Germ Fail

I haven't germinated seeds in a long time, and made a big mistake. I forgot that seeds need some air flow, I just googled how to germinate cannabis and the first 2 links recommended putting two plates on top of each other with damp paper towel in the middle with the seeds. This has caused excessive amounts of moisture build up and a lack of air flow. On top of all of that these seeds are very old, 2.75 years old. I'm afraid I've killed my seeds, however, it's only been 15 hours so I'm going to give them a couple days to see if they pop with an improved germination method.

Do you guys think I've killed my seeds? I think I may be wasting my time. Should I just try to pop new beans? Also I'm not sure how long seeds will stay viable, is 2.75 years too old for seeds to pop?

edit: i suppose that this has been asked many times. I guess that's why nobody is responding. Mods please delete this thread and I'll do my research (even tho not much is comin up).

Seeds need moisture and warm temps to germinate. They dont need paper towels or soaks in cups of water. While fresh air is good, they dont need a constant breeze on them. Just normal, comfortable air quality is fine.

Keeping them too wet and warm is bad as they can develop fungus/mold infection or not germinate at all.

I do soak seeds in a cup of tap water overnight to introduce sufficient moisture. This is really just habit, I am sure they would sprout just as well directly in soil.I keep them on a warm appliance to maintain comfortable temps as well. The next day I make a hole about 1/4" deep in my soil, drop them in and cover lightly. The soil should be stay moist, not wet and not dry. They only need tap water until they grow a few sets of leaves.

They dont need heating pads or humidity domes unless you are in an extremely cold or arid environment. Ambient temps in the mid 70's are fine. I dont put light directly on them, they sit near a florescent light but they dont need light until the sprout and grow leaves.

Once they sprout, they go under my PLL fixture. I keep it at least 18" away and as they grow and develop leaves, I lower the light to provide more intensity.

I cant remember any sprouting in more than in 1-3 days. I mostly use cuttings now but grow out the occasional seed. The worst and most common thing you can do is constantly mess with them and try to make something happen. Just provide a good environment and wait.

Seriously. 15hrs? Youre in for a looooong grow

15 hours? That's nothing...at 80F, I found that my seeds sprouted in about 2.5 days (60 hours). At 70F, they sprouted in about 4.5 days (108 hours).

Save yourself the trouble and just throw the seeds in some tiny pots with peat mix or coco. Then forget about it for a week. Then come back to seedlings.

The paper towel thing just makes for an opportunity to fuck something up, imo.

15 hours LOL

dude get a shot glass or something that size and put some tap or bottled water in the glass, drop the seed in the glass. IF the seed is good it will sink with in a day or three.. when the seed hits the bottom wait 24hrs and you will see a small tap root coming out the seed. when that happens your seed is ready for the earth.. get your soil moist and then drop the seed in the moist soil and your good. just don't cover the seed so much it cant get out of the dirt.. she will start coming up in the next few days.. i used to use paper towels with about 75% success and the shot glass is 100%... if it doesnt sink after a week its a dud.. 2.75 years is a long time to keep a seed unless it has been properly stored. and then your looking pretty slim on its chances.

I use pre-moistened rooter plugs from Amazon, upside down, in Tupperware. Well, I used it once and it worked perfect.
No water, no plates, no paper towel, just stick a seed in a rooter plug and wait ... A little longer than 15 hours ... YEMD