Going over afflictions that can be spread from seed-
I have often encountered seeds infected with pythiosis, the pathogen that causes damping off in seedlings. Many of us have seen seedlings damp off. In adult plants it can cause stem rot, necrosis, and root rot. I always start seeds in new clean soil. I discard the soil from any seeds that fail to germ or are unhealthy. Any seedlings that show signs of damping off are isolated from my grow.
the worst damping off I have seen was Real Seed Co lines that were gathered in the himalayas. 100% of the stock from 2 himalayan lines damped off and died. Not sure if this has improved now that most of their lines are reproductions and no longer gathered from the source.
Bacterial blooms from contamination on the seed hull are also common. It usually appears as a diffuse ring around the seed. It will take out seeds if they are left too long in wet paper towels or soaking in water.
The only time I have observed a viroid spread through seeds is @worcestershire_farms / diggy soze Kashmir seeds. The seeds carry what appears to be hemp mozaic virus, expressing as extreme variegation, other leaf mutations, and dudding at new growth and bud sites. It likely came from a contaminated stardawg cutting.
They also carry a very nasty pythiosis pathogen that was visible in @worcestershire_farms garden rotting away the stems of some of the kashmir plants.
Worcestire farms was aware of these problems in his garden, and the problems with the seed stock, but sent them out anyway and encouraged people to grow it.
Before I was aware of the problem I gave some of those seeds to a friend. I felt like a real asshole for introducing that to his garden.
Fortunately he grew it in a plastic container with no drainage, so it was essentially isolated from the rest of his outdoor garden. No signs of infection have shown up in any other plants.
But I can say for certain that the kashmir seeds from @worcestershire_farms / diggy soze are infected. The kashmir from bodhi and barefrog is completely clean. The kashmir left worcestire’s garden with extreme variegation. It’s pretty clear cut.
If anyone still has these seeds, I recommend you exercise extreme caution or throw it in the trash.