I just got 3 days 4 hours:

1 Better Boy (Ferry Morse)
1 Early Girl (Ferry Morse)
2 Cherokee Purple (Ferry Morse)

I have to call it 3 days 4 hours even though some already had pretty high loops, since that is when I first saw them and there was nothing doing at the prior check at 2 days 22 hours. No cheating, everything was dried and stored seed, nothing pre-moistened, etc.

I did the test to compare some seeds I had saved for my favorite orphan to check if I was doing a decent job on the seeds. I named it "Charlie Buckets" since I'm going to adopt and care for this delicious Yellow Red-hearted beefsteak heirloom. CB was a little slower, but it beat Supersweet 100 seedballs, and by 3 days 23 hours CB is in the lead with highest percent germinated of the 5 varieties with 6 seeds sown each. I'm learning a little love goes a long way with tomatoes ;-)

I've just learned that all the loop of first stem is called the "hypocotyl", which as soon as it pierces through the soil surface counts as a germination for me.

I'd like to hear others' experience and stories!

Since they are indoors, it is more like watching out for them than watching them, so not to trip over them and wanting them moved out! Thanks for the help. Has anyone seen germination happen within 48 hours?

It is more than just a polling question since my seeds are not uniform my favorites take 10 days, the difference is really driving me bonkers since I don't have a place to germinate out of the way nor much space in the yard for my plants and when some are slow to start it has frustrated my project.

I have a very short fall season in front of me now, and every single day really counts. Summer is not very heirloom friendly in Florida, and here in the north of it the tomatoes are schitzophrenic as the weather goes back and forth between Florida conditions and Georgia conditions, but the bugs never let up.

Some varieties took 3 days for seeds to sprout, while other varieties took 7 days. Even in the same variety, some took 3 days while others 4-5 days.

I was very happy to discover this method, because it allowed me - after choosing the nicest seeds - to select the best sprouted seeds. Than, selecting the best seedlings, I came up with some really nice plants.

Daniel thanks too and for the great pictures. I was going to try something similar and it is reassuring it is working nicely for you and probably solves a uniformity problem if you need that. There are three reasons why I held off doing that, disease, expensive or having few seeds, and bumblefingers me stressing small sprouts upon a transfer.

Here's the thing with me. Molds are a great problem here. Not necessarily initially, but later as the seedling develops. I used to add a small amount of fertilizer to my seedlings but now I do everything germination related in pure (distilled) water under sterile conditions including no paper, filters, etc. Holding off on the small nutrient content doesn't allow anything undesirable to get much of a start and the fertilizer can always be added diluted later. But I think I'll try next a few minutes soak in a very weak soluble fertilizer like Lindalana mentioned and then sowing the seeds into distilled water as normal (for me), though it will be inorganic.

If that doesn't cut down on the scattered germination times, I'll think about pre-germination but once I get a plant going the problem is usually slowing its growth, not selecting for vigor, at this latitude, though for fall it might make more sense. I'm just frugal with the seeds as I usually only get about 20 and preselect only the well-formed ones. I started by double sowing, and that has the same problem, too much seed waste and leaves decaying material.