Germination lasts until the sprout. That can be as little as 24 hrs, more like 48 and sometimes 5 or 6 days. If they have sprouted by then they won't. Germinate in a warm dark place, a cupboard over a fridge is good.
I always use bag seed, I typically have put the seeds in a ziploc bag with a paper towel in it with the seeds inbetween the layers of papertowel moisten it and have left it in the top of the closet for aprox 3 to 4 days. I seem to always have good results this way
Takes a few days, keep it dark, check it in 3 days, let the seed sprout to about a 1/4 inch and you will have good results, then plant the seed with the sprout down.