Okay, apparently -- and to my great dismay -- I DON'T know everything...
Found this on Pepper Joe's website, in a description of how to start peppers from seed:
"Some varieties can be finicky to germinate. I recommend soaking seeds overnight in warm water to give them a head start. I am a 100% organic gardener, but of course there is many people are not. Some of them soak the seeds overnight in Saltpeter (potassium nitrate). (When sowing outdoors, the Saltpeter actually simulates the digestive tract of birds that eat wild hot peppers, therefore accelerating germination.)"
So... for difficult to germinate pepper seeds, perhaps this would be worth a try. Except... where does one get potassium nitrate?
