I feel like I'm wasting my seeds

[Greenlizard]

Yellow, I think , means no light
Was or is she in the dark

Also looks realllllllllllly wet

That photo was taken immediately after it was planted under the lights. It came straight from the paper towel like that.
Also I did just wet the soil due to the fresh transplant. I poured off all excess water from under the tray and I opened the top vents of the humidome as well. I believe it was too wet...

 

[Misterbeans]

I'm starting to grow quite concerned. I bought two packs of seeds from a very reparable vender from this site. Followed their instructions exactly but nothing is popping up above the soil's surface... I think they are dead.
Perhaps I will go into detail with what I have done and someone might be able to point out my problem?
I washed my hands well and used only clean surfaces while handling my seeds. I placed them into a small glass of room temperature water, sank the seeds, removed them after 18 hours. Some were split some were not. The instructions clearly state that I should not exceed 18 hours of submersion. The seeds were then moved to paper towel on a clean plate. The paper towel was folded 3 times and saturated with water. I poured off any excess water. The plate was then put above my fridge where it is dark and warm. About 75 - 77 degrees. I check the paper towel twice per day (morning and night) to make sure it is still good and damp. After about 3 days a few of the seeds have had germinated with nice tap roots and most have not. Some have not even cracked open. After the 4th day in paper towel I planted them into my humidome or what ever you call it with the proper soil about 1/2 an inch under the surface or maybe even a little less. I gently cover them over and dampen the soil. My humidome allows water to be under the soil tray to allow moisture wicking as I'm sure most do. My grow room under T5 lights is about 76 degrees and about 70 degrees with the lights off. They have been in there now for about 6 days. I still have nothing happening above the surface. My soil was never watered since because the humidome has kept it very moist. I am using tap water. I have a water softener on my system (not sure if that matters since I have read a lot of MIXED reviews to say the least).
I have now opened my second package of seeds and have started the germination process again but I feel I am on another course for failure and will now be out a couple hundred bucks for seeds... I see all these stories of people popping plants above the surface in as little as 2 and 3 days by just putting the seeds straight into those little pucks but my seed supplier suggests against that method... What to do?

I use bottled spring water. I drop them in a glass of water and after about maybe 12 hours I tap the seed to sink it, at that point I leave it in the water until the seeds cracks open, no exceptions. After I can see It is cracked i fold 2 folded paper towels and put the seed in the middle instead of using 1 paper towl. Within 48 hours they are guaranteed in the soil. I get the soil wet and put the root tip straight down and cover with dry soil to prevent breaking the root then use a spray bottle to get the soil wet on top. I continue the spray bottle until the first set of leaves. So here's the big thing, when I used to leave them out on top of a cabinet it took longer to pop seeds and sometimes even a slimy mold would grow on the seeds lol. While in the glass of water. I've grown for 20 years so in the old days you didn't Google it lol. I learned that long story short by putting it in a pitch dark warm location between 70 and 80 degrees as long as the seed is good im in full in 48 hours. I recommend soaking the seed in a warm pitch dark cabinet or closet shelf with spring water only, after 12 hours tap the floating seed to get it to sink, check in 12 hours for a cracked seed and continue to check every 2 hours if possible until cracked and root tip is visible and then pour the water on paper towl so the seed lands on the paper towl. By putting the seed between 2 folded paper towels decreases root breakage from the fold and you can lift it to prevent root growing into paper towl. I use this method with auto flower, regular and feminized. Hope this helps somebody. As a side note I'm a firm believer in not exposing the root to light I think it speeds things along.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I'm starting to grow quite concerned. I bought two packs of seeds from a very reparable vender from this site. Followed their instructions exactly but nothing is popping up above the soil's surface... I think they are dead.
Perhaps I will go into detail with what I have done and someone might be able to point out my problem?
I washed my hands well and used only clean surfaces while handling my seeds. I placed them into a small glass of room temperature water, sank the seeds, removed them after 18 hours. Some were split some were not. The instructions clearly state that I should not exceed 18 hours of submersion. The seeds were then moved to paper towel on a clean plate. The paper towel was folded 3 times and saturated with water. I poured off any excess water. The plate was then put above my fridge where it is dark and warm. About 75 - 77 degrees. I check the paper towel twice per day (morning and night) to make sure it is still good and damp. After about 3 days a few of the seeds have had germinated with nice tap roots and most have not. Some have not even cracked open. After the 4th day in paper towel I planted them into my humidome or what ever you call it with the proper soil about 1/2 an inch under the surface or maybe even a little less. I gently cover them over and dampen the soil. My humidome allows water to be under the soil tray to allow moisture wicking as I'm sure most do. My grow room under T5 lights is about 76 degrees and about 70 degrees with the lights off. They have been in there now for about 6 days. I still have nothing happening above the surface. My soil was never watered since because the humidome has kept it very moist. I am using tap water. I have a water softener on my system (not sure if that matters since I have read a lot of MIXED reviews to say the least).
I have now opened my second package of seeds and have started the germination process again but I feel I am on another course for failure and will now be out a couple hundred bucks for seeds... I see all these stories of people popping plants above the surface in as little as 2 and 3 days by just putting the seeds straight into those little pucks but my seed supplier suggests against that method... What to do?

Honestly I don’t see anything wrong with your methods. We all have our slightly different takes on how to germinate, but when it comes down to it, it looks like everyone on this thread is more or less covering the two important aspects- warm temps and high humidity. I also have a slightly different variation on what the other folks have mentioned- slightly warmer temps, and I no longer fold the seed between the paper towel (just leave it laying on top in a sealed container) - but really the fundamentals are the same.

When I have trouble germinating seeds it’s generally because they’re a bit old, and perhaps haven’t been stored properly during the time they’ve spent sitting around. Seeds keep well for several years in the fridge. In the freezer they last indefinitely, and some people on this forum are sprouting 40+ year old seeds that were kept frozen.

The shells on older seeds tend to harden over time. To deal with this I usually take a light file to the seams, and they generally sprout for me, but only after doing this. Other people sand them lightly, or place them in a tube made from sandpaper and shake them, for the same effect. Other people just squeeze them first, till they crack slightly.

I’m not sure this is your problem, and it seems a little odd that the sprouted ones would die after you planted them, but it’s worth considering. I’ve also seen older seeds sprout, but then die because they lack the vigor to push out much of a root, or fail to be able to shed the shell after they come out of the ground.

Not all seedbanks are as honourable as they claim to be. The best seed banks will usually compensate you somewhat for seeds that don’t sprout- or at least give you some token of polite sympathy. It’s worth searching around about the strains you bought. You may find other people have had the same issues with the same seeds.

Good luck.

 

[Greenlizard]

She greened up over night after being exposed to the light. 1 out of 10 freshly purchased seeds is still dissapointing though.

 

[Jackalope]

Greenlizard. As has been mentioned most of what you are doing is right. The more you grow the more you find. I have had troubles even with reputable breeders. Weather it is extra hard seeds, old seeds or bad storage it can happen. Most people want to blame age as the problem. I have seeds from 1998 that still pot so it's not just about age. Sometimes it is just a bad batch of seeds.

I have did things the same way for years. When starting seeds for this last grow I had hell with lots of strains. Some strains had troubles from the start others just never came up. It made me question what I have been doing. That could have caused more problems if I had tried to change. It sucks when you loose seeds you payed good money for but it is best just to pop a couple more and move on.

It is as basic as a seed moister and light. More seeds are killed by people who care to much then those that just did the basic's.

 

[BobbyZ]

Well I came home to good and bad news... Bad news is that I dug up my seeds and they all look the same as when they first went in but they are dead. No tap roots. Must have rotted in the wet soil.
Good news is I checked on my other seeds I put into paper towel and they are mostly growing tiny tap roots and one already started growing its leaves and was about 1 1/2 inches long. I planted him.

Pump the brakes bro. I would recover those seeds and try to re-germinate them. Unless you can think of another reason why all your seeds would fail. And it doesn't cost any more money by trying... Good luck