eggs?

[iona]

Hi all,

Have just purchased some small lavender plants at the local nursery, on the surface of the soil round the base of the plants are spherical round pale yellow objects that crush between fingers with a sensation of shell but appear to be empty inside. Are these some sort of egg or is it something else entirely.... if they are eggs do they need to be cherished or destroyed

Awaiting responses

Regards

Iona

[Wild-Woman]

They may be the fertiliser that is added to the soil. It's sounds like the slow release stuff.Then again I could be mistaken. Chance of a pic? Julie

[Alan]

Could be fertilizer as Julie said, could also be snail/slug eggs.

Alan

[iona]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

They may be the fertiliser that is added to the soil. It's sounds like the slow release stuff.Then again I could be mistaken. Chance of a pic? Julie

Hi and thanks for the replies

Unfortunately no pic available. I seriously need a cheap all purpose digital camera so I can do this and other things, such as take pictures of my pond etc. Any recommendations?

Meanwhile, I will watch the objects to see if any snails emerge.

Regards
Joan

[Paul mabbott]

It would be nice if we had an idea of the size. I would expect mollusc eggs to be white - yellowish would most likely be beetle or, perhaps, bug? The first of those makes one wonder whether they might be empty rosemary beetle eggs .... A bit of an unlikely possibility - might these not be lavender seed cases? Probably not ....

Originally Posted by Alan

Could be fertilizer as Julie said, could also be snail/slug eggs.

Alan

[smartie]

Never seen yellow lavender seed cases - they are usually greyish or brown. And cylindrical rather than spherical.

If they turn out to be slug eggs I wouldn't go to that plant seller again. [Yes, I know slugs are wildlife too, but there is a limit to what I want to encourage in the garden. ] I'd be surprised, as in my experience lavender is one of the few plants that doesn't get munched by slugs. I'd go for the fertiliser option.

[Paul mabbott]

No, quite so - although they're sort of brownish at the moment .... and when I went out just now to check them (in the rain) there were at least twenty snails chomping away!

Originally Posted by smartie

Never seen yellow lavender seed cases - they are usually greyish or brown. And cylindrical rather than spherical.
If they turn out to be slug eggs I wouldn't go to that plant seller again. [Yes, I know slugs are wildlife too, but there is a limit to what I want to encourage in the garden. ] I'd be surprised, as in my experience lavender is one of the few plants that doesn't get munched by slugs. I'd go for the fertiliser option.

[smartie]

Goodness. I thought perhaps the oils in the lavender put them off. But maybe the slugs and snails leave the lavender alone in my garden because they have so much other juicy vegetation that they like better to go at.

I've noticed that the local deer certainly have preferences. They will eat all the chervil in the herb garden before they start on the coriander, and only eat the parsley when everything else is gone. And they like to eat one of the roses but not the one next to it, which to me seems remarkably similar.

[Paul mabbott]

Well, there are many different species of slugs/snails which seem to feed on different parts of plants. If you have one at hand, search a Brussels sprout plant - you'll find different molluscs eating the oldest, yellowed leaves the greener, mature ones and the fresh young growth - it's only the latter that are a problem to gardners! The same applies elsewhere. I always thought that rosemary was immune from moluscs but last year ours was shredded by tiny overwintering slugs. At present the snails are on the dead leaves and stems so not much of a problem ...
You're right that the aromatic oils put them (and other pests) off - *but* you'll always find one individual or species that can cope!
Paul M

Originally Posted by smartie

Goodness. I thought perhaps the oils in the lavender put them off. But maybe the slugs and snails leave the lavender alone in my garden because they have so much other juicy vegetation that they like better to go at.
I've noticed that the local deer certainly have preferences. They will eat all the chervil in the herb garden before they start on the coriander, and only eat the parsley when everything else is gone. And they like to eat one of the roses but not the one next to it, which to me seems remarkably similar.

[smartie]

Oh no, so as well as struggling with bird, plant and fungi identification I see I shall now have to start researching slug and snail species to see which ones I can safely encourage. Anyone recommend a good reference book?