lapsteel - Posted - 05/04/2026:  15:17:44

A homemade solution:
youtu.be/0yn6wWoYPlY?si=U1iOPAWzWIEvxyMz
I hope you find this useful!

Owen - Posted - 05/04/2026:  15:33:58

Would a mortal/pestle [or "reasonable facsimile" depending on what's laying about] grind the eggshells sufficiently? 

[I do most of the watering / hoeing / eating of the tomatoes .... my lovely and talented assistant looks after the rest. so I've brought ^^ to her attention.   Merci.]

Owen - Posted - 05/04/2026:  15:52:24

.... and if you can't find a mortal, maybe a mortar would do??  

lapsteel - Posted - 05/04/2026:  17:37:39

That would work very well.

rinemb - Posted - 05/05/2026:  06:27:49

I guess I need to eat more eggs this summer. Brad

rinemb - Posted - 05/05/2026:  06:31:32

a bit vague on how much of the mixture to pour around plant, to avoid "bad" things happening? Brad

BanjoLink - Posted - 05/05/2026:  09:14:14

Crushed up egg shells is an old remedy for end rot ...... just about everyone that has every grown tomatoes knows that! Still a good reminder or for us or those that may be new to growing them.

rinemb - Posted - 05/05/2026:  09:36:39

egg shells are free, vinegar is cheap. I suppose the vinegar acidity get muchly spent from the reaction to the calcium, thus neutralizing it. Its been 50 years or so since I balanced a chemical equation in Chemistry, so I am guessing. Brad

rinemb - Posted - 05/05/2026:  09:41:30

The best tomato grower I know, does a variation. She digs the hole, cracks a raw egg down it-tossing in the shell after a bit of crushing, then backfills a bit, then plants the tomato in the hole. That adds nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium. I have not ever done this. Brad

lapsteel - Posted - 05/05/2026:  17:36:18

Don’t store the solution under a tight fitting lid. It continues to produce CO2 and will blow your bottle apart under a tight lid. Burying an egg shell in your garden does not add calcium to the soil.

rinemb - Posted - 05/05/2026:  18:32:14

Good ol Google AI;

 

BanjoLink - Posted - 05/06/2026:  06:42:56

quote:

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Originally posted by rinemb

Good ol Google AI;

---

Yep ...... takes more than just making a bunch of tiny sherds.  However, if you have used the same ground to grow tomoates for years, they will help, but it seems to me buying some calcium products (items like Gypsum) are inexpensive enough where you can get immediate results may make more sense.

rinemb - Posted - 05/06/2026:  08:29:42

quote:

---

Originally posted by BanjoLink

quote:

---

Originally posted by rinemb

Good ol Google AI;

---

Yep ...... takes more than just making a bunch of tiny sherds.  However, if you have used the same ground to grow tomoates for years, they will help, but it seems to me buying some calcium products (items like Gypsum) are inexpensive enough where you can get immediate results may make more sense.

---

In reality, that is likely the route I will go.  We just don't eat that many eggs.  Full disclosure, I have been adding gypsum for 3 years and still get too much bottom rot.  Poor application?  A different source of my problem?  

Brad

1935tb-11 - Posted - 05/06/2026:  08:44:04

i gave up on tomato growing this year,, the last 3 years i can't get nothing bigger then a golf ball ,  the vines are tall as your head and big and bushy but the maters are wimpy  , . or the burn in the sun. usually there are folks giving them away when they come in .

Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 05/06/2026 08:45:57

rinemb - Posted - 05/06/2026:  08:51:47

My goal this year is to do as much as I can different then what I have been doing in the past couple of years. I know my tomato growing location is a bit of a negative factor, but I persevere. I planted some different varieties, I hope to water less often, I hope to feed them less or smarter, I planted deeper. I think I will also pray to native american spirits. Brad

BanjoLink - Posted - 05/06/2026:  08:58:44

quote:

---

Originally posted by rinemb

My goal this year is to do as much as I can different then what I have been doing in the past couple of years. I know my tomato growing location is a bit of a negative factor, but I persevere. I planted some different varieties, I hope to water less often, I hope to feed them less or smarter, I planted deeper. I think I will also pray to native american spirits. Brad

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I did a "Japanese tomato ring" a few years ago and it turned out pretty well,  but I still got some end rot.  I have a friend not tyoo far away that grows 20 different varieties of Heirloom tomatoes and I'm betting (knowing him) that he probably uses all natural materials in his soil.  He sells them commercially (50 lbs. a week) to several restaurants in Columbia (SC).  He really just does this as a side hobby and makes a little money from it.  When I get a chance I'll ask him what he does.

reubenstump - Posted - 05/06/2026:  09:16:58

1) Take a soil sample (there's a method), then send it to a local county office or university extension service to be tested. If you know or suspect that a certain mineral or something is out of whack, specifically ask them to test for that item. Tell them that you're growing vegetables (not flowers, not trees, not grass). They'll provide recommendations.

2) Work from there.

rinemb - Posted - 05/06/2026:  11:42:27

quote:

---

Originally posted by reubenstump

1) Take a soil sample (there's a method), then send it to a local county office or university extension service to be tested. If you know or suspect that a certain mineral or something is out of whack, specifically ask them to test for that item. Tell them that you're growing vegetables (not flowers, not trees, not grass). They'll provide recommendations.



2) Work from there.

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Sage advice.  I have done that with lawn areas, but never for gardens of any type.  Brad

RonR - Posted - 05/07/2026:  18:16:48

One spring I opened up my koi pond and found a dead bull frog that didn't make it through the winter. Being in a hurry to dispose of the dead beast, I buried him in the vegetable bed and planted cherry tomatoes over top of his grave. I thought it would take a couple of years for the frog to break down, but that summer I had the best cherry tomatoes in over forty years.