Instead of tossing out eggshells, you may have heard that they are good for some plants. But which plants are those and do you grow any of them?
Using eggshell fertilizer for your Lemon Trees can be beneficial as eggshells are full of calcium, and have other beneficial minerals like selenium and magnesium. All three of these minerals are essential for proper Lemon growth, and without them, you may not get fruits that are healthy and delicious.
Lemon Trees may take a while to reach maturity, but when they are done, they can produce a large number of fruits that are delicious, and free from pesticides so you can have as much lemonade as you want without dealing with chemicals or going to the store all the time. But first, you need to learn how to properly fertilize and take care of your plants.
Are Eggshells Good for Lemon Trees?
While eggshells aren’t good for all plants, they are a great addition to fertilizer for Lemon Trees. Most standard fertilizers only focus on three nutrients, which are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They tend to overlook calcium and other minerals like magnesium. So adding eggshells to a basic fertilizer that you made or bought from the store can help your Lemon Tree.
Calcium is essential to Lemon Tree growth. Without enough of this mineral, the flowers that will eventually turn into fruits often rot and fall from the tree before they ever change to fruit. It can also help promote photosynthesis and improve resistance to diseases.
While you can simply crush eggshells and throw them on your soil, the best option is to powder the eggshells. You will want to dry them in the oven and then blend or crush them into a fine powder. Then, you can sprinkle the powder on the soil or mix it into your fertilizer. Eggshells can be up to twenty percent of your overall fertilizer mixture.
What Is the Best Homemade Citrus Fertilizer?
Pretty much every citrus plant has similar demands for fertilizer, so you can make one mix for all of your citrus fruits.
There are a wide variety of different fertilizer recipes out there, so you can somewhat pick and choose what goes into your mixture. No matter what you pick, you need to make sure that it contains nutrients like:
- Nitrogen
- Sulfur
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Calcium
These are all essential to your citrus growth. On top of that, though, there are some minor nutrients to consider as well, to give the best chance to your fruits:
- Iron
- Boron
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Chlorine
- Manganese
- Copper
If you want a simple mixture involving eggshells, look at mixing together leaves, eggshells, and kelp. You can also make one with grass clippings, bone meal, and banana peels, or coffee grounds, eggshells, and banana peels.
What is a Good Organic Fertilizer for Citrus Trees?
Citrus trees, especially Lemon Trees, are popular since they can be grown indoors in limited space. This means that there are a lot of organic fertilizers out there that cater specifically to citrus plants.
Some of the widely accepted best organic brands are:
- Jobe’s
- Down to Earth
- EarthPods
- Espoma
Should I Fertilize a Lemon Tree When Fruiting?
Fertilizing is best done between March and September. You will want to fertilize about once every six weeks to make sure that your trees always have plenty of nutrients. After September, you can stop applying fertilizer until February to allow your Lemon Tree to mature its fruit without an excess of nutrients.
The fertilizers are focused on providing Lemon Trees with the nutrients they need to invest in growth during the summer months, and to get ready to produce flowers and eventually fruit.
So while your Lemon Tree is fruiting, it is ideal to fertilize it. However, after the fruits have grown and they are in the process of maturing, you will need to stop fertilizing.
How Do You Increase Fruit on a Lemon Tree?
There is a fair amount of care a Lemon Tree needs to grow its best, but there are three main things you always need to pay attention to.
Water
One of the best ways to increase fruit on a Lemon Tree is to make sure you are watering enough. You want to cut the water during fall and winter, but water deeply during spring and summer when your Lemon Trees are growing and fruiting.
Both overwatering and underwatering pose risks to Lemon Trees. You have to be very careful how you water them to maximize your fruit yield. Generally, you can water your Lemon Trees about once every two weeks, but in the heart of summer, it may be as often as once a day. However, you always want to check before you water. The soil should never be dry, nor very wet.
The best way to check if your tree needs more water is to stick your finger about two inches (5 cm) into the soil. If it is dry to the touch all the way through, it is time to water again. Water for about twenty seconds and let the soil absorb the liquid.
Light
Lemon Trees need plenty of light to flower and fruit. At least six hours of sunlight a day is required by these light-loving plants, but eight hours is better. If your Lemon Tree is indoors, you can put them right into a window that gets lots of light and preferably faces south.
Outside, just make sure that other plants and structures aren’t blocking your plant from the light. Lemon Trees can handle as little as four hours of sunlight, but they will not grow as fast or produce the right yield of fruit. The best way to make sure they get enough light is to give them an unobstructed view of the south.
Lemon Trees can get too much sun, but it isn’t very likely. Since they thrive in sunlight for up to ten hours a day, it is very rare that they get enough light to hurt them.
Nutrients
Finally, your Lemon Tree is going to need lots of nutrients, especially when they are trying to grow and flower. There are specialized citrus mixes for plants like lemons, limes, grapefruits, and oranges that make life easy, but if you want to upcycle some of the items you have in your home, or just make your own, then you can do that as well.
Some of the nutrients that your Lemon Tree needs include iron, magnesium, and lots of nitrogen. However, for standard fertilizer, you don’t want any number in the NPK ratio to be higher than eight (so 8-8-8 would be your maximum). But an eight in nitrogen and numbers lower in phosphorus and potassium are fine too.
They also need a fair amount of calcium, which is where eggshells come in. Eggshells are full of calcium and small amounts of magnesium, which are both beneficial for Lemon Trees.
Are Eggshells Good for Fruit Trees?
Eggshells are good for a majority of fruit trees, and other plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Additionally, plants like broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, and spinach also benefit from extra calcium. It helps to prevent blossom rot and allows fruiting plants to grow.
Are Eggshells Good for Peach Trees?
Peach trees are one of the fruit trees that do benefit from eggshells and an excess of calcium. The eggshells help to keep away pests and provide essential nutrients. Eggshells can also help to prevent a disease known as Peach Leaf Curl in peach trees.
Are Eggshells Good for Apple Trees?
Calcium is essential in an apple tree fertilizer. It helps to prevent damage from diseases like bitter pit and cork spot. While you can just add calcium fertilizer or supplement, you can also dry and crush eggshells that you would normally just throw away.
Summary
Eggshells aren’t necessary for every plant, but they can help with certain plants. Fruiting plants, and especially citrus plants, benefit from the boost of calcium and magnesium that comes with eggshells.
Lemon Trees can grow healthier and have fewer rotting flowers when they get a little calcium from crushed eggshells in their fertilizer or sprinkled on the soil. Up to twenty percent of your fertilizer can just be eggshells to make sure that your Lemon Trees get plenty of calcium. This mineral can also keep away bugs and certain diseases.