the taproot is extremely sensitive to light, and should be placed into the soil immediately upon emerging from the shell ... soaking is a bad idea, as is the whole 'wet paper-towel' mess ... that originated from trying to 'revive' very old seeds, it isn't a good method for fresh, viable seeds ... read WHY here:

Germination
the image reaper Reviewed by the image reaper on . Germinating roots turning brown? I'm using the cup of water method and roots are beginning to pop out. The weird thing is that the tips of the roots are brown or look hard and clear yellowish. It's not the water because it's distilled and I'm germinating other seeds in the same water but different cups. The cups were clean. I have never seen this before and have no idea if it will spread to other germinating seeds. I'll take pictures tomorrow. Rating: 5