Many seeds require special conditions to germinate.
For example, most garden vegetables and herb seeds need to remain damp or wet for some time. Seeds can be germinated in a hydroponic grower, and often they germinate even better than in soil. Comic on planting Planting Seeds Most seeds are placed below the surface of the media. A suggested placement is from to 1 inch below the surface. This keeps the seed very moist and will give it some feel for when the light is and where the dark is.