Dan's right. Because of it's sp. gravity perlite will work it's way to the top (just like the classification that occurs when I pan gold or some other mineral). In my case, I don't care, except that the white color (or lack thereof) might keep my soil temps too cool. I live in a 5b, but with an added challenge, 7400' elevation. Thus, one or two freezes are the norm through June. I transplant my tomatoes and peppers and a zucchini in a cold frame in early May with an electric heater for the occasional sub freezing night. Without that plastic covering, I couldn't plant them prior to the last week in June (I've seen frost on the 5th of July at 7,000'). I like to start toms and peppers indoors at the end of February. I put the pepper seeds in a wet paper towel in a sandwich bag to germinate even earlier than that. I move the strongest plants into larger pots, 1 gallon for toms and half that size for peppers. If you don't have room, I suggest moving the tv into storage and using it's shelf. I'm not a master gardener by any means, but I do harvest a nice crop of toms and peppers in an area that many people believe neither can be grown. By the way, when transplanting toms, bury a part of the stem beneath the surface to increase root system. Mark

I'm not the expert here, but this is what I do and it has worked for me. There are a lot of ways to go about germinating the seeds and some ways are better than others, but different methods do work. As for me......I add a few drops of NO DAMP to my peroxide distilled water solution. I do think this helps deter molding of seed. My towels are very wet, but not dripping wet. I sandwich the seeds in the towels and place in a ziplock bag. I have an unused bathroom that is on the cool side. I put my seed in batches into rubbermaid food storage containers and put the lid on,and place them in the bathtub and shut the door. Usually within 7 to 14 days I start to find sprouted seeds in my baggies (I check at 5 day intervals). If I find towels aren't damp enough I spritz them again with my distilled water solution and put them back in the bag. Any sprouted seeds are put into 18 oz plastic cups filled with promix and the cup is marked with the cross. I use a pencil to make a hole in the soil about 1/4" deep and then nudge some potting mix over top of the planted seed. I put a baggie over the top and rubber band the baggie down to conserve moisture. My cups all have holes along the bottom side edges and are placed in a pan or tray containing 1 1/2 inches of water. I usually leave my baggie tents on for a few days after most of the seeds are showing green above the soil and then remove the tents. At that point I will mist the top of the soil when necessary to keep it from becoming to dry. I never let seedling soil dry out, but you don't want it to get overly wet either. At any rate that is pretty much how I do it. There is also some great info in the earlier seed starting posts, and various methods are mentioned. Good luck with your seeds. Linda

Don't leave it near the t.v., since the radiation will not be good for it. That is why pet shops tell people not to put an aquarium or terrarium near a t.v. Also move it outside to get as much sunlight as possible, if it is not cold where you live. As a sprout don't let it be exposed to any temps below about 40F, and your days should be in the 60's or warmer. Don't repot it for a few months after the first green shoot has emerged from the soil, then very carefully repot it into a good organic potting soil that has some sand, since date palms are desert palms and don't like to be too wet. When you do repot it, repot it at the same depth it was growing in in the other container. Watering it about 3 times per week in warmer weather and only once a week in cooler weather should be plenty. When they are full grown, they are hardy down to about 18F, which means they can survive the warmer parts of a Zone 8B Climate. John

Catavala, I live in zone 5A and grow citrus,tropical,and subtropical fruits..It is my oppinion that more folks should try new things! Kudos to you!! I too had failure my first time trying to germinate Cacao seed. A good friend told me on the second time around that my failure was in not removing the white jelly membrane from the seed. It has been known to inhibit germination. It degrades over time inside the fruit so that is why some seed you may get inside the fruit is already germinating and the fruit if fallen from the tree and left will germinate by itself over time.. We can't afford that luxury and We usually can't wait to "see" so we open and try and plant.. What worked for me was to open the pod and litterally put the seed in your mouth and "suck" the membrane off(it is quite good, but obviously don't do it if it is rotted inside). You can just kinda scrape gently to remove and wash in some clean water if you are not sure about the "sucking off" method. When clean you can plant in damp long fibered sphagnum moss(I put mine in a big zip lock)and place on a germination mat to keep it warm. Since the germination success goes down each day you don't get them started,they only have about a 10 day window before they are no good after removing them from the pod. I would get them in moss as soon as you can.. You can then plant them in a good well draining mix(I use citrus type soil) when you see good sprouts coming up. Plant the ones that sprout as needed. You may get a bit of fungus, I use a dilute peroxide/water wash on what ever ones need it as necessary and return them to the bag after replacing the area of moss where it sat with new. I have also dropped the seeds in the same dilute mix before putting in moss with same success.. Good luck to you!!! If you do have extras, I'd love to get a few going again...Take care and let me know how you do! Sue