How Can I Tell If A Seed Is Good Before Germination?

I was given a bunch of seeds by a friend. I've been trying to germinate them with the paper towel method and nothing is cracking. Some seeds are green, some are brown, some are dark brown/black. Is there a procedure one must do before a seed is actually usable/growable?

I've gotten seeds online and they germinated perfect using this exact same method. Any suggestions?

green means the seeds are immature.

Soak them in water - if they sink they are good, floating are dead. Sometimes you have the push down seeds to see if they sink. Maybe takes a day for them to sink.

The only way I know of requires a magnifying glass. Look for tiny little round holes in the seed.

BigSteve.

svsuv said:

green means the seeds are immature.

Soak them in water - if they sink they are good, floating are dead. Sometimes you have the push down seeds to see if they sink. Maybe takes a day for them to sink.

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winner winner chicken dinner. follow this advise!!!

Well what I do is look for them to be dark colored with some kind of pattern on them...then I take them and squeeze them a little...if they don't crush then I assume they are good and give them a shot...but I have had whole batches of seeds that just wouldn't germinate...it happens sometimes...I am not sure what goes wrong that causes all the seeds on a plant to not be viable, but i have unknowingly done it on occasion...

I like them to be large, hard to the touch, and preferably greyish/brown, with the "tiger stripping" on them before I will select them for germination, although I must say, a friend of mine gave me some small, immature, white seeds for that Panama Red I didn't even think would germinate, and lemme tell ya, itz a big, sticky, dank-ass beauty now, and u would've NEVER guessed that it sprouted from the shitty-lookin' seed it came from... But, as a general rule, mature seeds, like I described above, that will sink in a bowl of water, if thatz the method u choose to use, are optimal...

Wow, thanks everyone for the quick replies! I pulled out the ones that fit all the descriptions, plus a few immature ones and I got 'em soaking in water now...!!! Keepin' my fingers crossed..!!!

ive had seeds that floated in water and popped open afterward and sprouted