If you wait too long, they will be blown away by the wind. Just sow them on top of a flat filled with a mixture of peat moss and coarse sand, and provide them with some light. When growing seeds outdoors it is helpful to build a wooden frame and fill it with a mixture of peat moss and sand. This will make it easier for you to control the moisture, and will also help to reduce weed growth. Topsoil is much more nutritional than peat moss, but unless the topsoil has been sterilized, it is likely to contain millions of weed seeds.
Some growers cover their seed beds with clear plastic as soon as they sow the seeds in the spring.
This helps to warm the soil, and to retain the moisture. As soon as the seedlings begin to grow, the plastic is removed and some type of shading is provided. Pines, spruce and firs are grown from seed. The pine cones are collected in the fall just before they open. Store them in a cool dry place and plant them in a flat or a seed bed in the spring.