Found these on my cactus soil. . .

Plantcelot · Post by **Plantcelot** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:30 am

Hello

A couple of weeks ago I found one of these tiny balls on the soil of one of my cactus, I thought it was some type of egg but I didn’t want to kill it, so I left it on my plant and totally forgot about it. Today as I was planting some cactus I found another, same thing, I left it there. Then as I continued planting I started to find lots of them . . .

Are these some type of eggs or could they be some unknown type of fertilizer? They have some type of liquid inside when you squeeze them.

Does anyone know what they are?

legolas29 · Post by **legolas29** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:14 am

I would definitely say that is fertilizer, very common in commercial potting mixes.

So you can compare, I took a picture of what looks to be the same stuff right out of one of my bags of potting soil:

happy planting…
leg

Plantcelot · Post by **Plantcelot** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:58 am

Great! Those are the ones. I will not have to worry anymore about strange beings hatching.
Thanks

Post by **daiv** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:30 am

Really? I use osmocote that looks like that, but they are hard beads and do not have liquid inside. I've never seen those before. Looks like snail eggs!

Plantcelot · Post by **Plantcelot** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:28 pm

Yes, I searched for pics and they also look similar to garden snail eggs. Look at this link:
Garden Snail Eggs

Actually I like snails and slugs, I will relocate them if they happen to hatch.

What really makes me think that they are probably the miracle gro fertilizer balls is that I remember using that brand to do my different soil mixtures and they look just like the ones I found. I´m currently out of it, I need to buy a new bag this week.

I guess the only way to be sure is to squeeze one of these fertilizers to see if they have liquid inside or are solid. I will try that as soon as I get my new bag.
Thanks

tvaughan · Post by **tvaughan** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:02 pm

Daiv, osmocote had liquid inside after a short time if the media is moist. That's what they are, time release fertilizer.

Murph · Post by **Murph** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:50 am

im 110% certain it's fertiliser - it's in all kinds of potting mix over here - complete with liquid inside when squished

Spikey1007 · Post by **Spikey1007** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:04 pm

I must agree with murph i think its just fertilizer if they were snails egg it would not be a problem as the snail hatches and is quite a resonable size to notice so you just move the snail away. Plus Cactus soil has much to free draining soil which drys out quickly snails eggs love moisture when they can get it.

Post by **daiv** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:36 am

Well I also agree as I squeezed some Osmocote hard enough and it popped!