Ok, so when I germinate I put the seeds in a wet paper towel and let the root tips grow a little. I usually have a couple seeds which dont germinate but I just got some new seeds and was thinking about trying germinating them in the ground. Does anyone do this, and if so does it work better than the paper towel method?
I have germinated both in paper towel and in compost - in both cases the medium is kept moist, and kept in my shed heated to about 76 F. I have not detected any difference in the time taken to germinate, nor in the % of seeds that do germinate. The only advantage of using paper towels is that any dud seeds are quickly eliminated, before any effort is expended on providing pots and compost for them, IMHO.
i would say they both have the same successs rate and the same rate of growth, since i also have done both quite a bit, and what i have noticed is that sometimes if the soil seeds dont sprout above soil right away you might not know and dig them up, then see your little baby and feel bad, that happens to me a lot if i think the seed is a dud, and with the paper towel method you can easily and cleanly check up on them. thats my opinion at least.