Nature and Gardening

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All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.

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Home composting question: high quantities of egg shells per week (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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We have a household of two and I just started a 43 gallon capacity rotating composting bin. Our weekly egg consumption is high and there's an additional load of volunteering (baking) where I have to dispose of 2-3 dozen egg shells at a time.

What's the maximum number of shells I can expect to toss in the compost each week? Any ideas on how to dispose of the rest without going right to the trash? We only have recycling and yard debris pickup, no city compost options. Thanks in advance!

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One of the best ways we're aware of to make the calcium plant available is to treat them with vinegar. We'll dry ours on a sheet pan in the oven on a low temp, crush them, and then steep them in apple cider vinegar for up to a few days. The remaining bits of shell can be strained out and added to your bin, and will break down much more quickly than they would otherwise. The acv solution can be diluted 10-20x with water and applied at the base of your plants or as a foliar spray.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wouldn’t spray vinegar, even diluted, on a plant I want to keep. Even though some of it will be converted in reactions with the eggshells, enough will survive to acidify the soil and to burn plants.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That hasn't been our experience but the apprehension is understandable. It's certainly not advised if it's the only watering that's being done, but if the soil organic matter is present and there is supplemental water the rhizosphere is likely to face few, if any, ill effects. The final solution one achieves is essentially calcium acetate and water.

Conversationally: sometimes there can be confusion around vinegars and relative pH; while ACV has the highest pH at 5% it's really the closest to neutral ranges and the bit of buffering by CaCo3 brings it closer to 5 before the dilution. Even a 1:1 solution of water and table vinegar (with averages between 2.5 and 2.7) isn't acidic enough to cause lasting damage to plants, though it can cause leaf damage. Generally speaking it's commercial vinegar with a low of 2.2 that can cause lasting damage to a given plant when applied directly to the root zone, but in many cases that same location can be replanted within a short period due to the breakdown of the solution when acted upon by soil life. As a comparison, consider that some studies show the rain during thunderstorms to have a pH of 3.63 as compared to the non-thunderstorm average of 4.05.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

All fair points. Honestly, acid rain is the comparison in my mind. I've also used 1:1 vinegar:water as an herbicide somewhat successfully.

Of course, one can also use vinegar to acidify soil, say for changing the color of hydrangeas. Maybe I'm just too cautious.