On 24/07/2010 22:48, Bob Hobden wrote:


"Christina Websell" wrote...
My aunt has some beautiful lupins, purple with a yellow lip so last
year I took a ripe pod and planted the seeds
in a pot.
I gave up on them but one germinated this spring.

Now something is eating the leaves, but as it has left a tell-tale
slime trail on the leaves, I've just covered the compost with broken
eggshells.
I keep chickens and always save egg shells, I dry them in a basin on
top on my woodburner during the winter, crush them and keep them in a
jar. I either feed them back to my chickens (good source of calcium
for them) or use them for this purpose, making an uncomfortable road
to my plants for slugs/snails.

Fine for one potted plant, not so useful on an allotment. How many eggs
can one eat? :-)


Likewise, good for lovers of alkaline soil, not for ericaceous plants.

It's a good idea, though. You could boost your shell collection by
adding, drying and crushing snail shells .. has a certain poetic justice :~)

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay