1at post, egg id needed,new to gardening
 

hi my wife and i have just started gardening.
i have been turning the soil, weeding and planting this week and we have both noticed that under the soil there seems to be yellow/orange eggs everywhere, they are about 3mm in diameter and when you squeeze them they are quite hard and they pop/snap and emit a white mucus.
ay ideas, i have searched the net and cant find anything.
you gardening experts can help me i know you can.
thanks in advance for the relplies.
paul

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 16:34:58 +0000, paul
wrote:


hi my wife and i have just started gardening.
i have been turning the soil, weeding and planting this week and we
have both noticed that under the soil there seems to be yellow/orange
eggs everywhere, they are about 3mm in diameter and when you squeeze
them they are quite hard and they pop/snap and emit a white mucus.
ay ideas, i have searched the net and cant find anything.
you gardening experts can help me i know you can.
thanks in advance for the relplies.
paul

Sounds like slow release fertiliser granules, not eggs. Don't worry, I
made the same mistake myself when learning.
Good luck with your gardening.

Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:
On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 16:34:58 +0000, paul
wrote:


hi my wife and i have just started gardening.
i have been turning the soil, weeding and planting this week and
we
have both noticed that under the soil there seems to be
yellow/orange
eggs everywhere, they are about 3mm in diameter and when you
squeeze
them they are quite hard and they pop/snap and emit a white mucus.
ay ideas, i have searched the net and cant find anything.
you gardening experts can help me i know you can.
thanks in advance for the relplies.
paul

Sounds like slow release fertiliser granules, not eggs. Don't
worry, I
made the same mistake myself when learning.
Good luck with your gardening.

If these are in a new gardener's soil, they aren't likely to be
fertiliser. I know these things usually are, but I don't think
fertiliser granules pop and squirt slimy stuff from a hardish
"shell". They sound like the eggs of some living thing, and I
wouldn't worry about them at all: if it's a problem, the birds will
probably solve it. Just garden away, and you'll be fine.

--
Mike.

Just garden away, and you'll be fine.

agreed. I come across many similar but white egg things whilst
digging, i believe them to be slug eggs and leave them exposed as a
tasty snack for the birds. Have also seen ants taking away slug eggs
for ant snacks (definately not their own elongated ant larva)

"Mike Lyle" wrote in
:

If these are in a new gardener's soil, they aren't likely to be
fertiliser. I know these things usually are, but I don't think
fertiliser granules pop and squirt slimy stuff from a hardish
"shell".


I was emptying an pot of old compost yesterday, and found a nice 'clutch'
of fertiliser granules at the bottom that did exactly that. Hard case,
content white goo. They may have been 2 years old even, can't remember
now!

Unless the garden (not just the gardener) is absolutely brand new and
unused, and you are quite sure that no-one has been chucking their old
compost sneakily into a corner, fertiliser granules would be my bet too.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

paul wrote:
:: hi my wife and i have just started gardening.
:: i have been turning the soil, weeding and planting this week and we
:: have both noticed that under the soil there seems to be
:: yellow/orange eggs everywhere, they are about 3mm in diameter and
:: when you squeeze them they are quite hard and they pop/snap and
:: emit a white mucus. ay ideas, i have searched the net and cant
:: find anything.
:: you gardening experts can help me i know you can.
:: thanks in advance for the relplies.
:: paul

They are worm eggs...they are a sort of dark yellowish colour and with a
slight 'nipple(!)' at one end....if you don't beleive me, just gather a few
together and place them in some damp, clean compost, and in a few weeks time
you will have some baby worms.
I have seen this many times with worms I have collected for fishing, if
forgotten about and left for any length of time in damp soil, dozens of
these eggs appear - I noticed it just last week with worms collected last
October and they had overwintered in my hallway in a baitbox inside a dark
tackle box.

fantastic!! thanks for the replies!
as long as they dont belong to some naughty root eating critter im not bothered what they are, the closest match i have found so far is slug eggs.
thanks for your ideas.
paul