Listen to Unmeg he knows his shit...

Personally I have never done the Paper/Cup geminating trick.
I just put my seeds 5mm below the suface in egg cups full of mushroom compost.
and they pop up like there on steroids..
If your doing out door I cannot reccomend Mushroom compst enough.
Not Magic Mushys Just Normal Mushroom compost.IMO.the best seedling starter ever/