Good luck with those dollar store seeds. I have no luck with them. I bought a big box of alyssum seed last year and I think I got one little plant! *LOL* Oh well, for a buck...not out that much. I'm so excited, my peppers are all up and growing! (IN pots in side)

Oh, don't think I mentioned that the seed packs were two for a dollar and four for a dollar, so it won't take many plants out of those seeds to pay back the cost. I bought one of those big boxes of alyssum one year, mostly filler in the box. I did get a few plants out of it, bought more seed twice I think. I finally ended up with a long border of alyssum, but I was very disappointed in the plants themselves and dug them all up.
Now tell me what you did to get your peppers going. I had mine on top of the freezer where it was nice and warm, I keep a glass cover over them to keep them moist, and still nothing.

I planted my pepper seeds in very damp potting medium, then covered them with plastic and let them sit at room temperature (70F) for a few days (until I got my backside in gear to set up the heating mat). Then I transferred them to a heating mat (it doesn't have a thermostat...it just stays on very slightly warm. Supposed to raise the temp of the soil by 5-10 degrees over room temp). After about another 5-7 days, the peppers started germinating. HOWEVER: Now that I study the starter pak cells, I think the Cal Wonder seeds (BURPEE FROM LOWE's last year) don't seem to be sprouting. All the others are up and growing. I think Bottom HEAT is the key to getting pepper seeds going; I read that they actually germinate best in soil temps of 85-90 F! I think I'll buy fresh Cal Wonder seeds from another source and try again. The sweet peppers that did germinate are a yellow Italian horn type.