They (whatever they are) are coming inside now?

[StevePots]

Florida zone 10 a.
Have been getting hell from the bugs but my garden is slowly coming along. Big plan is to sprout the seeds indoors, plant in drinking cups to let them get some size on them before taking them outside.
Well the bugs must have got wind of my plan because they are now inside the house, inside my seed nursery.
Here is one of the bad guys.
If I'm not mistaken it's a whitefly but what is it doing going after seed?

It is sitting on a Jiffy pellet that use to contain a garden pea seed.
I planted six Garden Pea seeds and only two came up. The others were paste.
Of 36 seed pellets used I only managed to get 12 seeds sprout. The seeds were for garden peas, cherry tomato, oak leaf lettuce and for yellow spanish onions.
I got the bad guy and made him pay the price.
Here are some closeups and hopefully you all can help identify the bug and explain how the heck it (or it's babies) ate my seeds. Alos how to keep them out .

[imafan26]

It probably is not a white fly. The wings don't look right and the bug isn't white. It is also rare to find just one. It is probably something that likes moist conditions like a gnat or soldier fly.

I would not want them in the house either. But it does mean that you are probably keeping your seedling area a little too wet and there isn't enough air circulation. It is a good thing to work on now to work out the "bugs" while the weather is still warm. Adjusting the watering and adding a fan or two to circulate the air better will help. Sticky cards will help catch the flies. Other than that Apple or Rainbow might be better help in designing and setting up an indoor growing area.

I do all of my starting outdoors. It means that I have to wait to start some things that need heat like peppers and eggplant since I don't have a heat mat, but I can start something outside all year long so I don't have to deal with indoor conditions.

[applestar]

Does that look like this to you? If so, seedcorn maggots took out a dozen or more containers with two seeds each of my cucurbits during last year's spring seed starting:

https://www.ent.uga.edu/veg/colecrops/seedcornmag.htm



...hmmm... At first glance, the eyes on yours don't look big enough, but maybe something similar?

[StevePots]

Does that look like this to you?

Mmmm no mine looks more like a small moth your's looks more like a fly.

[HoneyBerry]

Might be Fungus Gnats or Soil Gnats.

[Susan W]

I'll weigh in on this. No expert here, but do start many seeds inside, 12 months/yr. I use the peat pellets, 10-12 per tray. Start inside. No fancy set-up, fancy lights, heat mats, just window light and some indoor lighting. Once up move outside, under cover, light shade. Even the lightest breeze outside helps keep some bugs at bay. Of course during colder months can't move outside! I do have a small fan in one area, and try to remember to turn it on 1-2 times/day. This is the small 'personal fan', desk or clip on. This helps keep some bugs at bay, and helps the seedlings for strength.

Note on outside nursery area. Especially in summer, choose a sheltered area that is shaded all day and cooler than an enclosed area that heats up. For example, a shaded area on my deck that doesn't get breeze is hotter than an area under a carport that is all day shade and picks up some air movement.
Keep in mind much of the fancy seed starting set-ups are to emulate outside. So, try to use natural outside as much as possible. Of course there's another set of hungry bugs looking for tender plant starts outside!