Old seeds can be a problem. Germination rates of seeds tends to decline with drying and time.
I've had good luck with 'fresh' seed that I collected. I place 6 to 12 seeds on a 1" x 2" rectangle of plastic (like cut from an old food storage bag), folding the plastic over them and place this 1" square into a fold of dampened paper towel (a 'select-a-size rectangle folded twice - plastic in the second fold) which then goes into an food storage bag (with maybe a few more damp towel assemblies). After six weeks, I remove the bag of folded towels from the refigerator and after a few days at room temp, I open the towels to remove and plant any germinated seeds. Then I close them back up, and return them to the refigerator to repeat this process again 4 to 6 weeks later.
I have dusted hard to germinate seeds with GA3 (gibberelllic acid type 3) after placing them on the plastic. I got essentially 100% germination of Stewartia pseudocamellia seeds I collected (after a year in the refrigerator).
@milehigh_7 put
Deno's book on seed germination in the BNut resources. It has just about everything you would want to know and then some. In fact, my method of stratification came from Dr. Deno. The little sheet of plastic makes it so much easier to pick out the germinated seeds!!
Drink.
btw, one can use the old two tablespoons of 3% peroxide in a quart of water solution to dampen the paper towels and nix most fungi/mold that are likely.
