How do I get rid of them? Your warm compost heap makes an ideal nest for those looking for a quiet place to hibernate. Damage: Snails (and slugs) chew holes with smooth edges in leaves and fruits, and small seedlings can be consumed entirely. I was just looking for answer to what these were, i've just found some of the very same "eggs" in a bag of Miracle grow compost, most were small green "eggs" but there were some bright blue ones too. Can I start in January? Although I have yet to come across a fresh bag of potting compost with added slow release fertiliser beads, I have often found them in the soil of potted plants bought at garden centres etc. It's surprising how many Christmas items can be composted. Garden Organic may have an organic alternative for treating the problem that led to you use poison in the first instance. ... Now to really confuse folks the slow release stuff I have been adding to compost to day has balls of almost every colour in the rainbow. If the contents look wet and there is a lot of compacted 'green' material then simply add some more 'browns'. Bumble bees are very docile and will only sting if hard pressed; a nest near a house is not a problem. The contents of your vacuum cleaner can be emptied into the compost bin. Naturally, when snail eggs hatch, they crawl out of the thin layer of soil covering them to the surface soil. Use the links below to navigate to the question you have: Most likely, all the fruit and vegetable peelings that have been added to you bin have not been properly balanced out with fibrous materials. You could try to remove the leather jackets by sieving the compost first, and then picking out any that are left. Due to milder winters, a growing number of baby hedgehogs are being born later in the year and have no hope of making the necessary weight before the onset of winter, so will need your assistance. As a rough guide, a 50:50 mix of grass cuttings to scrunched up paper, squashed cereal boxes and cardboard egg boxes will ensure that you have a good mix. Found about hundreds of little white eggs on the top of the compost heap today. The process is continued by anaerobic bacteria which are much slower. I do have a bottle of plant feeding beads (dry and hard) which contain various colours but none bright green. I have been using a compost bin for 15 months and have added a good balance of 'greens' and 'browns'. I have fungi growing in my compost bin. Wear a rubber glove to hand pick snails, and drown them in a pail of soapy water. Below are a number of questions and answers. These tend to be slimy and are often laid in clumps. Hi Pink Wellies, I read your posting with interest as I have never seen anything like this until today!! Fungi in your compost bin are quite natural and there are many more microscopic ones. Sometimes they are laid on vegetation but usually are harder to spot when laid on soil. It's unlikely that you'd get any significant heat-up by further turning after that. Paper napkins, Christmas cracker inners and party hats from your Christmas table are also good compost ingredients. They will not be very useful in the compost bin as they eat only small amounts of fruit and vegetables. Snails lay their eggs in soil and moist compost, and their numbers can increase rapidly under ideal conditions. A third of your kitchen waste can be composted. These tend to be slimy and are often laid in clumps. At first, the eggs are enclosed together in a jelly-like sac before the snail brings all the eggs … Turn again at the end of the third week. If you are concerned about using it around acid-loving plants then consider buying an inexpensive pH soil testing kit and testing your compost before use. These can be sieved out and discarded or dug in with the compost. In fact, the broader the range of minibeasts and insects you can attract the better. Please refrain from turning your entire compost heap over at this time of year. Some suggestions to prevent them reinhabiting the bin would be: These measures should do the trick but, as a last resort, wrap the base of the bin with expanded wire mesh (plaster mesh) which can be purchased from a builders' merchant. Keep in touch if you discover further info. Slug and snail feeding is most intense at night or during periods of rainy weather. In the first instance, remove the lid completely and leave the compost bin open for a few hours. This is a common occurrence and won't have a detrimental effect on your compost, unless the potatoes have blight and then there is a risk of transferring the blight through your compost. Should you find a hedgehog that needs help, please contact your local wildlife centre or St Tiggywinkles Hospital for advice. Several species inhabit gardens worldwide, and are especially troublesome in cool, moist climates. Although you may not be able to eliminate fruit flies altogether, you should notice a marked decrease in their numbers by doing this. As the composting action tends to occur in the middle of the bin, you may find that you have some compost hiding away already. Squish away! We have a big slug problem as it is and they come in the house . On squashing old, used beads, they do indeed release a white milky liquid. If you turn a second time, after about two weeks the cycle will repeat. Some composts contain this kind of fertiliser. Snails can be as small as a pea or as big as your thumb, and all leave a trail of slime behind as they move. They hibernate as a last resort when their natural food supply has all but disappeared. The eggs are slightly gelatinous and of no perfect shape. The section on Setting up your bin on this website, The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust website. You can put a saucer of beer near or on the compost- the snails and slugs will crawl in and drown.