Crystal, I put my seeds in the freezer for at least a week and then plant them and put them on my floor next to my lights. I did an experiment one year and put some seeds in the dark and some under lights. The ones with light germinated much better than the ones I did in the dark so I've done them like that every since and I start some every year. An Elderly Master Gardener from my garden club told me about the freezing them for at least a week and that helped my germination alot.
Here's a pic of this years seedlings. I gave some away cause I don't have enough room in my garden for all the ones I started. Hope this will be a help for your experiments.
