Pelletted seed is okay if the original pelletting material was good.
I have some bad pelletted seeds,
and so am dissolving the pelletting material off,
and then going to wash the naked seeds onto soil.
But there seems to be way too much pelletting material for the amount of seeds.
I should of sent the pellets back when I realized they were not good!

My experience has been that pelleted seeds store longer yet there germination is not the best off the bat but long term there germination rates are better compared to regularly stored seed. This comparison I have only done with Pink Muhly grass seed. Here is a photo of pelleted Pink muhly compared to Cleaned and debearded Pink muhly grass. The pelleted were sent out and tested for germination and we got 20% better rate on fresh seed but later experienced better germination 6 months out on the pelleted.

I have not any germination from the bad pelletting material seeds---
I just wonder:-- if there were seeds there, at all?

This past week I sowed a pkg of old Mimulus seeds---naked seeds.
These have germinated under lights.

I also sowed a pkg of new Mimulus pellets on the same day.
There is no germination on them yet.

The pelletting material slows down the germination I think.

How old were those naked mimulus seeds? Just curious about their longevity. And I think you're right about the pelleting material slowing things down. It seems like pelleted petunia seeds take longer than the naked seeds.

I don't know exactly as I tossed the packaging, but they were "sale" seeds from a couple of years ago.
I am thinking they were maybe 3 years old?
I really did not expect them to germinate, and I had a problem with the packaging---you know the kind where the seeds
are into the glue at the edges of the package? I hate those, but I think they do that sometimes with "sale" seeds.