i cant get my seeds to sprout, am i retarded? or am i doing something wrong?

ok so i put a bunch of seeds in a moist p-towel then plastic wraped it and put it under my bed about 5 days ago and i got nothin, i also filled 4 little cups of water and put 3 seeds in each and got 1 sprout out of those 12. HELP PLEASE!

they need to be kept moist and the temp must not go lower than 70 degrees. check them every 12 hours to make sure there not drying out.

With the paper towel method,needs to be moistened often and a high temperature equals better germination rates. Maybe planting directly into the medium would help after soaking the outer coating to germinate easier.

put them in a wet paper towl ( i always use 2 just to be safe) them put them in some small tuperware thing put tinfoil around that so no light gets to it you could use anything then put it on top of your cablebox of pc monitor for heat

I just soak them in warm water for 5 or 6 hours and then put them in the soil about a fingertip down and loosely cover them, after 3-5 days I see green.

Out of 20 seeds I've had 20 sprout.

First I soak mine in water for about 2 hours. Then I put them on a wet (but not dripping wet) half folded paper towel and lightly fold it over more so that i can put it in a ziploc bag. Then I put the bag in a dark and warm place. Last time I put them in front of a heat vent and put clothes on top of them. I usually open the bag twice a day to give them fresh air and re-wet the paper towel if they dont germ for awhile and it dries out. Then they go into the soil right after I can see the white popping out. Last time I had 11/14 germinate and they were bagseed with some seeds really small and others immature. If they aren't good viable seeds then they may take awhile to germinate, be patient

I stick mine 1/8 inch into saturated rockwool cubes with a single CFL hanging over them.. 18 hours on 6 off..

and the germinate perfect...

iloveyou

Ok. Well recent studies have been showing that during the germination stage of the seedling, major amounts of light can be harmful to the future plant. Also, humidity is a great factor while trying to germinate your seeds perfectly. Here is an example of how I've germinated perfect, quick seeds....

First...
1. Find a DVD case or Video Game case or anything that closes.
2. Get as many seeds as you would like (The case idea is good for maybe 4-10)
3. Take two paper towels, and put the squares together ontop of eachother so its double layered. Then, fold one end of both the paper towels (as if they were one) over to the other side. Then fold it from top down the same way. Then one more time from the side.
3. Get a cup of luke warm tap/rain water, and put the paper towels completely in the water until the entire thing is submerged.
4. Take the paper towel out of the water, and press gently along the entire folded paper towel to release all of the excess water. It should still be more then damp, and dripping if you press lightly.
5. Unfold 1 time, and place your seeds in.
6. Remove all of the CD's or DVD's from the cases, as well as the information booklets that come in it to create as much space as you can.
7. Place your paper towel inside the case, and close it.

This will keep the paper towel extremely moist for up to 5 or more. The humidity level inside of the closed case will rise, causing the seedlings to crack at a more effecient rate. Also, even duds will crack because of humidity/heat.

a constant temp of more than 70 degrees is crucial.