here is an update on this soil: something is not working and i think it is the soil. what i think the problem is, there are a lot of little sticks and root like things in the soil, when i say a lot i mean a Lot, and i think the plant cant grow through them.
i planted one germinated seed, albeit an old seed, on halloween. by yesterday (6 days later) it still hadnt come up out of the soil, so i did some exploratory (knowing this would kill a new plant but i had to see what was going on) and i found in the soil what looked like the beginning of a plant, two leaves kinda folded together and curled in. so it seemed like it started to grow but couldnt push up through the sticks.
so now im off to find something new or something to mix this stuff with. i could be wrong in my scientific method here (or stonerific method) but i think the soil is stopping the plants from growing, from having too many sticks and such.
although i dont know how long it normally takes a seed to come up from the soil, most journals i read people say 2 or 3 days. so that is what i have been kinda going by.