Making Organic Fertilizer From Egg Shells

Most people throw away the eggshells, but that's the best part, at least for the plants. Instead of wasting this resource, consider using it to improve plantation soil, as eggshells are a good source of calcium for plants and make a great fertilizer. You can easily add minerals and nutrients to the soil using eggshells.

The chicken eggshell is a kitchen waste that has the potential to be utilized. Utilizing egg shells as organic fertilizer is still rarely known by the public.

The following is the nutritional content of eggshells

The nutritional content or composition of eggshells, in general, is water (1.6%) and dry matter (98.4%). Of the total dry matter, egg shells contain minerals (95.1%) and protein (3.3%). Based on mineral composition, egg shells are composed of CaCO3 (98.34%), MgCO3 (0.84%) and Ca3(PO4)2 (0.75%) (Yuwanta, 2010). Chang (2005), stated that the main composition of eggshells is calcite, which is a crystalline form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The average weight of an eggshell is about 5 grams and 40 percent of it is calcium. The amount of nutrient content in eggshell organic fertilizer is what makes fertilizers have more properties.

How to Make Organic Fertilizer from Eggshells

Before making organic fertilizer from eggshells, the first step is to prepare tools and materials. The main tool is a tool for crushing egg shells. For example, plastic bags and glass bottles, blenders, or crushers. In addition, prepare a basin for the container resulting from the collision of egg shells.

1. Before pounding, wash the egg shells to avoid bacteria and dirt.
2. After clean and dry, egg shells can be directly mashed until really smooth, or half smooth.
3. Once smooth, it can be used as a mixture of planting media or used to sprinkle the soil around plants, especially plants in pots.

How to Use Organic Fertilizer from Eggshell

1. Sprinkle one tablespoon of solid organic fertilizer into the planting medium.
2. If the plant has a large trunk or tree, dig up the soil around the trunk 5 cm apart.
3. Then, evenly sprinkle two tablespoons of organic fertilizer into the hole.
4. After that, cover the organic fertilizer with soil again so that the fertilizer is quickly absorbed by the plant roots.

Make sure to do the above method once a week on a regular basis. Even though it is organic, fertilizing too often can actually burn plant roots.