Things you plant underground can't tell if there's light or not until
they're on top of the ground. Lettuce, planted on top of the ground,
needs light ... not massive amounts, but enough light to set off the process
that says, hey it's spring, let's grow. Once you have two true leaves,
everything you started will need light, preferably right on top of it 1-3
inches away so the plants don't go stretching toward the light.

"jc" wrote in message
...

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
FDR wrote:
When starting seed, like tomato or pepper plants, is it necessary to
have a
light on before the seed has sprouted? I plan on using a heat mat
for the
first time this year, so the warmth of light won't be needed, but I
wonder
if it's still necessary to have light for some other reason?

Pepper and tomato seeds do not need light to germinate, but some seeds
do. And other seeds need darkness to germinate. Parks Seeds has a
pretty good table in their catalog that gives germination info for
flower seeds. I don't know of any vegetables that have specific light
requirements for germination.

I believe lettuce needs light to germinate. -Olin