I do a sprinkle of mix, and use a spray bottle to settle it in.

I should have mentioned this is going to be outside. Our weather is warming up and it's recommended to direct sow this flower outside.

I planted some last week and it has been pouring. So mine are more than moist. Fingers crossed. I’ve never had luck seeding nigella and everyone says it’s so easy!

For seeds that people recommend direct sowing, I pre-germinate indoors on a wet paper towel. I have a bunch of extra rectangular Pyrex type storage dishes with no lids. I use those for seed germination. Put a wet paper towel down in the bottom, sprinkle the seeds on top, cover with cling film. It works beautifully.

When I see radicles starting to emerge, then I put the seedlings in seedling cells that I lay a strip of newspaper down in with the ends extending past the surface. When the seedling is still really young--maybe one or two true leaves, I can pop it out without disturbing the roots by pulling up on the paper tabs, and I plop the whole thing down in the planting hole. Minimal disturbance to the roots, and there's a good survival rate as long as you keep them religiously watered during the first few days.

I've transplanted very young Nigella this way, and it was fine.

I might be a little nuts, though, and I obviously have a smallish garden and am not trying to plant dozens and dozens of anything to cover large areas.

Once you get just one Nigella growing and blooming, you'll likely never have to sow seeds again. They reseed themselves like crazy.

If you have a lot of extra seed, though, you can literally just scatter the pre-germinated seed, scratch it in a bit/tamp it in to loosened soil, and just keep misting the area regularly for a while. You'll get low germination success, most likely, but you'll get some, and that's all you need for something like Nigella to establish a population that returns every year. And you won't have to mist for 15 days because the seed is already starting to sprout when you put it in.

It also occurs to me that you could toss the pregerminated seed with some moist potting soil and then scatter that and mist it down well.

Gorbelly I'm going to try your method. It sounds easier than into the ground, keeping it damp, not drying out from the sun, not eaten by critters, etc. inside I can watch it and with the moist towel, not worry about keeping it damp at least for a few days. Thanks for sharing your detailed plan!

I just "planted" about 5 paks of flower seeds. I throw around the ones that need to be covered and work them in with my hands. Then throw around the ones that don't need covering. I use hundreds more seed than will germinate, so there are always a nice number of plants in the beds from each variety.

I water newly planted seeds 2 or 3 times a day with the hose. I plant just before rain is expected. I like watering, so it's no problem for me. It's a meditation of sorts.

When I plant seed outside I water the row before I plant the seed. In fact I let the watering can with a small spout make the row. After I've planted \the seed I cover it with a piece of cotton cloth, weight the edges with soil or stones and wet the cloth with a fine spray from the hose. The cloth takes a while to dry out and because it's covered the water also seeps up from below. I check for sprouting daily and then water the cloth with that same fine spray . When sprouting begins I remove the cloth