Hi Tom,

Speaking of my own experience, there are 3 major factors for good seeds germination:

1) Seeds quality / freshness and viability.
Of nearly 20 varieties that I have germinated I have encounter difficulty germinating 2 varieties : Golden Cayenne and Aji Chrystal.

2) Temperature: According to the chart below , pepper seeds need a minimum of 59F to germinate. At that temperature it will take 25 days. The optimum temperature being 75F to 85F, In this temperature range, average germination time is 8 days. I have personally germinated 80% of my seeds in 6 days. Few took about 8 days. For this reason a heating pad/mat is also recommended. But if you are patient and your ambient temperature is 70+ you can do without it. But be prepared to wait a little longer. Maybe 12 to 15 days.

3) Moisture: Obviously seeds need moisture along with the right temperature to soften and push the sprout out of the seeds. If sown in starting mix, a good contact with the soil can make a difference. So I will try to sow in a soil with fine structure. Lets not confuse moisture with soggy soil, which may result in damp off.
Soaking can help in softening the seeds faster . So an overnight /24 hrs soaking is recommended and should not hurt.

Seysonn

Thanks Seysonn. The ambient temp where they are should be 75-80°. Just bought a seed starter and some mix. The mix seems a tad cool, should I fill the pods and wait until tomorrow, does that small temp difference matter, or will the warm water warm the soil? Also, how wet should I make the soil?

Thanks for the help again everyone.

Still wonderin' how cum Houzz can't get all the systems right?

You want the starter mix to be a bit more than damp. Not soggy.

Oh and I would advise just tying a few in that mix. I used it this year. The results soured me on ever using it again. Seeds sprouted. Then it would not stay at a happy middle area for moisture. It would be either too wet, or too dry. Every seedling I started in it died in a week or less. I switched to using Miracle Grow. I only lost a couple in that, and it was due to me not the mix. My fave for user friendly starter is coir, AKA "coco coir," AKA Jiffy brick. Burpee also sells a seed starter that has coir. It is called the self watering one. I have not used the self water part. Though I used the coir plugs in it. I added the hot water, waited an hour. Broke up the mix inside with a pencil to make sure it all got wet, and loosened up. I tamped it back down. Stuck the sharpened end of the pencil to the part where the paint starts. Opened the hole a bit. Dropped in the seed. Tamped the top back down. Repeated till all were done. Placed the lid on. Stuck on the heat mat. Set thermostat to 85.

I also cut the cell packs down to 4 cells. When one sprouts I can take the 4 cells out. I cut the sprouted one off of the others. Place ungerminated ones back inside the dome. Sprouted one goes into a pan that will hold it up under the lights. It kept me from cooking the ones that sprouted.

Thanks, and damn, I wish I knew that earlier. I was debating with myself about whether to get the exact self watering kit or those pods. I figured the self watering one was a gimmick and went with the other one. Hopefully I don't run into the same problem as you. I have it in an open window, no lights, but good amount of sunshine and a lot of mylar space blankets, so hopefully that will help the temperature stay high. Ill stick a thermostat in there tomorrow and monitor the temp.

Might go by myself a burpee kit too and try that, just in case this soil decides to kill my peppers.

Update

Just read a couple reviews on Amazon about the seed starting mix I bought...

Going to buy something else tomorrow for sure.

Haha, thank you the_northeast_chileman.