Need EXPERT pest advice (cant find ANY info on these things?!)

Long story short - Found little white bugs INSIDE the seeds I tried to sprout about 7 days ago. They had eaten the seed from the inside out and were burrowing inside of it.
Story below...




Alright, so I pop my seeds into the soil about 9 days ago.. about 4 days ago three of them popped out of the soil, leaving 3 other ones still in the soil.

Today, I dug out the seeds (It's my own strain & I have plenty of seeds) and they were bone dry & hollow.
So i smash the first one inbetween my fingers not thinking anything of it.

So I find the second un-popped seed... I start to pry it open alittle bit when the tap root should be coming out and i see little shiny (wet looking) white specs.. As if the taproot was healthy and inside the seed. I start to open it alittle more, and swear I see one of the little white things move so i fucking dropped it.
I find it on my floor, pick it up and bust it open with a pen.

...out come like 10-20 tiny white bugs or something dispersing in panic.


So what the fuck guys? Help me out cause i'm fucking freaked out lol I can ditch these seedlings if need be (I assume it could just be bugs in that particular soil)

cause i got 2 flowering plants in the closet about 10 feet away from these seedlings. Whatever they are, you think they'll find their way to the flowering plants?

Also what the fuck are these little bitches eating the inside of my seeds??!?!!?!


Any help is greatly appriciated with some +rep
Thanks RIU

I got one eye open here with coffee cup in hand.....Bugs INSIDE the seeds you say !?!? I don't understand how that could even be possible if the seed isn't cracked to begin with.

It actually sounds like something out of a bad acid trip to me man ! just kidding, like I said, I'm half asleep and this freaks me out too.

yeah that is creepy. Im thinking the bugs or whatever it is was already in the soil. They aren't already living in the seed. Once the seed cracked under the soil the tiniest bit they made their way and started feeding on the root until it was all gone and therefore being hollow. Good luck with that man. I looked everywhere for you but I couldn't find anything, I called my buddy whos a botanist and he agreed with me on that one.

Id be more inclined to think it's something in the soil than something if the seeds, if the seeds are undamaged.

If you've got plenty, then why not take out a new seed from the bag, don't do any planting or germination, and carefully open it up. Pretty sure you'll find nothing inside resembling hoards of bugs.

Just out of curiosity I searched "bugs inside seeds" Lots of hits.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111127141445AArtk33

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/782705/

No answer as to type of bug...but at least you aren't going crazy!
JD

Thanks guys, and haha yeah i realized they didnt come in the seeds it's absolutely from the soil. Just wondering wtf they were

I actually had/have this same problem. I recently made some soap based insecticide, I'm going to see if it works in the morning when I am able to use it.

These little fuckers ruined my first batch of seeds, none of them came above the soil, and some of the same seeds my girl had planted all sprouted and are healthy seedlings. After I was sure the seeds were not coming up I noticed all of the little white bugs crawling around in the soil concentrated on the seeds and small taproots that shot out of the germinating seeds before they stopped growing completely.

From what I have gathered they only appear to feed in the soil near the roots. I have some I am currently fighting in two of my 2 week old seedlings, and I have yet to see any on the foliage. I have also noticed a much slower growing rate since I transplanted these two seedlings to the new medium with the (possibly) contaminated soil.

This actually seems like a more common problem browsing the Bug sub-forums. Quite a few people are reporting problems of small, white, pests, found during germination in the seeds and soil that have been stopping seed growth.