DB>I read that if you save egg shells with your water in a jug and then put
DB>   How much water and egg shells, how long to let the shells sit in the
DB>water, and then how much regular water to add to the shell water??
(What follows are the words of an amateur chemist turned amateur 
gardener. You can obtain better advice than this from a 
consultant at your local garden supply store) 
Try one cup of cold tap-water water for every three egg-shells.
Leave standing for 24 hours. After straining and using the water,
add the egg shells to your compost pile.
Theory: The egg-shells reduce the acidity of your local water
supply. Be careful where you use this trick. What worked for
Grandma down in Big Springs, Texas may not be at all relevant up
in Atlantic, Iowa - different water supply, different acidity.
If your local water supply is acidic, adding egg-shells will
neutralise the acid to some extent. If it's not, my guess is that
it won't have much effect. Except that with a "cute" water supply
we might be inclined to overwater our plants.
Experiment: try making TWO batches of water. In one add one
teaspoon of vinegar. Add egg shells to both batches. Does one
dissolve significantly faster than the other? The more acidic
solution should chomp right through the shells, surely?
Shortcut: try grinding the egg-shells into small (one millimetre)
fragments and adding small amounts of crushed shell to the soil.
That should act as a slow-release neutraliser.
Quiz: What would you add if you were to find your soil was not
too ACIDIC, but too ALKALINE?
Christopher.Greaves@CapCanada.Com    www.interlog.com/~cgreaves
 * 1st 2.00b #6263 * Less torque, More traction!
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