germination very frustrated

my pocess for germinating my seeds are ..scratch the seed with sandpaper lightly of course...soak in water 24 -48 hrs...the tap roots emerge ..then i plant the seeds in pro mix or agro mix formulated for starting seeds..put the seeds 1/4 in down cover with soil...cover with plastic dome ..ensure the soil remains moist not wet.....have under 24 hour T8 florescent lights ...and then nothing ..i have waited for 2-3 weeks... feel like a failure i wonder should i cover the seeds with soil....should i keep them in darkness until they emerge do not know what else to try have read all the FAQ the books...any suggestions much appreciated..

I am a noob but I will try to add some suggestions I think may work for you. If you lights are close to plant I would suggest backing them off. Little to no light is needed to have the seedling break through the soil.

I have never heard of using sandpaper so I can no comment on that. In regards to soaking the seeds there are a TON of growers that do this but I have never had success. Many people report problems when they have soaked the seed in water or even tried to germinate in water.

If you are using the a dome AND watering that could also be your issue. You might want to try either or but not the two at the same time. The moisture created by the dome should be more than enough without watering.

Here is what I did before rockwool to germinate;

Fold one paper towel in half and soak in water. Place the seeds on one side of the towel and fold the towel in half again over the seeds. Place the towel in a ziplock back and seal. Finally place the ziplock back in between two plates some place a little warm.

Make sure you hands are CLEAN or use tweezers to remove the sprouts. The rest of your process looks good. I love the promix soils.

You should see resulats in 2-3 days of putting them in the soil.

I use the pelts, soak them in water first put some root hormone in there and bang few days later, sometimes takes longer to show but it really skips a whole step and always works for me.

I put mine in soil straight away and it always works, dont make things so hard just poke a hole in the dirt about half inch, cover it, in about 5 days seeds will germinate, keep the soil damp.

Who told you to put dome over anything? You don't need sandpaper. Last time I germinated I got 49 out of 50. Half I soaked in water the day before and the others I did not. Then I used put the seeds between two folded paper towels, put water on it and slipped it into a Ziplock bag. After four days some of the seeds didn't reach light. I wanted to see if the seeds were still viable so I simply took a skinny wooden skewer I bought at my local grocery store and GENTLY moved the top layer of dirt until I saw the seeds. For whatever reason the seeds were dead.

Either way, I'd take a peek and see if the seeds are growing. If not, start over and don't use sandpaper. Soak them for a day or put them directly between paper towels. If this doesn't work try tomatoes. LOL