Packed soil pretty firm and stuck these beans in at least 1/4 inch with a good pack in damp soil. I packed it pretty good, not too hard, but this keeps the seed hull from tagging along, sometimes ruining your germination. Packing deeper and tighter added another day to see the sprout, but there was no added heating pad, so these germinated in high 50 degree f overnight temps. The Mephisto germinated FIRST of course.