This won't answer your question but... A few years ago before I discovered winter sowing I found an article on starting daylilies from seed. It said to throw some Perlite in a ziploc bag, add just enough water so the Perlite was damp, not wet, toss in the seeds and set the bag in a sunny window. I followed the instructions and, sure enough, 14 days later I had 12 two-inch daylily sprouts--100% germination from the 12 seeds I sowed. I potted them up to grow on, they went dormant in the fall, came up again the following spring. I finally potted them in gallon pots; one plant bloomed last summer.

Hi. I have THE best method to get difficult pepper/chile seeds to sprout. I have grown the 'Ghost chile', the hottest chilie in the world, till this year... and it is VERY difficult to get to sprout, I found the best way to get it to sprout, and sprout FAST. It is a very difficult seed to get to germinate, and takes up to a month to germinate. BUT if you do this, it will sprout super fast. You get your seeds out and ready to plant in a sterile soil-less mix. In a small pot. Like a 2-3in pot, put 5-7 seeds in it, cover with about 1/4in of soil. Water it fairly well, and then cover it with plastic Saran wrap and take a rubber band and put it around the pot rim,and make the Saran wrap tight, to make a 'greenhouse' out of the pot. IF you have an AeroGrow garden, like I have, that has full spectrum lights in them, put them under the lights, and you will have seedlings in less than a week! OR put them where they will get direct sun on them, to make the soil get hot for a few hours at least, if not all day. It is the warmth of the soil that makes the seed sprout super fast, over 80 is going to get you many plants. And the humidity makes the seed coat soft and allows the seedling out. I have had the so called 'Ghost Chile' sprout in as little as a week, I have been told it takes up to a month to get them to sprout, the longest I have waited is 8 days! I usually get 80% germination, and it has a VERY low germination rate. This works for every seed that is hard to germinate. You are basically making a small greenhouse and once you have germination,take the Saran wrap off, and let them take off! I have grown many many different types of super hot pepper seeds this way, and had great success...trying the paper towel way, I ended up getting the roots growing into the paper and they all died, I waited to long and when I tried to plant them, they all died from shock.

Generally I am not using the baggy method unless i am not sure of the viability of the seed and want to check before planting. Normally in the baggy you only have the root and the seed. You should not wait for stem growth before planting. When you do plant the soil or mix should be just as well prepared as if you were planting the seed only. The soil must be in contact with the seed and root, so usually that means gently tamping it down. Moisture must be maintained or the root will die in a few minutes. I don't see where your location could possibly be blamed. Al

What works for me, currently, because I do not have much space inside and I am rooting lots of cuttings for the second year in a row... I either go from rooting in sphagnum moss or Jon's 3x8 to 16-64 oz. containers with roughly 50/50 perlite/potting mix and a dash of turface (it changes color when moist and holds water well, if you use transparent cups just look at the turface to see if it needs water). There are a few tricks that I have learned over at F4F that have worked well for me with the way I do things: 1. Use fully moistened potting mix/perlite and do not add any more water or if the mix is only a little moist (do not use it dry!) only drizzle a little water into the container at the cutting for the first watering so a little tiny bit drains out, the water by the cutting gets wicked up by the rest of the potting mix. Those ways ensure there is no standing water in the container 2. Do not water for a while after that, depending on the temp/humidity/sun/how fast your cuttings are growing and container size it should be at least a week (maybe 5 days for a really fast grower). I go by weight and sometimes the turface, a bamboo skewer is good if you are not sure when the time is right (sink it deep and leave it in there for a good while before checking, it will be dark colored if there is moisture down in the cup. Easy on the water until the roots are through the whole container, until they are, some people water with a 10cc syringe so they are sure to not drown their roots. I just drizzle with a small watering can and am careful to not add too much. About Jon's 3x8 baggie... Last year I misused the baggie and paid a price of about 30% failure ultimately because I left them in those little baggies too long and they choked themselves (roots rot weeks after potting up). They are not for growing, only a convenient way of rooting really. Slow growers can sit in those little baggies much longer than the ones that throw out big thick spaghetti roots right away. I get them into larger containers as soon as i see an inch or more of pasta now and things have gone much better. Here is that poll I was talking about, there are lots of ways mentioned that might be better for your situation and give you some more insight. Good luck this year! http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Rooting-Poll-5719498