You've probably already heard that egg shells are a great addition to your orchid
but how exactly does that happen? So in this video, I'm going to talk about what egg shells do
to your orchid and different methods of how to actually get the eggshell to your orchid
Hi, I'm Amanda Matthews and thank you so much for watching this video at Orchidaria
Egg shells, banana peels, molasses, cucumber peels, potato peels, tea bags. What health are they going to invent in terms of more nutrition for your orchid
If you want to use eggshells for your terrestrial orchids that are planted outside, then don't crush them up to a fine powder
You can leave them coarsely crushed so that they will have those, though they will have that rough edge
This keeps pests away, especially snails and slugs. There are several ways to actually use these eggshells
Now, the first one is you can crush eggshells into a fine powder and use that
Egg shells are like 91% calcium carbonate, is pure calcium. So when you're adding eggshells to your orchid potting mix, in essence, you're
giving your orchid that extra boost of calcium that it needs. And calcium will work on strengthening
those plant cells so that they are less prone to outside influences. So if there's a bacteria
that's trying to attack your orchid or if the temperatures drop too low. But that's not the only thing
that calcium does. It also prevents chlorosis, which is the death of chlorophyll
If your orchid is turning a little bit yellow on the leaves, it could be the lack of chlorophyll
And it reduces that salt buildup because the eggshells will absorb that salt
and not let them get in contact with the roots. So overall, calcium does a lot for your orchid
If you do not provide if you do not use eggshells you need to find another way to frequently add calcium to your potting mix And this is so important because calcium is an element or a nutrient that will travel through your orchid to a certain point
Once it gets to where it's going, it does not move, unlike magnesium, iron, boron, and other
elements inside your orchids. So once it gets to where it's going, the calcium does not move inside your orchid
So if there is a calcium deficiency, the only way that that orchid can get more calcium as if you provide it. So in your watering, you're going to add eggshows
or some other form of calcium. Calcium is also a great way to prevent the effects from
overwatering. Now, nothing will actually remove all the bad effects if you water too much
but calcium does slow down the rate that your roots will rot. So when you provide this calcium
you're actually giving the plant an extra help in fighting the root rot
How do you know if your orchid does have calcium deficiency? Calcium deficiency will take a longer time to show its signs, unlike magnesium deficiency
and iron deficiency. Because the calcium gets into the plant and stays there and cannot move to where calcium
is needed. The only way to get more calcium is if you provide it. So the calcium deficiency will
in fact, stunt your growth. So let's say you're expecting a plant to be this tall and it only grows
to this tall. Now, that takes an enormous amount of time before we start to evaluate, oh, what happened
to my plant? It could have been a thousand things, including calcium deficiency. Your pseudobulbs will
not be as big and plush, the leaves will not be as thick and firm. Because remember, calcium
works on the cell structure, giving it that, same way as calcium works in our bones, giving us strong
healthy bones, it works in the plant cell structure, giving them that strong, firm leaf
If your phelenopsis leaf is wiggly and inside the pot, it's doing all kinds of crazy things
it could be calcium deficiency. Remember when I said that, Egg shells are 94, around 90%, which is actually 94% of calcium
Well those other 6 are magnesium phosphorus potassium and zinc We hardly ever think of zinc as a nutrient that we should be providing for orchid but we should because in nature they are going to get zinc In any store fertilizer
they're going to have a proportion called the NPK ratio. That's nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
Now, these are the only three, I'll say only three, because that's the majority of what's going
into your store-bought orchid fertilizer. And it's not going to give all the other nutrients that your orchid needs
So adding eggshells to your water is an excellent way to just give that orchid a boost
And in everything in orchid care, if you do it too much, it's toxic
Don't use eggshells every time you water. Just add those eggshells little by little
So you do not want to be adding the eggshells every other month
That's way too much. You need to add it maybe twice a year or three times a year
So keep that dose down. Remember calcium too much is going to compete with the other nutrients and is probably
going to win. And so all your other nutrients are going to be left behind
So it won't have enough nitrogen. It won't have enough phosphorus. It won't have enough zinc
because calcium's going to block all that. If calcium's like the king of the castle
once it gets on that mountain and say, I'm here, I'm the number one nutrient that your orchid needs
Nobody else gets by. One thing that you need to know about adding these kinds of eggshells
is that this will not break down anymore. So if you add it to your water
then water your orchids with that. It will stay in your pot
I have repotted orchids. I'm like, what is this white stuff on the roots
I'm like, oh, it's the eggshell. So I'm going to get my distilled water
Going to get my crushed, that's absent salt. I'm going to get my crushed eggshells and add them to the water
Now, the easiest way to do this I've found, if you know another method
come, make a little cone. Then it works a lot better. Then you're going to add your eggshells like that
It's not the cleanest way, but it works. I hope I didn need this paper
I did. It's just like me to do something like this. Well, it's already gone
So continue working. Make a cone and add your eggshells
And just because they're in the water doesn't mean they are mixed in the water
So you have to do an extra shaking. I usually leave this overnight
The calcium carbonate is going to be in the water, but the more you leave it in the water
little traces can of calcium can, seep over into the water so the water has more free calcium in it. Not only the eggshells will be
added to your pot, but also the water will have more concentration of calcium. The other method is
not only to do this when you're watering, but use the same fine crushed eggshell and just sprinkle
it around the top of the pot. That works pretty well too. It's just another method. I like this one better
I don't exactly use amounts. It's whenever the eggshell content gets really high. I crush it down and then keep it and then once every three months or once every four months, I'll use calcium
See all that calcels. It turns into a papery like thin egg yolk actually after you soak it for a day
If this video has provided any quality content and information about and increase your knowledge about orchid care, please hit that like button. That means so much to me and it just tells me what kind of videos to keep on producing and what kind of videos to stay away from in the future
If you want to use eggshells for your terrestrial orchids that are planted outside
If you want to know what Epsom salt does as a fertilizer, then you can watch this video up here
And if you want to know about five different methods of fertilization, where I'll tell you also where to get a free fertilization guide, go down to this video down here
Thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating