A gardening expert has shared a hack to help your flowers and plants grow this spring.
Posting on TikTok, Laura, the founder of the Young Growers Club, said placing egg shells in flower beds can boost their growth.
Laura, whose club encourages kids to grow their own grub, said the lesser-known technique adds as a fertiliser. Posting alongside her video she said: “This is so easy, and cheap to make. You basically need to cook the eggshells so you remove any water and contaminants, crush them, put them in and jar with organic apple cider vinegar and then let the magic happen.”
As her video begins, Laura shows of the end result, saying: “I’ll use this during the growing season to fertilise my plants – I’ll use it during the growing season to provide calcium.”
She then baked a dozen eggs in the oven for 15 minutes at 160C. Laura advised to continuously check on the eggs to ensure they don’t burn, and once ready they should be carefully removed from the oven and broken up, reports the Express.
She suggests wrapping them in a tea towel and striking them gently with a rolling pin. Next, Laura adds the pieces of eggshells to a small jar, ensuring its around 10% full. After adding the apple cider vinegar, Laura warns it is crucial to leave a gap at the top of the jar, otherwise you’ll be left with a foamy mess.
Instead, you should be left with a small amount of foam residue. She explains: “Laura advised to keep an eye on the eggs to prevent them from burning, and once done they should be carefully taken out of the oven and crushed.” She suggests wrapping them in a tea towel and gently hitting them with a rolling pin.
Next, Laura puts the pieces of eggshells into a small jar, making sure it’s around 10 per cent full. After adding the apple cider vinegar, Laura warns it’s crucial to leave a gap at the top of the jar, otherwise you’ll end up with a foamy disaster.
The gardening expert has whipped up a storm with her ingenious tip for nourishing plants, which involves baking eggshells to create the perfect feed for soil. Sharing her knowledge, she explained: “The chemical reaction that occurs looks awesome but also makes the calcium available to plants in a water-soluble form. This can be used to feed the soil for tomatoes and peppers.”
She rounds off her advice by suggesting that gardeners should store the mix in a dark place before using it: “Once ready, dilute and use over the growing season. Note: it’s strong so it will needed to be diluted to a ratio of one tablespoon to 10 litres of water.”
In response to a curious inquiry about why she bakes the eggshells, Laura clarified: “Gets rid of any contaminants. You could just wash them and crush them. But Nigel Palmer (who I learned this from) always bakes them.”
Among her followers, one commented in amazement, “I have never seen this method before, how fascinating! ” Another was eager to test it out, “Now I want to try this myself.” Laura encouraged this enthusiasm: “Definitely worth it. You can use it on your tomatoes and peppers in the summer.”
As the UK’s planting season looms, this little nugget of wisdom is tipping to become a game-changer for both green thumbs and their blooming beauties.
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