making water soluble calcium w/ egg shells & vinegar...
ticodxb
12 years ago
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suncitylinda
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agodickiefickle
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
WWYD with 6 dozen egg shells?
Comments (21)(Leslie here... addicted as always) Wonderpets... I found a link on the 'Bed Bath and Beyond' website to a mortar and pestle set that's identical to the one I use. It's made of marble, and costs only 13 bucks. Here's the URL to that link... http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=10177863 BUT...they have another set, made of granite, which I think would work even better for eggshells.(Wider diameter, made of bulkier material, more spendy though) See... http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16041807 (I really like that one) Whatever you do, make sure you get one that is hefty and has some serious weight to it. As thin as eggshells appear to be, it takes a surprising amount of force to beat them into actual dust after grinding them into tiny bits. Trust me, you want the heaviest and most durable material you can find. Natural stone works perfectly for this. I can give you more tips on the fine art of pulverizing eggshells if you want. I squish them up in my hands first. Toss a few in the bowl, (don't fill it too full because you want them to be somewhat vulnerable to the hardness of the stone. Too many acts almost like a mattress) and start by grinding them into small bits. (This is like a rolling motion; you're just rubbing the surface of one stone against another stone, with egg shells in between.) Once I get them into smaller pieces, I continually shake the bowl back and forth horizontally across the counter; this brings the larger pieces up to the surface; the dusty stuff stays towards the bottom, acts as a buffer, (mattress) and allows you REALLY smack the bigger chunks HARD, without having to worry about striking stone against bare stone. Eggshells have no choice but to disintegrate upon sharp impact like this. (Yes, at this point, I basically hit them as I would with a hammer... so the 'mattress layer' protects the stone from any damage.) I probably wouldn't try this with ceramic material, definitely not glass... and I'm afraid metal might actually dent up from repetitive abuse of this nature. The marble one I use tolerates these beatings beautifully, with no ill effects whatsoever. I only wish the bowl was a little bigger, and also... fatter, heavier stone would just speed the process, and require less effort from whomever is doing the actual pulverizing. Oh and Laura... you have me pegged. I'm up to my ears in 'experiments' around here. Of those eight piles, I've managed to keep 4 in the 125-150 degree range for almost two weeks now. They are melting amazingly fast... My plan is to 'process' the contents of four cold piles through the hot piles as they go down; adding greens, and minding my ratios as I go. AND no bad smells or anything! Truly, I having a blast with this forum and all my compost-related adventures!!! I've just finished sculpting a decent sized hole in the ground to use as a fire pit... because I feel convinced I can fill this hole with sand, line it with rocks, and and use it to make some version of 'bio-char'. I have buckets of experimental 'bug juice' brewing... molasses tea. I've been prowling around the national forest too, in search of indigenous bacteria. (People dump huge piles of yard wast out there too, which I've been more than happy to scoop up while I'm there.) I built a very cool sifting table, which so far... I've been using to sift old, partially decomposed wood/bark mulch, but soon will use it to sift compost also. I've got one empty wire cage left, before I would need to cut into a new roll to make more. I've sworn to my boyfriend that I wouldn't keep more than these 9 bins going at once... but... you know how that goes. Found a source for free Alpaca poo yesterday... might be worth cutting into that new roll after all. :) Leslie in CO...See MoreWill calcium carbonate neutralize acetic acid?
Comments (7)With a bit more searching I found this subject has already been discussed .. and right here on this very forum! Starting with third post. "I get soluble calcium by dissolving sea shells in vinegar. Let ±50g of shells soak in 1 liter of white vinegar. After about 24 hours you can boil the lot in a stainless steel pot for about an hour. Then filter the liquid (I use a coffee filter [LOL]) to remove the excess of shells and make-up the volume to 1 litre. This way you obtain a calcium acetate solution that contains 15 grams of calcium per litre." "? Are you able to estimate the grams of Ca that egg shells, substituted for sea shells, would yield in your formulation ? (The egg shell in vinegar extract, for soluble calcium, was told me by an old country doctor over a quarter of a century ago for use as a human nutritional supplement of calcium.)" "It would be the same. The amount of calcium(Ca) that will dissolve as acetate in 1L of white vinegar (5%) - irrespective of its source - is ±15g (in theory: 16.7g). Just dissolve egg shells untill they no longer dissolve." "when making the calcium acetate, is boiling required? and what does that part do? I was thinking of just dumping egg shells and vinegar into a glass bottle then skimming liquid off the top as needed as a calcium supplement. since the concentraition will always be 15ppm, the idea is just get as much as required for the concentration I want to make up." "I suppose that could work. The boiling is intended to remove any residual acid. Maybe you should test the pH to make sure(?)"...See MoreEgg Shells in Nutrient Solution?
Comments (24)Miracle grow has a tomato plant nutrient with calcium, but will only sell it in Australia. I called them and they said they only supply soil based products in US. I asked them futher if I could order from Australia and they stated that I could order, but they probaly would not ship it into US. The MG with calcium in Australia is all that is needed according to their write up.(below) Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food This fertiliser is especially suitable for growing tomatoes and all vegetables. High in nutrients Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food is formulated to promote crops of hearty, healthy vegetables. The NPK is 20:2.2:9. This product is unique among water-soluble fertilisers because it contains high levels of calcium which are essential for preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes and help all vegetables to resist diseases. The product also contains iron, magnesium and essential trace elements such as copper, zinc, boron, manganese and molybdenum. The unique wetting agents help to maximise foliar feeding as well as to ensure that the fertiliser is readily absorbed into the soil to reach the roots quickly. Hydroponics Because of the revolutionary new technology used in this fertiliser, the added calcium does not settle out. This allows Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food to be used in hydroponics alone, not as a mixture of an A & B solution. Application rate A measuring scoop with a large and a small end is provided. Dissolve 1 level large scoop in 4 litres of water and apply the product every 7 to 14 days to the leaves and to the soil surrounding the plants. When planting tomatoes use approximately 1 cupful (250ml) of the solution for each plant. Increase the amount as the tomato plants grow until you are applying 4 litres per plant per feeding. Here is a link that might be useful: /miracle-gro.htm...See MoreMG soluble fertilizer
Comments (15)The Shake and Feed is a slow release product so no, it does not dissolve immediately but is intended to dissolve slowly over time as it is exposed to water/rain. It does not normally require frequent application. To my knowledge it is not intended for use on the surface of containers but for in-ground plants. However, since your plants appear healthy they are obviously getting some benefit from it. ;) Container plants would benefit more I think from either a solid granular fertilizer mixed deep into the potting soil down at root level (usually added before planting) OR from a water dissolved type fertilizer (MG makes several of them, 1 especially for tomatoes). That said, tomato plants in containers do require more frequent feeding AND watering that those in the ground. But how frequent depends on the type of fertilizer you are using. With the Shake n' Feed, IF I were to use it on container plants, I wouldn't add it more than every 4-6 weeks but as I said, other forms would be better. I am also concerned that your plants in those small containers are watered so infrequently. It all depends on your climate of course and I don't know where you live but most of use have to supply more water and more often than that. Are you watering deeply so that water drains out of the bottom of the container? That is better than just shallow watering. I don't see any reason to add any lime or calcium as neither would provide any benefit at this time. And as the others have pointed out, fresh grass clippings are high nitrogen and can burn the plants. It is good that you are mulching but they are best used after being well dried out. Either way they need to be kept away from direct contact with the plan stem. So it sounds as if your plants may be getting too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, and possibly too little water. But judge by the appearance of the plant and fruit. I hope this is of help. ;) Dave...See Moreticodxb
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