Grr... i can never get a straight answer. One grow guide says make sure the taproot is up the next says it must be down in the soil. It's so difficult to know whom to believe. Thats the trouble with stoners... they're stoned! Anyway up or down????????
The taproot must be inside the soil. Some guides say it should be facing up because some growers believe that this will cause to root/stem will be more resistant in the early stages (Because of the loop or U-turn that the plant must perform to get back in the right direction). However, the root must still be covered in soil and protected from light.
DOWN. DOWN. DOWN. It's called a "taproot" for a reason. Roots grow down in to the soil.. so the taproot will do the same. The net effect of planting a germinated seeded with the taproot up is just that the taproot will have to grow down a little extra to get situated correctly. The taproot will always let gravity pull it down, while the stem is programmed genetically to work against gravity.
That's a good point. I didn't consider the "U-turn" thing. But I doubt the plant benefits much if at all from having to do that. In nature seeds dont any anyone to neatly place them in the soil taproot down... so it stands to reason that it wouldn't ever hurt if you planted it taproot up at very least. At best maybe there is some benefits, but again I doubt it.