So I bought some seeds off a guy online. I got a couple vials and when they arrived I popped two out of the 3 pack and 5 out of a ten pack. The 3 pack came in a tube. The two didn’t germ so I tossed em. I went to pop the rest of them last night and when I opened the seed to the last seed was stuck to the tube lid by a web. I looked down in there with my naked eye because I couldn’t find my loupe. There were little brown specs in there as well. Like maybe 4 or 5. I instantly threw it out in the woods washed my hands and freaked out for about 30 minutes. I know they didn’t come from me, and I’m fairly sure they were spider mites. Dude who I got em from says he had the seeds for about 3 months in a vial unopened. Can they live this long in a tube with little to no food? I know there’s not really anything for them to eat in there but maybe whatever plant material came off the seed.
Maybe he kept the vial in the fridge and they hibernated? If he dried the seeds first it seems like they would have died before getting to the fridge tho. Maybe he didn’t, and thats why they didn’t pop. Weird.
Or… maybe they made the web, then died, then you saw the aftermath months later. Did you actually see any of these spots move?
No I never saw them move. Coulda been that the web was in the lid the whole time. It was just a crazy thing to see lol. Wish I woulda took a pic
Spidermites can go into diapause when conditions are not favorable. Something like hibernation. They can even go into diapause if there are predators present which, apparently, some predators will skip predating on them. If you thought that the mites themselves were small and difficult to discern, the eggs are miniscule in comparison with something like a 2-5 day period to hatch. The webbing itself protects them as well. Horrible pest.
This happend to me like 5 or 6 years ago when i got seeds from a hobby breeder at icmag… If the buds have mites they can transfer into vials quite easy. Its aweful that people can do this to others, i hope you reach out to the person and set him/her straight!
Edit: As you, i also payed for the seeds which makes the whole thing even more aweful…
Pz 
You would be suprised how long they can live. Someone i know wrapped some cloning equipment they had in a black bag just after the clones died from spider mite issues. 6-9 months later they opend the black bag as they had forgoten what they had in it so wanted to have a look. After awhile, not sure if it was a day or two later but they soon noticed that inside the bag and all over the equipment there was still live spider mites. They can go dormant for a long long time.
I’m going to suggest that it’s a caterpillar or worm of sort and you’re seeing poop and not mites. I can’t imagine spider mites would spin webbing enough to stick your seed to the lid without any other plant material involved.
I believe spider mites spin webs for their eggs.
I hit them up to let them know. Like I said I opened the seed tube and it looked fine so I’m sure it was normal when he sent it so he wouldn’t have seen anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until I opened it the second time that I noticed a web. I’m thinking when I opened it it woke them up or they though the coast was clear or something lol. Now I gotta keep an eye out. Thankfully I’m growing in a tent and the vial wasn’t even opened in the same room and I washed my hands pretty well. Hope I don’t get em but we will see.
My first thought was “oooo…that’s evil…!
Now I have to sterilize all my seeds because of you. 
Wild. Thanks for sharing. 
Maybe it was a seed weevil of sorts-
Spider mites live only 2-4 weeks
Weevils 6+ months
Good! Yeah, getting beens of a infected plant and selling the beans tells something about the breeders quality control. So i suggest not buying from this breeder and out their practices. We dont need more people who just want a money grab.
Pz
See you saying 2-4 weeks but everyone else is saying they can go dormant for much longer. Which one is correct?
I could see someone pollinating an infected crop to recoup since it can’t be smoked. It was actually a freebie smh
I believe I got some retail packs direct from a breeder that had weevils in them. I wasn’t sure if the packs picked the bugs up before or after purchase but the germ rates on those seeds were terrible and I was bummed. First time I ever noticed something like that. Not sure if it’s correlation or causation. Much love
I had to have a quick look to see as I live in a very humid hot climate where Spider mites breed year round-but that they can go dormant //overwinter in areas where there is very cold weather.
I still somehow think that it wasn’t Spider mites in your seeds-but perhaps it could be possible.
I once left baggies of seeds of in a drawer and after a few months come back to find very tiny little “weevil” like things and a fine powdery substance in the bottom of baggie(either their droppings or bits of chewed seeds)-and I recall in some baggies no seeds would germinate or if they did it was with at a very low percent.
I just chucked them all out and now only store my seeds in fridge.
I tried popping the last one nothing. not one of them out of that tube germed. Ima go with the weevil idea which only makes me slightly more comfortable cuz how tf are weevils