Tiny translucent worms, help!

Steviesteve · Nov 16, 2017

I started a few new seeds a week ago or so, Put them in soil 3/4 days ago.

Paper towels into a soil mix of FF and pro mix.

Oddly.... a couple of the popped seeds did not seem to continue to grow, curiously I picked up some fine tweezers and lightly sifted the soil to take a look at the germinated seedlings. The seedlings were not dead, they were still slightly curled up, slightly larger then the size of the seeds. The tip of the tap root and cotyledon leaves still in early stage with a nice milky white color..(days behind the other seedlings). I started to notice these tiny little transparent/white worms, very very thin and small, but they seemed to only be around the seed. All my seeds are in very small pots, the worms were not in the bottom, sides or top, only in the immediate area of the seedlings. There are not a lot of them, maybe found 10 in all 3. They avoid the light whenever it's on them.

I tried to take a picture but they are way to small, I noted that the 3 worms I isolated seemed to dry out and die rather quickly.

Hah It's almost like they came out of the seeds! Looking up what I have, I'm leaning towards pot worms?

Input asap please!

Steviesteve · Nov 17, 2017

I found another rootless seedling and a small white worm where the root should be, by the time I got my camera out I lost the sucker and could not find it. They quickly squirm away from the light and only stay in the moist soil. They do not have a black head like gnat larvae, this is exactly what they look like..

There's not alot, when I find them, there's only 1 or 2 but they are doing significant damage!.. so far, that have killed 6 out of 12 by eating the seedling root

Roger A. Shrubber · Nov 17, 2017

i'm not positive, but i'd guess those are either nematodes, eating your roots, or a load of fungus gnat larvae. i'd also guess they came in your soil.
if i was you, i'd either get rid of that soil, or spread it out on a sheet pan, put it in your oven at 350 for an hour to sterilize it.
any healthy looking plants you have left, i'd unpot them, wash the roots off real well, and repot them in different soil. the unhealthy ones are already screwed.

chemphlegm · Nov 17, 2017

those are beneficial nematodes.
the ones you dug up....did they live?
stop digging up seedlings man, it aint right.

Roger A. Shrubber · Nov 17, 2017

the seedlings aint got no roots...if those are beneficial nematodes, whats eating his roots?

Wholesaleme · Jan 9, 2025

They were in the seed. Those seeds are super hard. No way they’d weren’t in seed as the soil was clean. Same with me but it happened in paper towels. So it wasn’t the same brand of soil I’ve been using for past two years. It was straight up paper towels damp in a sealed bag.

waktoo · Jan 11, 2025

Steviesteve said:
I started a few new seeds a week ago or so, Put them in soil 3/4 days ago.

Paper towels into a soil mix of FF and pro mix.

Oddly.... a couple of the popped seeds did not seem to continue to grow, curiously I picked up some fine tweezers and lightly sifted the soil to take a look at the germinated seedlings. The seedlings were not dead, they were still slightly curled up, slightly larger then the size of the seeds. The tip of the tap root and cotyledon leaves still in early stage with a nice milky white color..(days behind the other seedlings). I started to notice these tiny little transparent/white worms, very very thin and small, but they seemed to only be around the seed. All my seeds are in very small pots, the worms were not in the bottom, sides or top, only in the immediate area of the seedlings. There are not a lot of them, maybe found 10 in all 3. They avoid the light whenever it's on them.

I tried to take a picture but they are way to small, I noted that the 3 worms I isolated seemed to dry out and die rather quickly.

Hah It's almost like they came out of the seeds! Looking up what I have, I'm leaning towards pot worms?

Input asap please!

May/may not be pot worms. Effectively and accurately identifying soil critters isn't as cut and dry as some might expect. NOT beneficial nematodes, as they don't eat developing roots.

As you've described everything, this has happened to me in the past. Seeds weren't popping, dug 'em up and found those little worms swarming around inside the seed shell. I found that starting my seeds in Rapid Rooters prior to putting them in my organic soil base solved the problem. Once the seeds developed a root structure, those "worms" didn't seem to affect the seedlings. When the tap root emerges from the bottom of the rooting plug, you can put the plug into your medium and proceed as usual.

As a side note, I don't think that those worms are actually eating the emerging root. I think they're attracted to the exudates that the emerging seedling puts out in an effort to attract the soil microbes that break down soil organic matter into plant soluble nutrients. Primarily simple sugars/carbon for energy...

Good luck!

Edit: DEAD THREAD bongsmilie

Tiny translucent worms, help!

Steviesteve

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Steviesteve

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Roger A. Shrubber

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chemphlegm

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Roger A. Shrubber

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Wholesaleme

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waktoo

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