I don't think it really matters, i put mine on my shelf. Are you using the paper towel method? I think it depends widely from seed to seed, and how old they are. Mine were from Seedsman, i did the paper towel method on four seeds. Two of the seeds took 2 days to get a root then another 2 days to break the soil. One of them took an additional day to break the soil and one of them has not even germed yet (not very hopeful).