Grow Your Own Magazine

I was emptying one of my spud tubs today, the shaws had never really come to anything and I had thought it was because it was close to a wall and shaded from the sun.

I noticed some small, white, pearl-like opaque balls. What are these? Snail eggs? We have thousands of snails in the garden and it's a contant battle to keep them at bay.

Yes - they'll belong to slugs or snails for sure!

Just leave them under your bird feeder. They'll soon disappear. Bird caviar.

valmarg

Eeeow, I haaaaaaaate snails. I was out in my dressing gown yesterday morning at 7am lobbing them over the garden wall.

Definitely either slug or snail eggs - leave them out for the birds.

i would guess slugs.i found some recently,try dropping one onto a hard surface,they bounce,like little rubber balls. i burst mine,just to make sure they didn't hatch! would love to leave them for birds but cats deter the birds i'm afraid.

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Spiderpig

Yup, puss and two shar pei ensure there are no birds in my garden.

The snails will have eaten the foliage off your potatoes before they laid their eggs there Amanda! I've had the same problem with slugs & snails eating the tops of some of mine & I've had to go out picking them off every night by torchlight! Sift the eggs out & squish them & don't put them in your compost bin or they'll hatch out.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Snails have had a good go at my spud tops too. Should I have a root around the tubs for eggs in case they've laid them in there? Will they do any harm if left?

Reminds me of a joke about 2 gardeners, one moans about all the snails in her garden and asks what the other does about their snails, they respond by saying they throw them over the garden wall.

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Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

If you're going to be harvesting your potatoes soon then they probably won't have time to 'hatch' & grow big enough & cause any trouble before then with any luck. If slug eggs have been laid in there a while ago though the tiny slugs could have a nibble at your potatoes. I wouldn't worry, just check the compost when you empty the tubs & squish any eggs.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Yes, they'll turn into snails

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

My potatoes are going to be in for another month at least (not exactly sure - I'm new to this!).

My hatred for snails borders on the irrational, I need to get a life.

I hates 'em too, although I think I hate slugs more... and caterpillars!!

Found a clutch of snail eggs the other day while I was doing a stint as a volunteer in my daughter's nursery garden. I rushed in with them in my hand to show the kids, and was not popular with the staff cos they were all having their lunch at the time!

Urk - they are actually growing snails at nursery. They have two of those giant african snail things in a glass tank. This morning -

ME: Can you see the snails in there?
HER: I can only see the baby snails.
ME:
HER: Look, under that piece of wood.
ME:
HER: I wonder where their mummy and daddy have gone.
ME: Slugs don't have mummies and daddies, they have - er

??? Not sure how best to explain hermaphrodites to a 3yo, even one so well versed in reproductive anatomy as mine, but fortunately she was distracted at that moment by finding the "mummy" snail eating some cucumber...

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.