Old timer at the community garden swore by eggshells for tomato plants

He told me to crush them up and toss 'em in the hole when planting. I did it on a whim last spring and my tomatoes grew like crazy compared to the ones I didn't do it to. Anybody else try this or am I just lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_emma18d ago

Alright, hold on. Crushing eggshells and tossing them in the hole is a pretty common old garden trick but it might not be the thing that made your tomatoes grow like crazy. Calcium from eggshells takes months to break down in soil, so it's not like it gave your plants a quick boost that season. More likely you just had better weather, better soil drainage, or those plants got more sun than the others. People love to give simple reasons for complicated stuff, but gardening is usually way more random than that. I've tried it before and didn't see any major difference compared to my other plants. It's a nice tradition but probably not the magic bullet.

blake43218d ago

Better weather, better soil drainage, or more sun" - that right there is probably it. I had the same thing happen with my peppers a couple years back. Thought it was the coffee grounds I sprinkled around, turns out I just moved them to a spot that got way more afternoon light. Now I just throw the eggshells in the compost pile and call it good.