seed eating worms!!! any ideas?

[mountainfarmer1]

Im in eastern US. Lastnight I did a spinosad drench and they all came to the surface. Definitely not FG larvae. I was thinking they could be a nematode as well. I watched them under the microscope and they seemed to have a voracious appetite. I was able to capture pictures and video of a FG larvae too. The worms are longer than FNL in relation to the width of their body. I can't seem to figure out how to get pictures posted now that the thread has started. Ha!

 

[mountainfarmer1]

 

[TanzanianMagic]

What you have circled is debris from media. They would have been quite easy for me to identify if they had black heads. See how the FG larve are oval and kinda fat? These are longer, more slender and both ends come to a point. I'm doing some experiments and will get some better pictures. another thing, GN larvae move like a catepiller, tithes things move like a snake.

Well the photo is what I have to work with.

You could always put up a sticky trap and see what flies into it. If they're not fungus gnats, they're some kind of fly larvae.

 

[Lost in a SOG]

Yes the nemotodes that ive seen are longer than fg larvae, thinner, more thread like and usually slightly translucent.

Old soil, poor quality bagged soil and bad soil taken from the garden can have these little buggers in so i always use bagged soil by one of the ganja companies for sprouting seeds.. its worth it in many other ways as well just to get them off to that initial healthy root ball off and away without any damping off or other issues.

IMO unless youve made em, and have 1000s, seeds are too expensive and precious to just chuck in some old dirt.

 

[mountainfarmer1]

Yes the nemotodes that ive seen are longer than fg larvae, thinner, more thread like and usually slightly translucent.

Old soil, poor quality bagged soil and bad soil taken from the garden can have these little buggers in so i always use bagged soil by one of the ganja companies for sprouting seeds.. its worth it in many other ways as well just to get them off to that initial healthy root ball off and away without any damping off or other issues.

IMO unless youve made em, and have 1000s, seeds are too expensive and precious to just chuck in some old dirt.

Agreed. I grow in coco.

 

[mountainfarmer1]

pics: [url='https://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=507

 

[mountainfarmer1]

Well the photo is what I have to work with.

You could always put up a sticky trap and see what flies into it. If they're not fungus gnats, they're some kind of fly larvae.

Im not seeing any fliers really. One or two here and there. In relation to these worms i should have hundreds of fliers.

 

[mountainfarmer1]

Pot worms perhaps ?? Never heard of them harming roots tho

Finally located other people who had these worms. Apparently they are Pot Worms. Not suppose to be harmful to plants. However i have seen and heard of them eat seed embryos and another grower testified that they ate out the stem of an unrooted clone. Phew, I was really worried about these things. I try and keep a clean environment and understand how difficult it can be to eradicate problems in the rhizosphere. Appreciate all who took the time out to respond.

 

[Lost in a SOG]

Yep id say that doesnt look like any parasitic nemotode ive seen yet.. too big and a different shape. I could easily be wrong. They might well eat into already dying roots

 

[TanzanianMagic]

BTW - You need a microscope to see nematodes. Also, they have larvae that are even smaller.

 

[RB56]

Definitely not FGL. I microwave coir before I use it to start seeds. 1 gallon plastic bucket full of moist coir, plastic wrap over the top, held in place by a rubber band. 10 minutes on high and you get steam sterilized coir. Your worms may be tough, but I doubt they're tougher than that.

 

[buzzmobile]

BTW - You need a microscope to see nematodes. Also, they have larvae that are even smaller.

Nematodes are very small, slender worms: typically about 5 to 100 µm thick, and 0.1 to 2.5 mm long. The smallest nematodes are microscopic, while free-living species can reach as much as 5 cm (2 in), and some parasitic species are larger still, reaching over 1 m (3 ft) in length.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

Good point, however, 2.5mm is smaller than these larvae.

Also, nematodes seem to have two sharp ends, and these have one flat end.

 

[mountainfarmer1]

Definitely not FGL. I microwave coir before I use it to start seeds. 1 gallon plastic bucket full of moist coir, plastic wrap over the top, held in place by a rubber band. 10 minutes on high and you get steam sterilized coir. Your worms may be tough, but I doubt they're tougher than that.

Agreed. I will start heat sterilizing my coco. Ive lost too many high value seeds to these things.

 

[RB56]

I doubt it will help with the killer worms, but you mentioned some FGs flying around. Here's how I eliminated that problem:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=367008&goto=newpost


Have carried that over into coir and it works great. One or two show up on yellow sticky traps, but no ongoing lifecycle infestation.