No light until they germinate and then they need the lights 16 hours a day. They won't all germinate at the same time so make sure you can move the individual containers to the lights as they do. As to whether they will bloom or not - it depends on the amount and type of the available light. Blooming plants need broad (full) spectrum light to bloom. That usually means sunlight or halides which are quite expensive. Florescent light alone usually won't be enough. But you can get them to a good size for planting outdoors using just florescent light. Here is a link to several previous discussions on growing pansies from seed with lots of info that may help. Good luck! ;) Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Growing pansies from seed

My vegetable garden is scattered with all types of shallots. Last year I grew from seed direct sown (Johnny's F1 hybrid Picador and Saffron), and they did okay, probably half the size they should have been and probably would have done better with better conditions. One bulb grows for each seed planted. The shallots I grew from seed kept amazingly well for about six months. I don't think true shallots go to seed. Johnny's is all F1 hybrid seed. I will probably never sow shallot seed again once I use or give away the rest of the seeds I have. This year I put seed grown bulbs back in the ground to see what happens for vegetative reproduction along with 'true' shallot types like french grey and red shallots. And I'm taking advice that they are effective garden companions to repel unwanted animals and insects, so they get to live with strawberries, spinach, etc.

Remember there are to sowing seasons for Lithop seed, Autumn & Spring. You will have to ask some one who is really into Lithops about which ones are which season. I germinate all my seeds in take away food containers. I use Debco seed raising mix which i just damp down, put the seeds on top, close the lids down on them and throw them on the shelf, i might give a spray with a Fungicide like Fongorid if they need it but other than that i leave them for up to six to 12 mnths until they are ready to pot out & i lose very few.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I went to the library yesterday and found a fairly good book on Mesembs/Succulents indicating where certain species live, when they get rainfall/fog and how much. The major difference is their growing season- summer or winter. The other thing is growers in CA are growing their lithops completely different than growers in the UK/N Europe (for obvious reasons). My understanding is that growers in CA can mimic their natural growing environment, due to fantastic light year round and fairly warm temps. With the UK/N. European growers many seem to push for winter dormancy regardless due to cooler temps and lack of light. There is no clear cut answer, which complicates it further :/. Will have to spend a bit more time doing research on the types Im interested in growing and seeing how I can get them to do well in my environment.