Yes, any good calcium carbonate source (concrete, limestone, oyster shells, clam shells, crab shells, etc.) seems to work at holding nematode populations at bay.....to where a fig tree can tolerate them and produce fruit. I had picked up this information from the owner of a southern nursery who reported very good success with this method in his opererations. I reported it on this and the other fig forum quite some time ago....never received any feedback. Thanks for posting this confirming information. It definitely can be helpful to some fig growers......crushed limestone is reported to be real good where it is available.

Dan

Hi Fred, That's real interesting how those figs survive amidst all the salt spray and sand. The shells must also have salt in them, too, but evidently it doesn't harm the fig trees. I've always been told that plants don't do well around salt.

Dan, For my inground trees, do I just put the shells around the base of them? Do the shells need to be crushed? Is there any other thing, such as magnesium, or anything else that is needed to go with the shells, or limestone?

Thanks,

noss

Dan,

This could be expensive but crushed coral should work as well then for the calcium.I'm thinking a couple pounds in each 15gl or larger pot. Also, When I had my marine/saltwater tank I used to add liquid calcium to boost the calcium level for the coralline algae.

What do you think?

Rafed

....one other thing. Someone had reported on another thread that the stuff they feed to chickens to ensure their egg shells (which is pure calcium carbonate) remain hard and tough after laying.... is composed of oyster shell bits.

Dan

You can go to any feed store or grain elevator and buy 20lb bags of crushed oyster shells. It is what is mixed in with grind and mix chicken feed orders. It's really cheap.

I wondered about the salt in this area also. The hurricanes and strong North-easters do blow sea water across the island.
But, lots of rain does "probably" wash the salt out , since the sand drains fast.
I have two , Beer's Blk and a LSU Gold, ready for planting in the yard. I did sprinkle some crushed oyster shells into my pile of "hole-filler" dirt. So, we will see
what the results are.

NO, Fred, NO!

Go buy yourself a fifty pound sack of crushed oyster shell at the feed store. Your wife will let you back in the house. I promise you that if you take home a couple of sacks of fresh oyster shells she will not let you back into the house until the stink wears off.

Not only that, but the fresh shells have razor sharp edges that you will not want to tolerate.
Ox

Oxankle.... Too late ! I bought 5 pounds of crushed oyster shell at the feed store.
BUT... I went to where oyster shells are collected.. They are in big piles and are used to spread on bottom , so the young oyster larvae have something to cling to and grow.
So, I now have both. Maybe, Fabreze will help ????

Thanks Dan, for your thoughts on the shells and nematodes. Interesting that calcium might repel them. Will file that away. I thought my Celeste in the back yard showed some nematode formation on the roots a couple of years ago, but in looking the tree over this year, I saw only healthy, fine, smooth roots. When I saw the lumps in the few roots, back then, I pulled them up, as there were not a lot of them. They were attached to a sucker baby fig. I tossed it with the roots. I was probably mistaken, or I would most likely still see some lumpy roots. Don't know.

I need to get some nutrients on the big girl! She's getting ready to jettison some figlets. They are getting soft. I hate when that happens. It's been really dry here already. Last Spring, it was rainy and the figlets were all over the tree, but then it dried out and she dropped so many of them even though I was watering her.

It will be interesting to hear how the figs planted in the shell bed does.

Thanks,

noss

Noss,

I will be planting another trial row of fig trees later this year into another old clam shell driveway of mine. When I constructed a driveway to my first house in 1974, it was built eight inches thick using those small clam shells that were dredged from a local lake. Money was real tight for me at that time. I sold that old house and built another one in 1978 on the other end of my property. The old clam shell driveway is now covered with some nice new soil that built up over the years. I will soon put this area to good use and will have another row of 25 new fig trees added to it before winter. More fig trees for me to study their growing and fruiting characteristics......

From my fig research activities....

It is VERY IMPORTANT to keep the ground ALWAYS MOIST around young in-ground fig trees during the first couple of years after it is planted. It is more important to the development of the tree than fertilizer. However, several light dosages of 8-8-8 fertilizer does help the tree to develop quickly. It should not, however, be applied too late into the growing season as trees that are fertilized too late into the season are more prone to winter cold damage. Fig trees that are "clone propagated" DO NOT HAVE TAP ROOTS that can grow deep into the soil to seek water and nutrients. The feeder roots that develop on young fig trees are right near the surface of the soil where they can be easily damaged. Let the ground dry out too much and those hair like roots easily dry out and become dysfunctional. By keeping the soil always moist, you will quickly develop a large & healthy root system on your tree. Bottom line.......young in-ground fig trees will grow much faster and produce fruit much sooner if you simply keep the ground ALWAYS MOIST during its early years of life.

For larger fig trees........
It is also important to not let the ground get too dry even in late winter/early spring. As you know, some of our winters can be quite warm and mild in temperature with little to no rain. Those high pressure systems that come through our area can quickly dry out our soil. Whenever you see "soil cracks" developing in the ground around your fig tree......IT IS ALREADY TOO DRY. A large in-ground fig tree needs water too in dry winters and early springs for it to achieve its full "productivity potential". Those watering's should be discontinued just before the fruit are ripening, so that it does interfere with the ripening process or actual taste of the figs.

Next year before bud break, fertilize your "big girl" with some 13-13-13 fertilizer and you will be simply amazed how she will respond. I have seen some fig trees in your area that were fertilized in this manner. They had an unbelievable amount of figs on them. I can still picture in my mind the huge quantity of figs that were on an old Alma tree. The old trees in that orchard all responded to the application of that fertilizer. I with that I had my camera at the time to document the productivity of those healthy trees.

Dan

A variation on this topic, I'm not sure how it will be taken.

We save our eggshells. Our backyard "orchard" is small, so it doesn't take much. It's amazing how much the eggshells pile up. I have a big mortar and pestle, and crush the egg shells into little pieces, then save them in a small bucket. In a few weeks, I have a couple of pounds. Over a year, it makes an impressive bucket of crushed eggshells.

This seems like it is really just oyster or clam shells, that have been re-processed through hens. The consistency might be finer than the original shellfish shells.

I spread the eggshells around my fig trees, and on the tomato patch, to increase the calcium.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but it appeals to my midwestern ingrained frugality. I read that Pacific Northwest soils are calcium deficient due to rain leaching, so need additions of lime, but have not had my soil tested (I know, I'm a bad gardener).

Some of my coworkers sometimes bring me bags of eggshells, because they know I'm odd and it's a no-cost way to keep me happy. Sort of.

Daniel

Those eggshells are a great source of calcium carbonate and will not cause any harm to your trees.....only benefits. I fully understand your pleasure in tending to your fig trees by collecting, grinding, and lovingly giving them those eggshell bits.

Dan

Eukofios,
as a small child my grandmother used to take me in her garden in chicago with box of egg shells for me to break up and spread around her veggies and fruit trees along with all sorts of different peels like potato peels , banana peels, coffee grounds.
She had a wonderufl big inground fig tree as well and was my inspiration into the world of gardening.
Used to get bit up pretty good from mosquitoes and once back in the house out came the olive oil.
Martin

Hi Dan,

Thanks for this information. I've printed it out for reference. Is it too late now to put fertilizer under the tree?

noss

Martin,
I use the potato peels, banana peels, and coffee grounds too. Sounds like your grandmother knew how to garden!

Chickens don't have teeth, so they can't chew the food they are given. (I think they eat corn?) So farmers will mix in small rocks in the feed. The rocks act as teeth and grind up the food, so the chickens can digest it. It certainly makes me feel fortunate for having teeth. I wouldn't want to have to eat rocks. Anyway, I think for most of the country, bits of granite are mixed in. But for coastal areas, the crushed oyster shells are used. I live on the coast, and at my local feed store, all they sell is crushed oyster shells.

I am new at figs. But I have a few growing, and mulch with a mixture of compost, manure and crushed oyster shells. Seems to be working.

I'm not a chicken rancher but I used to have a collection of yard birds....chickens, guineas, geese etc. when I was a kid. The small rocks are indeed for the gizzards but the shells are for additonal calcium to make egg shells stronger. So they don't serve the same function. Oyster shells tend to fkake apart and I doubt they would work the same way in the bird's gut?

I think I am going to try and find a weathered pile of oyster shells and use them to "mulch" a fig laying them flat around its base trying to overlap completly to help keep the grass down and see how it works out.
Yes, I know being flat they tend to lay flat... but being careful I can make them go further.

Here on Lake Michigan there is an invasive little thing called a zebra mussel. The shells wash up on the beaches so much that you can't hardly walk on the beach barefoot anymore. I think I need to go down to the lake and shovel up some shells (each shell is as big as my thumbnail).

Inspired,
Little John

Today we bought a bag of oyster shells. Was advised that oyster mulch worked wonders controlling slugs and snails.

Will the shells do the same thing? If used sparingly, should we be concerned about the soil changing?

Oyster shells WILL NOT change your soil's pH , if that is what you are concerned about......

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I have a friend who plants his garden in sandy loam soil.
He plants his Okra in a clay spot 10 acres away, because clay hurts nematodes.
I am not sure how this works or if it does, but he has had a good stand of Okra in N.C.,S.C. & Ga.
I use coffee & tea grounds to stop slugs, it works for me.
Hope the crushed shells work.