Knowing how to grow your own garden does not require a green thumb. All you need are tips and guidance from backyard growers and experts and a few gardening hacks you need to know.

Gardening Hacks You Need To Know

Make gardening easy with these easy gardening hacks:

“No space” hack

What if you don’t have space yet to grow your garden? There are simple ways to start growing your plants and, ultimately, your garden.

One is by starting small. To do this, you can use paper seed starters which you can just place inside a pot once your plant starts to grow bigger. Fold a piece of paper into a box to make it your seed starter container. Create one box for each type of seed that you want to grow.

Once you have your boxes available, place some soil inside, approximately three-fourths of each box, and carefully put in the seeds. Place it in an area suitable where your seeds would germinate. Note that some plants do not like too much sunlight, and some would like warmer areas.

One good thing about using paper seed starters is that they are biodegradable. You do not have to pull out the plant from it when the need to transfer to a pot arises. You simply have to dig a space in the soil in your pot that is wide and deep enough to place and cover your paper seed starter. Cover it with soil until you can no longer see any paper.

Calcium hack

Calcium, by loosening up soil, increases water penetration ability, water-holding capacity and aeration ability. Likewise, it also helps in the good development of roots and leaves. Plants that are calcium deficient have deformed, or cupped leaves, as well as pale yellow patches, and the plant may look dwarfed. These calcium deficiency symptoms are normally exhibited on new growth. To avoid these, introduce calcium to your soil.

However, you don’t need to look for a commercially available calcium supply for your garden soil. Your kitchen can actually provide what you need. And the answer to that would be – eggshells!

For an immediate need, crack eggs and make sure that there are no yolks left on the shells. A little egg white on the shell is fine. (Hey, don’t forget to set aside your eggs for your omelet and pancakes). Now, collect all those empty eggshells, spread them out on a cookie sheet, and bake at 200 degrees for 20-30 mins.

Once dry, crush them using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, or a food processor until you are able to produce a powdered form. In a jar, place a ratio of 1:5 eggshell powder and vinegar.

You’ll notice bubbles forming inside the jar, which denotes that the calcium carbonate in the eggshell has reacted with the acetic acid in the vinegar, and gas is released into the air.

Over time, this activity will cease. Once the bubbles have stopped forming, you may proceed with the next step, which is mixing 1 tablespoon of your vinegar-calcium solution into 1 gallon of water. Spray this mixture unto your soil and leaves.

It is also recommended to place pulverized eggshells on the soil prior to seed planting.

Use these hacks and feel like you are the cream of the crop!