Are those in live or dead plant tissue? What size are they? Are those eggs in the lower stalk? Are they damaging your plants or are they in the mulch?
They were in a piece of mulched straw. Although I am finding a few aphids here and there on very low popcorn.
Been a long time since sprouting seeds,over 10 years. Added about an inch of pumice on the bottom,plastic on top and a heat mat under. Am I missing anything here? It’s day #1
Look into getting some Green Lacewings to control aphids. I believe @Prepper420 has used them with good results. He hasn't been around for a while however.
i do something real similar (cloning tray on a heat mat) but i use sandwich baggies (cheap ones) with about 1/2" cut out of one corner so heat and moisture can escape they're easily secured with a rubber band or tape. the tent of the baggie also allows for ~ 2" of vertical growth when the seed sprouts which can easily happen over night or away at work for the day. temperature is important inside the dome so it doesnt hurt to keep an eye on it 78f-82f being optimal. lower doesnt hurt much but 82f> is too warm imo/e. if you have troubles maintaining temps and dont have a vented dome try putting the mat on a timer. i've had good success with that. and finally, heat transfers to cold so i've found that seedling mats work best on a non-thermal conducting surface like a piece of foam or a piece of wood. hth's. ps. remove the plastic/baggie once the seed breaks the surface. if you stick with the plastic poke some holes in it with a toothpick. you did do the pre-soak prior to sowing? pps. too much moisture is the enemy of your seed and seedling. idk if it's skill, art, or dumb luck getting it right. i use a turkey baster to water my germinating seeds (distilled water only). sometimes only a few drops of water is all that's needed. do not overwater.
I appreciate it, I'm in the bay area Northern California. I'll check and see if they have it up here.
I will keep an eye on temps within using a laser gun and adjust the dome height and possibly buffer the mat with a spacer as well. A few toothpick holes is a good idea,the baggie deal is better for the reasons you stated so next time. There is a good inch in these and I check very regularly,I’m guessing since I planted them ~3\8” deep they could take a week or more to break? I did soak the seeds in a shot glass with 2 drops of peroxide 2% for 10 hours,3 sunk and 4 were still floating. I also use distilled room temp water from a 60ml syringe for watering. Seems so silly but my old age is getting the best of my limited memory I think,I can’t remember.
They look pretty big, could be larvae of some sort. Never seen them before. Are they fairly abundant in your straw/mulch layer?
How big are they? They look like a larvae of some sort and since they're in the straw and not causing damage to your plant, they appear to be larvae of some sort of detritivore. If you have a UC California Extension Office in your county, they should have a Plant, Disease and Insect clinic with an entomologist. Our county has one run by the Master Gardeners with access to the plant pathology lab at WSU. Collect the specimens and bring pics with you and they should be able to ID it for you. I suspect they're BSF (black soldier fly) pupae but can't be certain. We have a thread here about them for your educational pleasure, Black Soldier Fly / Hermetia illucens
Knock me over with a feather.........looks like he quietly deleted his account and left GC. I didn't even know it.
He was GC's water quality expert. He'll be missed. Come to think of it, haven't seen or heard from @donothinggardening .either.