It's not necessarily the peat that is the problem, but the pellets are encased in a netting that can inhibit root growth in spite of what the manufacturers say. If you use them to start your plants, cut and carefully peel the netting off when you pot up or transplant to the garden. Don't use 'garden soil' as it will carry bugs and pathogens that can kill your seedlings. Straight peat can compact, dry out and crust up, or hold too much moisture...starting mix has peat with vermiculite and other stuff(perlite?)mixed in. It is also sterile. I use Jiffy starting mix in cell packs, then use potting mix when I pot up to 8oz cups after a few sets of true leaves. As for peppers, you can find a lot of info perusing the Hot Pepper forum(growing info applies to sweet peppers too). There will be as many different methods as there are posters, and no way is THE way. What works for one may not work for another. Don't forget to read the FAQs at the top of the forum page. Peppers seeds need warmth to germinate, about 85 degrees is ideal, but they will eventually sprout at temps a bit lower. Keep the medium moist, but not wet. Some varieties will take longer to germinate than others and I've found it's best to keep different varieties in their own cell packs or pots so you can take sprouted ones off of the heat without disturbing the others. Don't fertilize your seedlings until they have a couple of sets of true leaves, and then do so with a very weak solution. Also, you don't say where your location is, if you're starting your seeds indoors, what kind of light source you have(lights, bright window?)and that info would help with feedback. Hope this gives you a starting point. Here is a link that might be useful: hot pepper forum

I don't know if you know Dr. Phil on TV. He had a program on this very subject. His wife went through this and she told of her experience. Her formula's are on his web site. I am 51 and suffer from hot flashes and have had headaches at least 2 weeks out of the month ever since I can remember(Dr. said period related). Once I started taking them I noticed no headaches. I stopped taking them they came back. I started they went away. I have done this again same thing. I also don't have the sweats either. I plan on staying on them I feel so much better.

Hot Flashes, HOT FLASHES...............what's a girl to do? I'll tell you what to do. You look for alternatives that will help to lessen the symptoms that come out of nowhere to make your life miserable and crazy! I suffered with them for quite awhile and then I decided to try a few things to help alleviate the hot flashes and the night sweats or make them more bearable. Someone had suggested using a satin pillowcase, because they are smooth and the fabric is nice and cool. Trust me, it works, Especially when you flip the pillow over. The second thing I do and what I have to found to work best for me is an eye pillow, right out of the freezer. I keep it there so its ready at a moments notice. I use a peppermint scented one because it opens up my sinuses and that helps me to breathe a lot better and helps any sinus or tension related headaches. The cold flax seed inside the eye pillow surrounds my eyes, temples, forehead and cheeks. You will be amazed at just how much relief and comfort you will get. The weight of the flax seed applies just enough acupressure to soothe and relax your facial muscles so your not so tense and uncomfortable . The eye pillow also blocks out all light so you can truly relax and get some needed rest. I searched online and found several sites that had them. The one I decided to go with was A Touch Of Satin. I liked them because their ingredients were organic, and that was important to me. They had an unbelievably large selection of patterns and I like the feel of satin on my skin. They also had a page on their site that talked about the benefits of their aromatherapy scents. They had lavender as well and that is suppose to be very calming and they also had them unscented. It was very interesting. If you want to check them out, go to the link shown below. Well, I hope this helps you. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: A Touch Of Satin

I was in the same boat as you are 12 years ago. I went to an herbal store and spoke to the worman who owned it. She suggested Dong Quai. I didn't find chewing on a Dong Quai leaf helped much. Then I tried Solaray's phytoestrogen and that helped quite a bit. I went down to about 6-8 hot flashes a day and waking up to about 1 night sweat/night, sometimes none. I also found that keeping a bottle of cold water in the refrigerator, or a small cooler when I went somewhere, helped a lot. When I felt a hot flash coming on, I would drink probably 6 oz. of the cold water and it seemed to cool me from the inside, making the hot flash less severe. Then I became a Melaleuca customer and tried their EstrAval (contains dried soy extract, dried Dong Quai extract, and Dried Black Cohosh extract). I went down to 1 and sometimes no hot flashes/day, and while I occasionally get hot at night, I rarely have a night sweat. There is nothing to say these products will work for everyone, but I'd try them before I went to a perscription. Both Solaray and Melaleuca have good reputations for safe, effective products. I know Melaleuca is a registered pharmaceutical company the same as Merck and Pfizer.