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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >I've long been curious but never did the work to find out just how  
> long it takes for egg shells to dissolve into calcium and whatever.  
> Anyone know? 

Long time.  But as you can appreciate as a chemist, they don't have to 
dissolve completely, nor even much at all to have the proper effect on the 
plants.  
Egg shells are 95% calcium carbonate in the crystilline form.  You can't go 
in 
heaven above or earth beneath and find a better long term form of calcium for 
the garden.

When one sees bits of egg shells still there after three or four years, it 
doesn't mean they haven't done any good ... just the opposite.

Egg shells dissolve much more rapidly in compost because it is acidic at one 
stage.

Like limestone dust or limestone sand or oyster shells, egg shells have the 
advantage that if the soil gets acidic, they will dissolve faster and 
neutralize it.  If it is not acidic, they will dissolve more slowly.... but 
you don't 
need the calcium so badly.   </HTML>