Planting too deeply might not prevent germination of the seed, but it could absolutely hinder a young seedling from breaking through the soil surface. In other words, germination will occur underneath all of that soil but you may never see the seedlings.

Those tiny seeds will find it very difficult to find enough energy (which is all stored within the seed and re-metabolized to sustain a seedling ONLY until it can get to the sunshine) to make it to the source of life sustaining energy....the sun.

just gently run a common garden rake thru the half inch.. and stir it up .. leaving furrows ...

sounds like you may have put a bazillion more seed than you actually might need.. and by stirring [not shaken] .. you will bring more than enough upwards ....

i mean really.. what else can you do ..

ken

Thanks for the suggestions and info! :)
Alright, I'll do that after work when I get home this evening...hope they'll be ok!

Cheers!

Good idea, ken!

When I sow cosmos, I just rough up the soil surface, toss the seeds down and then press. If I think I may have sown unevenly, I just rough everything up again and press again. So, some seeds are deep and some are on top. I think you'll be fine, especially if you rake through them as suggested above. Mine selfseed/volunteer every year quite generously, so I bet they are pretty forgiving.

Martha

Thanks :)
Yeah I raked through them when I got home yesterday as suggested and then added a very very thin layer on top just so the ones emerged are covered. I've actually planted cosmos before and they seemed pretty easy to grow, just that this time I had the urge to plant them and it was late in the evening with little light.... won't be doing that again!

Happy gardening! :)

added more soil ...???

how i sow grass ... working dry soil ..... disturb the soil to about 1/2 inch ... rake in some furrows ..

sparsely drop seed on top .. rake it in very gently .. not deeply ...

get flat bottom shoes ... and just press the seed into the top of the soil .. you will not crush it ...

and then mist it all until its watered to one inch..

most likely .. seed that needs to be so shallow.. needs nothing more than to be touching the soil.. and water ...

and mist it before and after work every day ... there is not a lot of leeway on moisture with such shallow planting ...

and no.. i ignore the threat from birds ... they are busy doing other things.. of much more nutritional value ... and when you think it out long term.. if one seed ... every 6 inches.. makes it all the way.. that is all you are going to need by the time its 2 foot tall ...

seed basically needs.. soil contact.. sun/heat.. and water.. and just about NOTHING else ...

thx rhiz

ken

I hope ken is right about how simple seed needs are, because that's all mine get is soil contact, sun and some extra watering :D. I did a LOT of direct sowing this year, and hoping lots of what I planted will come up.

I agree that with a little raking you should be fine.