Gardeners told to keep broken egg shells and sprinkle over plants

The next time you crack open an egg, hold onto the shells – eco-experts advise they can actually be used to help plants grow.

According to Waste Managed, the UK wastes about 9.52 million tonnes of food every year – 70% of which comes from households. It also makes the UK the worst culprit when it comes to food waste in Europe. Fortunately, there are many ways that our food scraps can effectively be reused in our gardens.

The same is true for eggshells – one of the UK’s most popular breakfast foods. Based on expert advice, these hard skins can actually be massively beneficial for your plants.

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Give Me Trees recommends: “Crush up some eggshells because not only do they provide a calcium boost to your plants but they also lower soil acidity and deter pests.”

Egg shells are high in calcium, which is necessary for several plant processes. Give Me Trees explains: “Calcium is essential for strong cell walls in plants and preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes and peppers.”

Blossom end rot is a physiological disorder that occurs when certain plants are deprived of calcium. It causes dark sunken spots to appear at the blossom end of fruits and, in some cases, can make them inedible.

They’re not the only popular food that can be reused in the garden either. Banana peels are another commonly tossed-away food item that can be a great help in your garden.

Banana peel is high in potassium, which is a vital mineral for plant growth and development. Potassium helps regulate a plant’s water content, transport nutrients, and is responsible for activating many enzymes.

Therefore, you can easily give your plants a boost by transforming your old banana skin into a fertiliser. One popular way to do this is to make ‘banana peel tea’.

Simply soak the skins in water over a few days until they partly ferment. At this point, many of their nutrients will have leeched into the water, which you can then use to water your plants.

Equally, you can also add banana peel to your compost pile and let it naturally break down. This way, you can combine its beneficial effects with that of other organic matter.

Similarly, old coffee grounds also can be added to compost piles to benefit plants. They enrich the soil and also help make it more acidic, which helps certain plants like hydrangeas.

Even better, the strong smell of coffee also helps to deter pests like slugs. In turn, this protects your plants against being eaten or contracting a disease.