I like taking the seed packs after a good soak etc. and candling them.
Hold the seed packs close to a light.
You'll be able to see what shells are empty,nasty looking embryos or starting to put out a root.
Some of the nasty looking seeds will sprout,but it's good to know if you have empty shells.
Saves time re sprouting new seeds sooner than waiting on bad stuff to not sprout.
Kinda like a sonogram for a baby. :)

A way to get the number of plants you want earlier.
A good tool for short season growers who might run out of time if they wait too long for bad seeds not to sprout.
I don't toss any seed out but do add a few extras if candling my seeds shows a few empty looking seeds.

Ozzy, could you please explain step by step how you do this? I am just starting out with pepper seeds and although I am pretty good with daylily seeds, this is something different. Did you soak in the hydrogen peroxide/distilled water mix? Thanks!

Judith

The lights are not necessary at this stage. You only need lights after they sprout leaves.

As esox07 said, the lights are not necessary, they are shining on the seedlings I already have growing. Basically, I followed what I saw from the Buckeye Pepper Company. If you go on YouTube and search Buckeye pepper seed germination you'll see 2 videos. I just doubled the paper towel in a large sterlite container, sprayed it down with water, then gently sprinkled the seeds in small areas and put my markers by them so I know what they were. I did soak them first in perixide/water solution.

After that I put them on a folded towel on top of my heating pad and would check once/twice a day to see if I needed to spray more water on them. Some had taproots coming out in 3-4 days, some as many as 2 weeks. I went ahead and planted them once the taproot came out in presoaked Promix potting soil. Within another 4-10 days the hooks usually pop out of the soil.

I like this method because I can see the progress and I don't waste time or space sowing seeds tht aren't going to germinate. Like smokemaster said after these seeks get fully soaked you can see the embryo/taproot in the seed, or they get brown and nasty when they're bad

ozzy2001 I am interested in watching those videos but I don't see them using any search parameters involving Buckeye. Can you provide a link please?

SCG