To prevent blossom rot, I put a handful of egg shells in the hole with the tomato plant when setting them. This gives the tomatoes calcium and it works.
For 2 dozen tomato plants, I use 2 gallons of crushed egg shells. It takes me a year to save up that many.
Whenever I use eggs, I rinse the sticky stuff out of the shells and set them on a paper towel to drain. After they dry, they are ready to crush and add to the bag. I usually let them build up in the bag and then put them in a bowl and crush with my hands and fingers. (This also buffs my rough skin and makes it smooth.) I store the bag in the pantry until spring planting time.
If you want to try this, you need to start saving your egg shells.
Smart! The spray calcium you buy to prevent blossom end rot is expensive. Egg shells are free. They release the calcium over a long period of time.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I lost the information on saving egg shells and planting them with tomato plants. How do I do it, etc.?
By Allene
Putting a handful of egg shells in the hole with a tomato plant really does help with blossom rot. I save all of my egg shells.
After cracking the eggs, I put the shells in a bowl of water and use my finger to gently wash the membrane out. Then I drain them and place them on something to dry. It takes a day or so unless I place them near heat.
When they are dry, I crush them with my hands and store in a gallon zip lock bag. When the bag gets full, I put it on the shelf in my storage closet. So far, I have saved 1 1/2 gallons of egg shells to put in the holes with tomato and pepper plants this spring. By then I should have a good amount saved up.
Egg shells give the plant calcium and it's also a great way to recycle egg shells.
