So after checking back on some seeds 24 hours later of soaking, some more have sunk of which I placed on a paper towel and left to dry overnight, since then I have cut a small hole for draining in the pots, placed a coarse layer of rocks on the bottom and then topped up the rest with soil.

I am very new to this so I was wondering how often I need to water these seeds. I read somewhere just keeping the soil damp and not dry should be fine. The seeds I have planted are Dawn Redwood, Red Maple, Larch and Scots pine.

What would be the best conditions for these, right now I have just got them in the window, hopefully, they will germinate and develop roots. When it gets to this stage is it best to keep watering them this way or do I need to change something.

If I'm not mistaken a lot of tohse seeds first need to go through a cold stratification period, certainly the maples. After you put them in water for 24 hours you should have put them in the fridge in a damp paper towel for 2 - 3 months.

Here's how I stratified my trident maple seeds earlier this year. About 80% germination ratio, need to write another post about that: shumibonsai.wordpress.com/2018/01/12/tri...-and-stratification/

i did the same thing for japanese black pines (but they don't really need it apparently): shumibonsai.wordpress.com/tag/japanese-b...pine-from-seed-2018/

n general, this is how to go about germinating tree seeds: www.growingbonsai.net/germinating-treeseeds/

Thanks the post was interesting, when I go back to uni I will do this as well. Any idea on how to water the seeds once planted?