Rapid Rooter Plug Questions

I just recently decided to learn the trade of growing my own medical and purchased 35 feminized seeds. As I am a new grower I decided to start off germinating 10 seeds. I filled a glass w/ distilled water after about 4 hours all seeds sank to the bottom with the help of a few clean finger pokes, as the seeds were sitting in the glass of water I soaked the RR cubes in 1gal of distilled water w/ a very light nutrient "earth juice" .5ml. The seeds were then transferred into the RR cubes after reopening the premade hole in the RR cube w/ a pair of sterilized tweezers, I shook off excess water before placing the RR cubes in the tray and before putting the seeds in. As I read on this forum I placed the seeds in point up and covered the hole w/ pieces of an extra RR cube that was also soaked. My question is, is it vital to cover the opening in the RR that you inserted the seed into? Is the seed going to have a problem breaking through the RR I covered the hole w/? Im keeping the RR tray w/ an 1/4th inch of water at the bottom as it says on the directions, and I plan on spraying the top if I notice them becoming dry in fear that I will over water them and rot my seeds. I have a heating mat but it seems to get very hot, when using the paper towel method in the past I temp checked the plate I had the seeds on and it was 95degrees! Is a constant 80 ok? I also have a dome but after reading many posts Im afraid to use it in fear of the high humidity hindering growth and causing rot? Any input would be greatly appreciated or even direction where to find these answers, thank you very much for taking the time to read this. ( feel free to post any experiences with RR, id love to read about them)

I always cover the hole after I put my seed in Rapid Rooters. Seeds will come up no problem if you didn't put them too deep.
One thing I discovered with Rapid Rooters is, they really hold moisture, you shouldn't have a problem with them drying out. I found that by following their directions, my
plugs stayed a little too wet. I think 80 is fine. If you use the dome, make sure to remove it as soon as you seed seedlings.

Thank you for your helpful advice, greatly appreciated (. I also noticed they retain a lot of moisture! I have an extra RR cube that I squeeze daily to see if the cubes are beginning to dry.

I believe when we used the rapid rooters for seeds instead of clones we found that the directions told you to pinch the hole that will allow the seed shell to catch and fall away as it pops through or pushes the hole back open. I love them for cloning my widow mom. We used them for auto and found it was stressing the shit out of them after placing them in soil. For my photo we use an earth box and they work great. It tells you not to squeeze them while submerged. because they do hold alot of water. sponge like tend to hold lots... My wife likes to use peat cubes she says they allow more air to pass through the root base helps quicken the maturation from sprout to veg state. trial and error baby youll get it like riding a bicycle.

I just push them down and pinch nothing else to cover it

Don't cover the hole and don't put so much water in the bottom of the tray so that the water touches the cubes.

You basically dip the cube in water. Then put the seed in the cube any which way. Put water in the bottom of the tray so that it sits in the groves of the tray but doesn't touch the rooter cubes which sit above the water. Cover the whole thing up with the dome. Have the heat mat under the tray and hang a cfl a couple of inches above the dome. The heat mat heats the tray up and the water at the bottom of the tray evaporates and keeps things, including the cubes, moist and humid. As long as the cubes are not touching the water it's not too moist, it's perfect. Like I said don't cover the hole and don't worry about positioning the seeds. The seeds do a dance in the hole and anchor themselves with the tap root and lift themselves up toward the light.
Your off to a good start in that you've moved away from the paper towel method. Cubes, heat mat, humidity dome and cfl light are the way to go. Congrats.

ps: water will drip from the dome and on to the heat mat below, making it less effective. Once a day wipe off the heat mat with a towel to keep it dry. I put my whole dome and heat mat in a huge tupperware box b/c that seed water can get stinky.