Eggshells and coffee grounds

I like to make my own concoctions for household use whenever possible. I make my own window cleaner (white vinegar and rubbing alcohol added to water in a spray bottle); I use Borax to scrub the bathroom sink and tub; I use a drop or two of tea tree oil in my homemade nasal rinse for my sinuses (with salt and baking soda); I use plain old salt to scrub pots and pans: the list goes on and on. If I can avoid the chemicals found in prepared cleaners, and if I can avoid their expense, then I'm all for it. (I keep at least one, if not two, gallon jugs of white vinegar on hand at all times because of its many uses.)

I read on Pinterest recently of a homemade fertilizer for houseplants, so of course I immediately mixed up a batch: a jar almost full of water, some egg shells, and some coffee grounds. (Egg shells and coffee grounds had previously gone directly into our compost bins outdoors.) Let the mixture sit (out of the sun) for a week or so, then strain it and feed the dark, rich liquid to your houseplants.

The directions don't say how often to feed this to the houseplants nor at what strength, so I've been adding a cup or so to my watering can, adding water to the top, and feeding it to my plants about once a week.

I usually water my African violets from the bottom up by placing the pots in my prep sink with about 3" of warm water. Now I add about 1/2 cup of liquid fertilizer to the sink as well.

My plants are definitely much healthier this winter than they were last winter. Their leaves are dark and almost shiny, and they're starting to bloom!

This afternoon I emptied out the old coffee grounds and egg shells, which I'd simply been adding to for the past several weeks. I'll put the used grounds and shells into my compost bin for my outdoor garden this spring.

Meanwhile, I'll start a new batch of this "tea" in the jar.

I haven't been certain whether the egg shells should go into the jar as is from a freshly-cracked egg, so I've been zapping them in the microwave on high for 30 seconds or so before adding them. If the membrane peels off easily from the shell, I remove it; if it doesn't, I just leave it there.

One major mistake I made about a week into this new experiment was adding some banana peel to the mixture. I figured some more potassium would be great, since banana peels work well with my roses and tomato plants outdoors.

Wrong! The banana peel created a gooey, gelantious, disgusting glob in the "tea" jar. I quickly learned to leave it out of the concoction.

I should caution you that this mixture does carry a certain odor, but if you leave your nose out of the jar, you should be fine. Give it a try. Your houseplants will thank you.