About germinating seeds and common problems

[davidson2354]

Hey guys once again. I wanted to address some situations I've been having with my seeds and allow this to be a place to exchange info abt this still "complicated" phase to some and still to me sometimes. Now, I've been growing mainly auto feminized seeds since last year. At the moment i was able to make it grow a regular seed from some weed bought, which turned out to be female acutally and is really beautiful and healthy. It's germinating process was quite quick actually, like an auto seed. I also had a huge amounts of normal seeds handed to me that were on a bag for at least an year, and I tried to germinate like 30 of them with absolutely no success at all, so those seeds have been damaged in some way.
What I wanted to address more specifically here is the fact that in my short experience I havent been able to germinate all of auto feminized seeds bought. I live in Portugal, they come from my neighbour country in 3 days usually, since the order is made, so the transportation is fairly good and I dont think it could damage the seeds but im not completely sure. I can only assume that I do some mistakes still, or maybe the seeds really have a defect.

From the strains these guys produce I was able to identify one that always has worked with me, Granel Blueberry.
It always germinates quickly and the tap root always expands alot in the paper towel method. I have also been able to germinate successfully on a cup of water when I feel like the paper towel method is not getting anywhere. Sometimes it helps to speed and induce the germination proccess, sometimes nothing happens.

Now, my most common situation are seeds that crack just a little bit open, you can see the taproot inside but it doesnt come out, and the seed tends to get darker and darker color. Ill be uploading a photo of my current seeds germinating. Sometimes not even a little crack, which is the case here on the photos. The longer taproot is a blueberry like I said before, their the strongest strain I have witnessed till now. The other with just a little bit outside, probably demanding soil right now. And the two dark ones, one has it opened, the other never cracked.

Now, what could be the cause of this? Is it possible some strains have more sensibility and less "assertive" results or is it some mistake of mine? Maybe a little bit of water too much on the paper towel. Or all of the options?
Maybe more variables?
Thanks for your time here and the sharing of any info to help me or anyone.

Happy growths

 

[Major PITA]

Looks too wet to me, but I never use the paper towel method. More likely just bad seeds.
If I was to germinate 100's of seeds and didn't want to use a bunch of cups or pots, I might try the paper towel thing to save space and soil.
Germination is one of the most critical phasees of a grow and when the plant is most vulnerable. It makes no sense to me to be handling the seeds and moving them around, exposing them to light, etc. for no good reason. I soak them overnight and place directly into the grow medium. In 3-4 days I get 95% germination.