Allright bro,first off i'll go out on a limb here & open myself up for future attact by saying forget 99% of the bullshit you've read about germination,especially the part where everybody says to remove excess water from the paper towel,moisture then warmth are what tells the seed to start germination,without proper amounts of both germination will be slowed.
Light is meaningless to the seeds& something you do not need to worry about,,i'd be willing to bet that lack of moisture is your main problem,here is how i germ all my seeds & i have a very high rate of success & survival.
Place the seeds in a pill bottle that has been rinsed out & fill the bottle with room temp water about half way,then let the bottle with the seeds in it sit somewhere warm,forget about them for 48 hours,after 48 hours check the bottle & you'll see most of the seeds lying on the bottom of the bottle,some if not all of the seeds will be cracked & germination allready started.
Again i caution you to forget everything you've read about getting rid of excess water in the paper towel,you want a very moist enviroment for max germ rates.
Take a clean paper towel & fold it in half,then pour out all the seeds & the water from the bottle onto the paper towel,fold the towel over on itself & be sure that every inch of the paper towel is very wet with zero dry spots,the paper towel should be wet enough where it drips a little bit of water from it without squeezing the towel,dont worry it is not too wet & your way better off having a towel that is rigning wet & dripping water heavily than you are having a towel that is too dry.
Take the wet & dripping paper towel & put it in a small ceral/soup bowl,then cover the bowl with clear plastic kitchen wrap to seal in all moisture,now place the air tight bowl somewhere warm,use some common sense here & dont place them anywhere like next to a heat outlet from the furnace,only a very small amount of heat is needed,places like directly on top of a cable box or on the back of a tv set work excellent.
Leave everything alone for another 48 hours,as long as you can see moisture collecting in large amounts on the plastic wrap your good to go & have no need to peek inside,after 48 hours have passed open up the bowl & walla,you'll have roots up to 2 inches long comming from the seed husks,the trick to fast high success rate germination is a high moisture atmosphere & a climate of between 75 degrees to 80 degrees & the seeds will pop very quickly.
Dont be in a huge rush to plant either,the longer the tap root is before planting the higher the survival rates of the seedlings will be,if you open up the towel & the tap roots are not atleast 1 inch long then re fold the towel & reseal up the bowl & let them sit another 24 hours.
Warmth & moisture are what your lacking.
