Last year at the NALS convention there was someone from New Zealand speaking about lilies down there. He was telling us about how he puts gravel (he uses road gravel) on his seed pots to prevent the soil surface from being disturbed and exposing the seed when he waters. I've had that problem with other seeds so I thought I'd give it a try only I use aquarium gravel. It helps a great deal with preventing surface disturbance and it seems to have helped with moisture control too. The seeds that grew didn't seem to have any trouble breaking through the gravel layer and the water spreads out evenly across the top before soaking in. I know I should probably be watering from the bottom but I have trouble judging how much to use when watering from below.
Edit added: Pigeons were the only pest I had to worry about. One pair got in past my netting and decided my seedlings were a great place to make a nest. I'm sure they were eating some too. Totally shredded my dwarf pomegranate that was just loaded with flowers,it survived but less than half the size it was. They made three attempts to nest and didn't leave till the one was playing the part of a Que. ball. The end of my broom square in the chest.
