Are eggshells good for tomato plants?

Growing tomato plants can often be one of the most rewarding plants to grow in your garden. From the bright red color of the tomatoes to its amazing flavors.

However, sometimes our plants don’t turn out the way we had hoped from. Unfortunately for us, tomato plants are highly susceptible to a common disease called blossom rot.

This is where the magic of using crushed eggshells comes in..

So whether you’re having problems with your tomato plants and have noticed the leaves dying or brown tinting on the leaves? Or you would just like to give your plants a boost and add some extra natural nutrients.

Using crushed eggshells could be worth a try because of the benefits it provides.

So Are eggshells good for tomato plants?  Yes. There are numerous benefits of using eggshells on your tomato plants. Eggshells contain various nutrients including calcium, which is proven to help promote healthy growth in tomato plants. As well as preventing diseases such as blossom end rot.

It’s also a great natural alternative to store-bought fertilizers which may also be harmful to the environment.

As the eggshells break down, the calcium is slowly released deep into the soil. It’s this calcium that helps promote healthy growth in your tomato plants and even helps to prevent diseases like blossom end rot.

You may have also read that crushed eggshells are also known to help deter slugs from eating your plants.

However, After using crushed eggshells on our tomato plants we are not sure if this is true or not. From our experience, it didn’t seem to have any effect on deterring the slugs at all. (If anything the slugs seemed to love our plants more then ever)

 So now you are probably wondering…

How Many Egg Shells Do I Need Per Tomato Plant?
Now you know why you should be using crushed eggshells to improve your tomato plant’s health, How many eggshells do you actually need?

That a good question. Based on our experience of having used this method for a few years now. We would recommend using approximately 10 – 12 eggs shells per tomato plant for best results.

Before you rush to your kitchen cupboard and grab an empty certain of eggs. Let us show you how to effectively prepare them in 3 simple steps.

How to prepare eggshells for tomato plants In 3 Simple Steps?

Step One

Place the eggshell pieces into a strainer and rinse with warm water. Once the eggshells have been washed make sure to pull away as much of the inner lining of the shells as you can. Then let the excess water drain and place onto a paper towel until they are completely dry.

Step Two

Once the eggshells are dried add them to a blender and blend the shells until they are finely crushed.
 
Blending the eggshells will help them decompose quicker to enrich the soil at a faster rate compared to larger eggshell pieces. It will also make them easier to spread around the plants.

Step Three

The next step is to place the blended eggshells into a freezer-safe zip bag or container and leave then to set it in the freezer to save until planting time. (Remember that You’ll need approximately 12 eggshells for each tomato plant)

If you don’t have access to a blender don’t worry. You can get similar results by using a rolling in instead.

Simply add the dried eggshells to a ziplock bag, or between a few sheets of kitchen roll. And then using the rolling pin just roll over the bag/sheets until the eggshells and finely crushed.

This method may take slightly longer and requires a bit more effort but will certainly be worth it.

So How Do You Add Eggshells To Tomato Plants?
Now you have the crushed eggshells prepared you’re ready to add them to your tomato plants.

You can do this by Spreading approximately 1 cup of eggshells around the base of each tomato plant. Make sure to gently work the shells into the upper layer of the soil while being careful not to disturb the roots of the plant.

Alternatively, you can add them to your plants before planting. Simply sprinkle the crushed eggshells at the bottom and around the soil.

Hopefully, we have given you the information you were looking for.

This is the exact method we have been using for the last few years and it works amazingly well for us. Hopefully, it will work for you too.