Trying Out That Melchiot Thing
Alright, so I decided to give this ‘Melchiot’ method a shot this year. Heard about it from somewhere, can’t recall exactly where, maybe some old forum thread or a conversation I half-remembered. Sounded interesting, maybe a bit odd, but hey, worth a try, right? Especially with my tomato plants, which always seem to promise more than they deliver.

First thing was figuring out what it actually involved. Seemed like the core idea was about feeding the roots in a specific way. Didn’t need fancy tools, which was good. The instructions I pieced together said to get started right at planting time.
So, I got my tomato starts ready, the usual varieties. Dug the holes like normal. Here’s where the Melchiot part came in. Before putting the plant in, I had to dig a smaller, secondary hole right next to the main one, maybe six inches deep and off to the side. This was key, apparently.
Into this little side hole, I was supposed to put a mix of stuff. The notes I had mentioned crushed eggshells and something about fish scraps – yikes. I wasn’t keen on burying fish bits in my garden, worried about critters. So, I improvised. Used a handful of bone meal and plenty of crushed eggshells I’d been saving. Packed that down in the little hole.
Then, I planted the tomato start in the main hole right beside it. Covered everything up with soil as usual. Watered it in. The idea, I guess, is that the roots grow towards that nutrient pocket in the side hole. Seemed plausible enough.
Watching and Waiting
Did this for about half my tomato plants. Left the other half as a control group, planted the standard way. Wanted to see if there was a real difference or if I was just wasting eggshells.

- Watering was just the same for both sets.
- Staking them up felt normal.
- Didn’t notice anything wildly different for the first few weeks.
Around mid-season, though, I started seeing something. The ‘Melchiot’ plants seemed… greener? A bit stockier, maybe. It wasn’t a huge difference, but it was there. They definitely looked healthier. The leaves were a deeper shade of green compared to the control group, which looked fine, just not as vibrant.
Then the fruits started coming in. Now, this is where it got interesting. The quantity wasn’t massively different. I didn’t suddenly have twice the tomatoes. But the size and quality? Noticeable improvement on the Melchiot side. The tomatoes felt heavier, denser. Fewer blossom end rot issues on those plants too, which is usually a pain for me.
So, Did it Work?
Yeah, I’d say it did. It wasn’t some magic bullet producing giant, prize-winning tomatoes overnight. But the plants were definitely more robust. The fruit quality was better. And considering the only extra effort was digging a tiny hole and chucking in some cheap soil amendments I already had, it felt worthwhile.
It’s simple, doesn’t cost much, and seemed to give the plants a good boost. I didn’t use the fish scraps, maybe that would have made an even bigger difference, but I’m happy with the bone meal and eggshell version. Less stink, less chance of attracting unwanted guests.
Will I do it again next year? Absolutely. Gonna apply the Melchiot method to all my tomatoes next season. It’s a small tweak, easy to do, and the results were solid enough for me to stick with it. Simple, practical stuff often works best in the garden, I find.
