The shadecloth on the 4tier growracks comes with the growracks along with a plastic cover which I never use.I get them at farmtek.com which is located in Chicago Illinois.They also sale shadecloth by the yard and you can make your own that way.I soak the seeds for 12hrs. then let tham rest for 12hrs. then put them on the growing medium.This is the best way and all the greenhouse growers use the same method.I do rinse the seed 3 times before the soak and 2 times after the soak do to the lower quality seed that Im planting.I discard all the seeds that are floating do to the fact they are dead and will only decay and cause problems.Mold is the main problem with grass and can be quite frustrating to say the least.When you say planted do you mean you covered the seeds with your growing medium?There are some good grow light tools at farmtek.com as well and this is needed if you plan to grow alot indoors.Jeff.