for food but Better microwave for a minute with the eggshells.
Baking the eggshells, as the channel owner says below, breaks down both the egg shells and the lining inside the shells so they dissolve much faster in the vinegar than just plain powdered egg shells.
Did it help with blossom end rot on your tomatoes?
Yes! Especially with the oxheart variety.
@@foreverfoodforest Thank you!!
I was thinking, tomatoes are acidic. When canned some manufactures line the can so they don’t pick up a tinny taste. So instead of vinegar use blended tomatoes, mix with the prepared powdered egg shells and ferment…..???
Not sure why you bake the eggshells fot that long. I only bake them long enough to kill bacteria for storage. They crush easily and then I pulverize them, just as you do. I have been sprinking the powdered eggshell in my gardem beds each year. I think I'll try this method this time. Thank you!
Joanie, The longer baking time helps break down the protective membrane on the eggshells. They will dissolve in vinegar without baking, but it will take longer.
@@foreverfoodforest In my JADAM Practice, by baking them or toasting them, we also get the phosphorous side, thus it is called Cal Phos and not just Water-Soluble Calcium that is plant-ready nutrient in the form of Calcium Carbonate. I hope I added a bit info, thanks...:D
@@tamala127 Good to know! We have an abundance of phosphorus naturally in our soil, so this is useful information. Will be looking more into JADAM as well, right now I'm only familiar with JLF.
Have you tried grinding before baking?
Why backing them or washing them?
Mixing this with weed tea made from dandelions would be even more powerful, and the leftover grit is good for worms.
How often do i have to spray eggshells on these plants? can i use this spray for all plants?
Calcium is a necessary nutrient for all plants. It helps them build cell walls. I spray once before bloom set. If it rains a lot, I use it as a soil drench bi weekly to prevent blossom end rot on Tomatoes. Using it as a soil drench when growing wheat will increase your harvest.
Need more details on exact measurements to use
Is calcium absorbed through the leaves?
Water soluble calcium is. It enters through the phloem pathway and is easily distributed by the plant to where it is needed most.
@@foreverfoodforest wild! much appreciated!!! Thank you!!
I followed your instructions, and a month later, not all the eggshells have dissolved. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Thank for reaching out! That is normal and can happen if the ratio of eggshells is higher than the amount of vinegar. Just strain out and save the liquid and pour more vinegar on top of remaining eggshells. You can use the saved liquid as fertilizer.
@@foreverfoodforest thank you!
After 2hrs at 200 degrees, they look just the same?
They'll be very hot and the inner membrane will flake off.
Is vinegar good for your garden plants? Couldn't you boil the powder with water and get the same effect?
Nevermind on the 1st question, I see that you diluted it. Still wondering about the 2nd question tho
Great question! You need the acidity for the chemical reaction to break down the calcium in eggshells into a water soluble form.
@foreverfoodforest so would boiling work as well or nah?