March 10, 2024 – Inevitably when gardening, things that were standard a few years ago become outdated or just wrong. For example, the literature used to recommend placing an egg and banana in the tomato planting hole. In fact, you can still occasionally find such a recommendation today. Such recommendations, however, ignored the rotting time needed before the basic elements could be used by a growing tomato plant.
Then, placing crushed egg shells in the garden became a new standard. Unfortunately, while crushed egg shells may help prevent cats, other animals and slugs from strolling through your garden, they don’t provide needed plant nourishment. So, where are we today?
The bottom line is how can we quickly make nourishment available. Organic fertilizers are great but may take up to 30 days before they’re provide nourishment. Much as I hate to say it, Miracle-Gro can be used to jump start seedlings before and immediately after transplanting, providing nourishment until organic fertilizers take over.
So, instead of sticking bananas in the planting hole, do one or two things. Stick several dried peels in a gallon milk jug, fill it with water, and let it sit for a week, shaking it daily. After a week, pour the contents around your tomato plants. You can also let peels dry completely on their own or stick them in a microwave for 30 seconds at a time for a few days until they dry. Then, crush into a powder. The powder can go in the hole before planting or added around the plant base after planting.
Egg shells also need to be reduced to powder form. You can crush them in a blender, separate the liquid, which is also greatly appreciated by the tomato plants, put them in the hole before planting, or sprinkle the dried powder around the plant.
