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Beware who you listen to....
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... In article , Charlie Pridham says... In article , says... In article , Sacha says... Capping this, Ray told me the story of a couple who marched into the nursery a few years ago in a state of righteous fury - seriously annoyed. They told him that having bought some plants from us they'd spent an hour or more picking out insect eggs from the compost in which the plants were potted. Ray scooped up a handful of slow-release fertiliser pellets and said "did they look like this?" Guess the answer. Showing my ignorance here, but like they say better look a fool for five minutes than remain a fool for ever! I've sometimes bought plants in pots with clumps of little "beads" either down the edge of the pot or at the bottom of the rootball. The Mrs and I can never agree if they are slow release fertiliser or the eggs of slugs / snails? They are typically around 1/8" diameter, perhaps slightly larger and usually in clusters of around 20 or more. Their colour is usually white or creamy through to brown. If I squash them they burst and are full of a watery like substance. Are these eggs or fertiliser? Is there a clear way of telling the difference? Snail/slug eggs are white or nearly white and are in clumps, slow release fertilizer is normally coloured (it varies as to which colour) blue or straw yellow being the most common, and scattered through the compost. Squashing will not tell you as both will squish I'd always assumed that if they could be squashed and burst releasing liquid that they were eggs, but it sounds like that isn't necessarily the case. I've been removing and discarding some slow release fertiliser as well as slug/snail eggs then. It would be so much simpler if the fertiliser was always blue. It sounds like pale straw or creamy colour beads could be mistaken as either slug eggs or fertiliser! So, it seems a fair bet to remove clumps of beads or those which are white, but to leave those which are darker or more evenly scattered. -- David in Normandy We went to a different Garden Centre to our usual one, mainly because it was nearer and we only wanted one specific plant. When we got home and Joan went to plant it out, she too found these granules which she wasn't sure about. Yes she does know all about water retaining granules, but these were in the 'iffy' area just as yours seem to be. She telephoned our usual Garden Centre and spoke to them and their advice was "If in doubt, wash off all of the existing compost and plant bare root" Kind regards Mike -- www.rnshipmates.co.uk for ALL Royal Navy Association matters www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association. 'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates. www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly "Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will be there. |
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