Small orange/brown things found in Hibiscus

[HairyScaryMark]

Found this at the bottom of one of my hibiscus plants the other week. Only just got round to posting it on here. Anyone seen this before or have any idea what it is?

I'm at a loss for an answer to it. I thought they could possibly be eggs laid by a feeder insect, such as a stick insect. Or perhaps something undigested in his droppings, such as an exoskeleton.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help.

More importantly. What should I do about it? I thought to be on the safe side. I might be best re potting this plant with new soil. I haven't actually gotten round to doing that for any of my plants yet so I will do it anyway as soon as I can get to a shop that sells the required things.

 

[Lancecham]

I guess it would be possible that it is an egg sack of some insect, but it could also be some type of fertilizer.
How long have you had the plant in the cage?
It is also possible that the fertilizers/eggs(whatever they are) could all of a sudden appear because of mistings and perhaps the chameleon digging just a bit.
I would take them out on the safe side.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

All those things are possible. I originally planned to post sooner and thought when I got an answer I could make a better informed choice but time got on and I never got round to it. I probably should just remove them incase they are a risk to the health of the chameleon.

The plants been in the cage for a few months.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

All those things are possible. I originally planned to post sooner and thought when I got an answer I could make a better informed choice but time got on and I never got round to it. I probably should just remove them incase they are a risk to the health of the chameleon.

The plants been in the cage for a few months.

Put them in a jar or a cup with a screen lid see what comes out. I am curious.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Put them in a jar or a cup with a screen lid see what comes out. I am curious.

Just did that. Removed all the ones I could find. Managed to squash a few by mistake. Didn't count but there seemed to be a lot of them. At least 20-30

I then noticed they exist at the bottom of my other hibiscus that's in the cage. I also have a 3rd hibiscus tree which isn't in the chameleon cage so I guess it may hold the key to the mystery of whether it was something that happened after I put it in the cage or if it came with these objects in the soil,

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Just did that. Removed all the ones I could find. Managed to squash a few by mistake. Didn't count but there seemed to be a lot of them. At least 20-30

I then noticed they exist at the bottom of my other hibiscus that's in the cage. I also have a 3rd hibiscus tree which isn't in the chameleon cage so I guess it may hold the key to the mystery of whether it was something that happened after I put it in the cage or if it came with these objects in the soil,

If anything happens let me know please. I am fascinated.

 

[Goggles]

I have seen fertilizer "balls" in new plants before re-potting that look like these.
Were the plants re-potted by you?

 

[Fool2Think]

those definitely look like fertilizer or what i think are hydro balls, they retain moisture and release it slowly. When you popped one, what came out? Dig a little and see if there is more, if they are throughout your soil then they are most definitely not eggs of any sort

Thom O

 

[HairyScaryMark]

I have seen fertilizer "balls" in new plants before re-potting that look like these.
Were the plants re-potted by you?

I haven't re-potted the plants, yet.

I believe this is probably the most likely explanation. I don't know if they are potentially harmful to the chameleon but either way I should probably re-pot them and I think better soil might do the plants some good anyway.

 

[laurie]

Putting a plant into a chameleon cage that has chemicals in the form of fertizlers can kill your cham if ingested. I would work on repotting those plants as soon as you can. Might be no problem or you may have just been lucky.

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Those are fertilizer. I know because everytime I get a plant and see those I have to repot the plant. I was curious the first time i saw them a couple years ago so I asked teh lady at english gardens and she told me they were fertilizer. It's bes tto remove all the dirt ecause if you just cover the top layer with safe soil the fertilizer still goes into the plant and if a leaf or a few leaves are accidentally ingested it will contain enough fertilizer to do some harm to a chameleon.



Justin

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Those are fertilizer. I know because everytime I get a plant and see those I have to repot the plant. I was curious the first time i saw them a couple years ago so I asked teh lady at english gardens and she told me they were fertilizer. It's bes tto remove all the dirt ecause if you just cover the top layer with safe soil the fertilizer still goes into the plant and if a leaf or a few leaves are accidentally ingested it will contain enough fertilizer to do some harm to a chameleon.



Justin

Ah , bummer. I was hoping for a much more interesting outcome.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Thanks to everybody for the info. I'll try and replant my hibiscus plants in new pots with some form or organic soil at the weekend. Not sure I'll manage that soon but it is my goal.

 

[DGray]

There's a really common fungus that grows in organicly enriched soils Leucocoprinus birnbaumii aka Lepiota lutea, the yellow houseplant mushroom. It looks like a ball or button as the mushrooms first start to grow. Any chance it could be this?

 

[HairyScaryMark]

It didn't seem to be restricted to the top of the soil and not attached to anything in the way I would expect fungus to be. The hydro ball/fertilizer theory sounds the most likely to me. I haven't re potted or re soiled any of these plants so there is no reason why there wouldn't be such things in the soil.

 

[DGray]

Are they squishy like a live bit of fungus would be, or firm like a fertilizer pellet?

 

[weezyboi94]

mushrooms..?