Egg Shells...amount used

I have used egg shells everytime I have ever grown...this year I actually got around to savING my shells from the time I stopped using them before last harvest tI'll it's time to use them next season ...at my house we go through A LOT of eggs...Sometimes a dozen or more a day...I know right....and the best thing is they aren't store bought....right from the chickens ass off the farm to my plate...I k kw for a fact these kinda shells are harder and that makes me feel like they would have more cal. In them...plus all the benefits of no steroids and all that malarkey...I wash them out...dry them off for a few days to a week on a screen outside. .once dried throw them in a blender and grind them into dust....but my question is ro anyone who has tried this..how much do you use...I plan on mixing some with my soil when the initial mix occurs. .. then when I feel it's necessary mix some with my watering schedual....Maybe a top dress...light one...does anyone have any idea how much cal. Is in...oh let's say one tsp...idk of any test done on this lol...iv looked...please let me know something my fellow devils lettuce growers

I use eggshells a lot, but it goes itno my compost pile.
If I were to estimate, i'd use probably a cup per cubic foot of soil.
But I use oyster meal as well, and they are similar, sorta

Just wondering, if the eggshells are ground into a flour, how long does it take them to breakdown and become available to the plant?

jaibyrd7 said:

Just wondering, if the eggshells are ground into a flour, how long does it take them to breakdown and become available to the plant?

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I'd speculate it's probably a month or so, but that is predicated on a bunch of other things.
If you are needing calcium immediately i'd use comfrey, or you could dissolve the eggshells with vinegar
MAYBE use BSM for some calcium too, or langbeinite

jaibyrd7 said:

Just wondering, if the eggshells are ground into a flour, how long does it take them to breakdown and become available to the plant?

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It all depends on "mesh size", how finely it is ground up. CaCO3 = CaCO3 = CaCO3, be it eggshell. oyster shell, or calcitic limestone. I've found 'hand crushed' egg shells 3 years later in my worm bins, oyster shell mounds that are several K years old and limestone blocks used for building material.

The finer it is ground, the more surface area, and the faster it's available. Dust like flour, like GMM said, in a month or so. Larger, like chicken grit size, could take years.

*I* don't bother with egg shells anymore because, A., we don't eat that many eggs, and B., the $$$ spent replacing my wife's blender would pay for over 100# of pre ground CaCO3. Plus the benefit of a not pissed off wife.

If 39+ years of marriage teach you anything, it's certainly, "Happy wife, happy life". I'm happy with just her saving used coffee grounds for the worms and fuck the egg shells.

Wet

Oh yeah, 1 cup/cf of mix, no matter the source of the CaCO3. *I* usually end up with more because of other Ca sources I add, but the 1cup/cf is the second ingredient after the peat moss.

Wetdog said:

If 39+ years of marriage teach you anything, it's certainly, "Happy wife, happy life". I'm happy with just her saving used coffee grounds for the worms and fuck the egg shells.

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Man.. I've never been married, but even girlfriends have taught me that

GoRealUhGro said:

I have used egg shells everytime I have ever grown...this year I actually got around to savING my shells from the time I stopped using them before last harvest tI'll it's time to use them next season ...at my house we go through A LOT of eggs...Sometimes a dozen or more a day...I know right....and the best thing is they aren't store bought....right from the chickens ass off the farm to my plate...I k kw for a fact these kinda shells are harder and that makes me feel like they would have more cal. In them...plus all the benefits of no steroids and all that malarkey...I wash them out...dry them off for a few days to a week on a screen outside. .once dried throw them in a blender and grind them into dust....but my question is ro anyone who has tried this..how much do you use...I plan on mixing some with my soil when the initial mix occurs. .. then when I feel it's necessary mix some with my watering schedual....Maybe a top dress...light one...does anyone have any idea how much cal. Is in...oh let's say one tsp...idk of any test done on this lol...iv looked...please let me know something my fellow devils lettuce growers

Click to expand...

I do the same thing with my eggshells and use them at up to 1 cup per cubic foot.

I bake them in a disposable aluminum pan, then crush them

That's about what I figured...I wasn't too sure but than you guys for the info...I have it ground into an exta fine power ....so next question ...would you say I should start watering with them about the time she starts to flower or would the calcium in the mix be ok for the season

I just got to thinking and adding some stuff up ..which my math is terrible but 1 cf is close to 7.5 gal...not quite 7.5...but close if I'm not mistaken... I'm gonna be using 100 gal and 45 gal smart pots this year. ..7.5×13 is 97.5...close enough to 100...so if what I'm thinking is correct I should use 13 cups of egg shells in my 100 gallon of soil...right?...just seems like a lot

Your math is good, 13 cups + a scootch for 100 gal. Add it when you make the mix and you'll be GTG.

Wet

Right on...I appreciate the feedback everbody...I have one more q...I know it's rare but has anyone ever had a cal abundance problem...if so what are the signs of having one

well as a fellow egg shell user you might run into high ph before you run into calcium overload. then depends on your water source, but only add liquid cal/mag when the plants need it. i balance out the calcium sources w a good dash of coffee grinds in each soil batch.

Wetdog is right on it here!

He explained mesh size and surface contact.

There will be not more Ca available by % vs. any other egg! You simply have more volume! BONUS...

Use in the same amounts you would other ca source's

I might note for some using eggshell.

I never rinse them out! The little bit left of the membrane/etc. Has great nutritional value!
Roasting your shells adds a new and differing nutrient profile - again, I don't rinse them out......There are never broken eggshells available IN the chicken house's as they eat them as soon as they would brake! Washing the eggs is important to remove the possibility of contamination by salmonella from surrounding chicken ,, er, eh....by products!
I'm sure you wash yours for the same reason (OP)!

Oh come on now city dwellers! You didn't think we actually took'em directly from the nether regions to the carton did you?

The way commercial eggs are produced/prepared for the market by the way of feeds and nutrition being HIGHLY controlled.....Your eggs are dull,bland and you will almost never "see" multiple yoke eggs from a big city market.....

The eggs we produce for the commercial organic market have very deep orange coloring to the yolk and have what many describe as a deeper nuttier flavor...The birds are free ranged in 100ft long "pens" that are moved every cpl of days across a field (they clean and turn the area, delivering "fertilizer" along the way. These are mainly "hay" fields of organic Alfalfa's and Rye grass's for other livestock. These pens are tended by employee's that actually hand gather the eggs every mourning). That way they get natural grasses, seeds and insects left out of grain diets (during warm moths of course). During winter months they are building housed in short buildings (during summer moths we raise up coming pullets and meat birds in them) and feeding is supplemented with dried grasses and more natural grain selections and not "pumped" with egg promoting/optimizing nutritional formula's. Most of these eggs go to demanding high end eateries in about 3 states and are shipped daily. The rest goes to health food stores in the region of our state we live in.

I'm sure the OP's egg's are different from store bought too!

I know every egg I a chicken egg...but I don't call store bough eggs chicken eggs...when I say chicken eggs I'm talking about farm eggs...and yeah they have a much richer favor. ..much darker yoke...and the shells are generally much harder...brown..white and he'll even green ones...and I just have to throw it out ...a chicken will eat anything...absolutely anything. ..even a dead chicken. ..they are dirty nasty animals. ..but damn 5hdy taste good...what exactly does baking the shells do btw...I rinse my eggs out most of the time but I always leave some if the slime aND the matrix thing inside...I kinda figured it would have some good stuff inside it...but you have to make sure the slime dries before blending them up or it just makes a mess