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Help with growing Carolina Reaper and Moruga Scorpion

Last year I bought 5 CR seeds and none sprouted.  I was using the  "standard" method of planting the seeds about 1/4 to 1/2 inch under the soil and then watering as the soil lost moisture.  My jalapenos, habaneros, bells and everything did great but none of my reapers sprouted.
 
This year I decided I would try again, put more effort into it and also try some chocolate moruga scorpions.  I had 7 seeds of both.  I put 2 of each in some soil in solo cups and watered.  I have tomatoes, habanada, bells, jalapenos all doing well, but none of the CR or Scorpions spouted.  So I decided to try the paper towel method, which is new to me.  I put 4 of each in two separate paper towels.  After a week 3 CR and all 4 Scorps are spouting!  I transplanted them to soil.  Some were loose and I took the seeds gently and planted them roots down, while some others had grown through the paper towel, so I cut the towel around the root and planted root down.  I also planted some Habanas in paper towel which all sprouted. A week or so later,  the Habanada are doing great, have second leaves and are 2 inches tall.  All of the CR died.  Two of the Scorpions died and the other two seem stunted, they still only have the two original leaves and are not getting any bigger.  They are under a grow light, using the same soils, water, etc as the other peppers which seem to be doing fine.  So I'm obviously missing something with these super hots.
 
Now to be honest, I am a bit of a lazy grower, I've never measure PH, compared soil, check temperature and humidity.  I've always successfully had enough sprouts grow and product to make me happy.  So maybe I need to work a bit harder of these or am I missing something? 
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
You keep saying soil, do you mean outside garden soil or potting media? Garden soil at room temp is not the best seed starting method.
Yeah, may be using the wrong term.  Potting soil/ seed starting soil.  I forget brand and type and I am at work where I cant see it.  But its not garden soil, its soil intended to start seeds in pots.
 
How long did you wait before you decided they were duds in the soil?  Last year, I had a hotter variety that didnt sprout for like 3 weeks.  I thought they were duds because everything else sprouted and I almost threw them out, but then all of the sudden they took off.
 
PodHopper said:
How long did you wait before you decided they were duds in the soil?  Last year, I had a hotter variety that didnt sprout for like 3 weeks.  I thought they were duds because everything else sprouted and I almost threw them out, but then all of the sudden they took off.
 
2-3 months.  I started them early November and they are still in the pots and have never sprouted.  I have no gotta rid fo them for hope they might suddenly sprout.
 
loki1982 said:
 
2-3 months.  I started them early November and they are still in the pots and have never sprouted.  I have no gotta rid fo them for hope they might suddenly sprout.
 
 
Eek. there goes my theory.
 
try potting them into a cup or glass that you can cap it with it's own clear top.
 
Basically giving putting in its own humidity dome in a single pot.
 
I use 16oz pint size plastic glass over the top of a plastic solo cup.
 
I don't do this with all new starts just those that are hard to germ etc.
 
I had quite a bit of trouble getting Ch. Moruga sprout and grow.
 
 
 
I think what I am going to do is run to the store after work and get a ph tester and some other brand of seedling soil and see if maybe that will help out.  I order some more CR and Scorp seeds that should arrive around Monday.  Maybe there is something wrong with the PH that I can diagnose or maybe I have some bad soil.  
 
Probably too much watering and keeping them too moist so they rotted before sprouting -- What I usually do is soak the seeds in water for a couple hours (this gives them enough time to soak up all the water they will need fro sprouting) - then put them in the seed starting mix that is damp and cover ) I use a seed starting tray normally with a cover - then place them in a warm place ( I have a hot water heater closet that stays around 80 - 85 degrees ( Note : they do not need light until they break through the ground so a dark warm closet is fine )
 
Then after about a week I start checking on them each day to see if any have sprouted and continue to check once a day and remove them from the seed starting tray as they pop up and move to a place with good light.
 
I normally do not have to water at all during the starting process as the seeds will absorb all they need during the soak and the ground stays moist with the lid covering the starting tray ( If it completely dries the soil for some reason you can add a bit more water but you do not want the soil to be wet just moist - so the seeds themselves do not rot from sitting in water.
 
Super hots take a long time to sprout but not 2 - 3 months.
My method for quickly sprouting seeds is easy and gives me better results
Soak the seeds over night in warm water over night
Next day transfer seeds to a damp NOT wet paper towel fold it in half and place into a zip-lock bag partially left open.
Put the ziplock bags in a warmer location like on top of a refrigerator. Check bags every few days. When you see small white tails coming out of the seeds there are ready to plant into starting pots or solo cups. Just lay the seed on top of the soil and add just enough dirt to cover the seeds. Mist with water. Within a few days you should see sprouts popping up.
 
So I have some new information.  I check the media I was using and it turns out, I thought it was seedling media but it was potting/garden media.  So that may be part of the problem.  The second thing I found was that I bought a PH testing kit.  The soil I was using was PH 6.0.  Is that too acidic?
 
I went a head a bought some Jiffy seedling media which looks better.  I tested it just to see the results and ended up with 6.5 ph.  So I started a new batch of seeds.  I did a few using the paper towel method and a few traditional in the media.  Hopefully this will help out.
 
Thanks for everyones input and help.  
 
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