Calcium Collector

I like sunny side up for breakfast. How about you? I'm consuming 2 eggs in the morning and I'm saving the eggshells for my dragon fruit plants. My mom taught me this habit since I was in grade school for her orchids. I never taught that I would be doing the same thing today. I end up being a calcium collector! A new hobby? I guess it is. It's a win win situation for me and my plants.

Wash your eggshells and let them dry on a cannister like this.

Eggshells are biodegradable. One whole medium sized eggshell makes about one teaspoon of powder, which yields about 750 – 800 mgs of elemental calcium plus other micro-elements, i.e. magnesium, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, sulphur, silicon, zinc, etc. There are 27 elements in total. Wow! 

If only I learned earlier about all these benefits then maybe I prevented our first ever bloom from falling last year. Lesson learned!

Look at these buds! Red buds for dragon fruit are not good.

How to prepare:

Heat eggshells on a pan or microwave to kill possible pathogens like salmonella. Heating may takes about 2 hours. Crush and grind eggshells using a mixer, grinder or mortar and pestle and till them into the soil. It takes several months for eggshells to break down and be absorbed by a plant’s roots. It is better to turn it to powder and mix it to your soil.

Remember calcium plays an important role in the strength and thickness of plant cell walls and helps prevent flowers to rot and fall.

Learn more from Gary's channel here! 

Farmers are scientist too! This video will teach you little tricks to learn how to extract calcium much faster for our plants to use.