Organic Method of Starting Seeds - Eggshells!
I have discovered a handy way to use eggshells in starting my garden seeds. I use this method in my organic garden, as it gives back to the earth.
Advantages of this method include good moisture retention needed for germination, along with avoiding transplanting shock, since seeds are moved, “pot” and all.
If you would like to try this method, then follow these simple steps:
Take one egg and cut a cap about the size of a quarter from the large end. This opening is big enough so that the contents can be poured out without breaking the yolk. Put the empty shells (of however many eggs you have cut) back in the carton and keep them in a shed or basement until you’re ready to plant seed.
Use an ice pick to punch a small hole through the bottom of the dried eggshell to provide drainage, then fill with a regular potting soil mix. Take a seed (you can use tweezers) and place it in the eggshell container, you can even sow two or three, and then moisten each container thoroughly.
Seedlings are easy to handle in these planters and may be held for some time. The best time to put them in the ground is on a cloudy day. If you have seeds that are slow to germinate, then you can slip the egg container into a plastic bag, a bread wrapper would do, seal with soft wire or other fastening and place on a darkened shelf until germination occurs.
Once the seeds germinate then you can expose them to light, a good idea is if you have a Gro-lamp.
When the plants are large enough to set out in the garden, make sure to crush the eggshell or remove the bottom half, so that the roots can be in direct contact with soil.
Water the transplants well using a starter solution made from an ounce of fish emulsion in a gallon of water. The decaying eggshell releases a small quantity of beneficial calcium into the soil. The other advantage being that roots do not become root-bound and should there be a period of drought, the crushed shell will not become dry and separate from its surrounding soil.
It is just as easy to cut the eggs as described above, as cracking them open.
I find it quite amazing how quickly the shells disappear in a humus-rich organic garden, when the seedlings are transplanted.
Some gardeners put the potting soil directly into the paper egg shell cartons, and as they are biodegradable, they will be absorbed into the soil.
The Organic method has always appealed to me because it doesn’t impose a mental straitjacket on it’s practitioners. It is safe to say that Nature follows more than one path to achieve its ends. So I feel free to experiment and adapt on a small-scale, as long as I stay in tune with the natural processes.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I am not successful at all when transplanting seedlings into the ground, and sometimes even starting seeds (some of them just don’t want to germinate). I am thinking of winter sowing, the presprouting method you mentioned here, or the egg shell method. I have never tried winter sowing, though. It sounds so easy, but I am not sure if I will be successful. What do you think about my situation? What method should I use? Thanks
October 18th, 2007 at 6:47 am
I have some other ways of winter sowing for you, which are really easy!
Take a zip log bag, half fill it with potting soil,wet it just a very little, put your seeds on top of the sowing mix, then close the zipper.
poke 2 or 3 TINY holes in the bag.
Place the bag in the snow.
AS the weather gets warmer in the early spring just open the zipper a very little, and then more, as the weather heats up. Make sure that you close the zipper again for overnight.
Do this until you can take the seedlings out( which should be well started,) and then transplant them into pots or into the garden.
Hope this helps!