White balls in the garden?

by Lisa
(Milton keynes)

I keep digging these white balls up from my garden. They are quite hard but "pop" when you squeeze them.... what are they please???

Comments for White balls in the garden?

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Aug 01, 2014
white balls in soil
by: Eugene

At first I thought those little white balls were slow release fertilizer or those plastic moisture retention balls, but the photo shows different sizes. Don't know now! I'd still guess they are probably fertilizer balls like osmocote, and maybe they are all in different stages of disintergrating (disolving?).

If they were fungi puff balls, or snail, slug or other pest eggs they would be decidedly squishy when squeezed and might even show the beginings of baby snails, bugs etc. If puff balls you would get a cloud of dry spores when squeezed.
I'm still a bit curious, any other takers?

Aug 22, 2014
Me too
by: Anonymous

I just found dozens of them in my garden too. I've done a few dozen searches but can't find any explanation. Anyone?

Oct 22, 2014
Strange but true
by: Anonymous

I had something similar in my yard in Colorado. Mine turned out to be mushrooms. Strange but true.

Oct 24, 2015
Dug some up today
by: Anonymous

I was pulling weeds in my garden today and found some of those exact looking white balls. They were springy to the touch and somewhat solid but a couple were looser and one or two broke open. The ones that broke open oozed what looked like slime. Any ideas what this could be?

Apr 09, 2016
not sure
by: Anonymous

I found similar ones but pink in my garden. They might be slime/mold called dog vomit from google search.

May 20, 2017
white spongy balls in garden
by: Beth

found at the Minnesota Garden Extension: The objects in the photo are probably the immature fruiting bodies of a kind of fungus called a stinkhorn.

The fungi live off dead organic matter and are commonly found in mulched areas in the landscape. Stinkhorns start off as an egg-like, golf ball-sized structure in the soil. As the fungus develops, a stalk grows upward and is topped with a slimy cap coated with a mass of olive green to brown spores. The putrid smell of the stinkhorn cap attracts flies and other insects.

Oct 06, 2018
What they are
by: Alex

They are Stink Horn Fungi Eggs. Ever see the fungi that looks like an orange stalk growing from the ground? That is what you will eventually get. The come most times from moisture, hard rains, or snow packs. And especially after flooding.

Jul 13, 2019
Dublin ireland
by: Anonymous

The white balls I refer to are in planters. They are it helping plants but I am afraid that they are harming them. Very small like small polystyrene beads Any ideas? Thanks again

Aug 08, 2019
TINY WHITE BALLS ON TOP OF YOUR DIRT
by: Anonymous

I HAVE THEM TOO. I SQUEEZED THEM SINCE SPRING. THEN I SHOWED MY DR. SHE SAID I HAVE A NAUL FUNGUD AND THAT THET WERE SNAIL EGGS. MyMY BAILS ARE RIPPELED REALLY BAD. MY THUMBS ARE THE WIRST LOOKING. I HAVE IT ALSS ON BITH MY BIG TOES. 3 FINGERNAILS IN MY RIGHY HAND. TWO FINGERBAILS ON MY LEFT HAND. TREATMENT OF THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!!

Jul 05, 2020
found them on my deck, too
by: Anonymous

These random white bits have also appeared at times in spots around my garden, on top of the soil...and a coupe of times on my deck. It's a mystery. They are different sizes and most can be crushed easily. I wonder if they're coming from planes.

Nov 28, 2021
Could be Perlite??
by: Anonymous

Found some in my venus fly trap soil (bought)

could be perlite??
Although similar colour/shape, doesn't look like stinkhorn eggs... they're a bit bigger and have a shell around them.

Mar 16, 2022
Killer of eggs
by: Anonymous

Found these eggs and claire shook the container and killed them, what did she kill???

May 27, 2022
In New Jersey under my plants NEW
by: Anonymous

Sound I be worried?

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