I am not a beginner, I've got a couple grows under my belt, but one thing that has always bugged me is the fact that I've never gotten a seed to germ in soil (or any medium, for that matter) I've always either sprouted in water or paper towels, and then gone from there. Every time I try, I end up waiting, and waiting, and then waiting a little more only to eventually dig the seed up and find that the inside has turned to sticky, smelly mush. What am I doing wrong? I know it would be better for the plants root system if I could get this to work. How deep should the seeds be planted?
You are wetting the soil too much, and probably using soil that is not aerated enough You could try making a 1" pocket in the soil and filling with perlite, this will stop the seed from suffocating as it germinates. Have the seed in the middle of this pocket I use a mix of peat and perlite 2:1 ratio to start seeds and bury the seed 1-2" deep in lightly damp soil and place in 25℃ area and they show their faces within 48 hours every time it can be best to dampen the soil while mixing, and then after potting up and dropping the seed don't water it. You may have to cover the pot to stop it drying out though. If your soil is well aerated you can do pretty much anything you want to it and the seed will start, but if it's particularly dense you need to go easy with the water
As a general rule I always float my seeds in water. If they are viable they will sink to the bottom after 6 to 12 hours. After they sink I bury them 1/4" deep in good quality potting soil with lots of Perlite. It usually takes about 24 hours and they poke their heads out.
Alright, thats good to know, thanks for the info. I'll have to try that with perlite and peat. I really would like to start direct germing. So I'll try this and put an update on how it goes.