[Veggy Addict]

I planted some seeds and put cheap plastic propagator lids on them - went back 20 minutes later and the cat had sat on them!

Can i put them in the airing cupboard to germinate or do they need light??  I know that they will need light once the first shoots are through but wondered if i could get them going in the cupboard first.

Sorry....i never concentrated in my science lessons at school!!!

Thanks (and sorry for being thick!!!)

[lucywil]

there is not a straight answer to that, some ned light to germinate, some needto be kept in the dark.

it should say on the seed packet. not very helpful, sorry

[peapod]

Lucywil  is right, all the info on the specific plant is there on the packet..some plants dont need light but not a lot of veg seeds that I can recall.  If you havent got the packet then google the seed and you should find a site that tells you a step by step method

[peapod]

Just to add...if the cat hasnt done TOO much damage then put them on the window sill anyway..I dropped a pot that Id planted with seeds and just plonked it on the window sill meaning to deal with it later..... they popped up about a week later 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

If its just the lid thats broken, put a plastc bag over the whole lot instead, not so pretty but very effective!

and if its the tray, use someting from the kitchen, I started my chilli seeds in a margerine tub with a plastic bag over, in the airing cupboard then out onto the windowsill once enough had come up - then I pricked them out into pots and they're looking handsome now, shouls have another good crop this year.

You didn't tell us what seeds they were...

[SG6]

VA,
We tend to forget that seeds usually just fall from the parent plant onto a patch of ground, or get eaten and pass through whatever . They don't tend  to fall from a plant into a pot on a window sill with a plastic cover, gently heated and watered. 

Suggest that you put the pot back and wait and see. Actually not a lot else other then to throw it all away and start again if you think about it. 

This may be a bit simplistic but I have found that  seeds need either a light covering of compost. They germinate and grow through. Or the need to be sown on the surface as they need light to germinate. They then sprout and put roots down. Again a seed has 2 options: it is under the surface or on the surface

Now this is bound to cause a stir as it is obviously far too simple.
But so am I.

[andreadon]

i only ever bother with plastic if i'm sowing straight outside (just in case of frost).
on the windowsill, i jsut put them in pots on a tray and water when the soil feels dry-ish.