lol man thats a shame, as far as i know, keep it simple, heck, you know what gave me a 90% success rate? just soaking cotton on a dish and throw the seeds on it, then i leave it under a desklamp so they get some LITTLE heat, just try that with some low quality seeds.
and as soon as the first real pair of leaves pops up i transfer it to a pot.
Thats all the advice i can give u on that subject since im not an expert but i have been doing the germination that way always and no problem so far

PS: if u are going to do it check the cotton often, it has to be wet all the time