Egg shells and coffee

I have been collecting egg shells and used coffee as I read somewhere they were useful in the garden for both feed and pest control.

How best to use them? I am growing a mix of fruit, veg, salad in containers and raised beds.

Thanks in advance - another great weather day!

 

Re: egg shells. I've used those in my garden to deter slugs/snails. First attempts didn't seem to do much good (crunched up the shells and scattered around plants) even watched them slithering over them!
Then I started baking the eggs - it dries them out and makes them more brittle thus sharper Crunch up as before and scatter. This makes a much courser barrier. I have a baking dish which I keep handy and all egg shells go in there. Whenever the oven is on, I put the dish on the floor of the oven and let them "bake" - only takes 10 minutes or so. In the main though, those baked shells get fed back to my chooks - but at this time of year they have to share half with the plants

 

Re: Coffee. encourages earth worms, I put coffee grains around some plants in the border, my lawn was covered with worm casts, you should be fine if using only in containers.

 

So are u saying no need to use coffee in containers? Would there be benefit of putting the coffee in the compost?

 

I empty my coffee grinds around any plant that is slug caviare - they can't stand coffee. I do worry about the acidity of coffee though.

 

My local Waitrose puts out big tubs of grounds from their coffee machine next to their outdoor gardening stuff for customers to help themselves, not quite sure what to use it for though.

 

Would probably encourage worms, which is good.

 

My inlaws are big coffee drinkers so they have been saving it for me. Don't slugs like everything in the garden? Ok - once every thing I planted in its final position, the coffee with come out. ☕

I have been baking mine, more for hygiene reasons. May keep the egg shells for the raised beds when I fill them.

Thanks everyone - great advice as always.

 

I 've been putting the eggs shells around my tomatoes, apparently the calcium in them stops your tomatoes from getting bottom end rot, ive also been adding them and my coffe grounds into the compost bins.
you can also add the coffe grounds around acid loving plants like blueberries.

 

By around you mean the surface compost? Yeah - will give it a go. Good tip about the blueberries.

How close to the stem do you place the coffee/egg shells?

 

Egg shells look awful mine go in the compost heap for that reason only. If you are suffering with slugs they can be easily removed (small plot) after dark with a torch. Not too easy if you have a massive plot.

 

Do you mean your egg shells? I'm curious at what you mean by "for hygiene reasons"?
Are you worried the slugs might get salmonella?

 

Coffee grounds go in my blueberries & azaleas. Dont egg shells in copost bins attract rats ?

 

I would have thought that rats were attracted to compost bins anyway.