seeds Seeds dead?

[cruzzfish]

I'm not expecting everything to sprout, but the top of the soil has gotten somewhat dry several times. Is this enough to kill the seeds or should I keep watering them. Been about week and a half or so, and the seeds look "split" but no hooks. Some brown morugas have a bit of white stuff on the seeds, gonna clean it off seeing as it's def. not a sprout.

 

[Weed]

they sound dead
 
if you havent checked them all then keep watering, ive killed most of them before but then always have the few stragglers that hadnt died because they hadnt sprouted yet

 

[Mallory]

Many of your seeds are probably dead. Letting the soil dry out even once during germination can do it. But it hasn't been that long, so it doesn't hurt to give them more time unless you are short on space and want to start a new batch. Just because a seed is cracked open but not showing a root does not mean it is dead. I had a batch of ghost peppers, and scotch bonnets, where a few sprouted in 4 days, but not many. I decided to keep watering the ones that didn't sprout and some started coming up 20 days later. I did dig up those seeds a couple times to see what was going on and the seed casings were cracked like you said. I figured they were dead too but guess not.

 

[geeme]

The white stuff sound likely to be mold. Always give your seeds a bath in hydrogen peroxide before germinating to help prevent that. Are they dead? Depends - what types are you trying to sprout? Anuums usually sprout in less than a week, though some take a tad longer. More stubborn chinense can take a few weeks.
 
I germinate seeds between two damp coffee filters placed in a sealed plastic container. That way I know for sure if a seed sprouts or not. As soon as the root peeks out of the seed casing I move it to starter mix. This also helps prevent a need to cull - one seed per starter pot because it's already sprouted when it makes it to the starter.