I have been trying like hell to get 13 beans to crack. While waiting I got to some research on seed germination techniques and methods of ways to increase the germination rate, one way is called scuffing. You would take a match box, line it with sand paper and shake away. I thought the matchbox thing was kind of small so I took and old cylindrical plastic pill bottle and cut a piece of sandpaper, rolled it up and released it inside the pill bottle. So I sat there for a bit and began shaking 6 fresh beans in there. As I was thus occupied I was drawn to the buzz being put out by my air pumps. All of a sudden a little light came on. Through my years as a maintenance tech in manufacturing, I have had the occasion to work on several types of vibratory equipment, parts moving and sorting, and especially the vibratory equipment dealing with de-burring. Here you have a large vibratory bowl kinda shaped like the mold for a large glaze donut. You put ceramic media in there with your parts and turn it on. It like stirs itself. I took another cylindrical pill bottle (I have many empty pill bottles hehehe) and dropped in a few seeds and some granular sugar as the abrasive, then I closed up the bottle and experimented on my two air pumps and by gawd it worked. I took a video with my cybershot lets see if it works. You might have to mess with it a bit.

OK I had to join Youtube

If you have fresh beans off the plant and let them dry it is sometimes not enough. Seeds half to go through a process called Stratification. It is done by aging your seeds or putting them in a cold or frozen spot for awhile.

Fresh meant new beans. My seeds have been stored in the fridge for 3 months and they now have heat and moisture, tried soaking in water and soaking in tea prior to germination attempts. I have them in the moss and I'll wait a while longer. they have not been redried. My usual method is stick a couple of seeds in a jiffy7 pellet. The stores around here don't stock them yet . I ordered some from ebay. Hindsight eh!

I did get a couple of sprouts early in the process. They grew to 3 inches overnight fell over and died.

Something else you can do is if the beans aren't too small to hold between 2 fingers... Take a sterile exacto blade, and using a scraping motion at the edge of the bean where the 2 halves join together. I had to use this method to get a Northern Light bean to finally pop. Dont scrape to far just enough to get rid of the ridge at the junction. Bean popped in a couple hours.
Nim

But I have neuropathy in both of my arms/hands and I have no dexterity. I'd be scraping flesh and springing leaks. Besides I am a lazy dude so I'll let the vibrator do its thing. I am scuffing 20 seeds and I am going to start all twenty in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know what happens. I don't usually have a problem germinating seeds. This is unusual
wb

crackin me up WB, I dont see too well, like not at all when it come to something that small. So I feel ya when it comes to scraping flesh and leaking all over.

Nim