Any product with 2,4D will kill dandelion. Spray dandelion in spring and late summer/early fall, and then reseed early fall. A healthy stand of turf will keep out a lot of dandelions.

The hippie in me is philosophically attracted to the idea that the seeds know best. But I'm wondering if "forcing" them with a few days in indoor temps until seedlings emerge might not be a fine idea. My thinking is something like this, and only refers to weather dependent seedlings, not daylength ones. weather-dependent seedlings respond to environmental temperatures. But environmental temperatures vary widely from year to year and without obvious patterns. All my tomatoes that burst out in the 80 degree weather we got last March didnt magically "know" that the rest of the spring was going to be fantastic. And indeed we got plenty of hard frosts after that warm streak, including right up to our 90% CI last frost date of May 11th (Z5). But my tomato seedlings were tall and stocky and robust and grew fine through those frosts inside their little WS recyclable "greenhouses." So why shouldnt I simulate that freak warm spell by bringing them in after a period of cold strat, and then right back outside as soon as they start to sprout? My understanding of what makes seedlings robust, stocky and free from hardening off is that depends on everything that happens AFTER they break the seed-coat and decide to give life a go. So if I bring them in until green peeks and then back outside in their jugs, wouldnt that be just as if Mother Nature decided to give me two days of 72 degree weather and then go back to the 50s? Someone who knows more than me tell me why this is a terrible idea, otherwise I'm going to start experimenting...

I am so sorry for the pain you're going through -- But (and this may not help) it doesn't sound all that unusual for 15-year old boys... That's a notoriously difficult age for boys. Difficult for them, with all of the hormones hitting, the physical awkwardness, emerging sexuality, social issues, budding manhood, need for privacy to sort things through, inability to process feelings verbally... And difficult for parents because they really want to help, but the kids absolutely can not let them in at that particular stage. They're separating from their parents -- trying to stop being 'children', but absolutely clueless about how to be 'adults'. Unless they're one of those 'Teflon teens' who are always good-looking, well-coordinated and popular, they're probably desparately confused about their place in the world. Totally in-between... Honestly, if all he's doing is shutting you out, please know that that is normal, even in intact families, and don't overthink it too much. Once he is able to drive and spend more time outside the house, things will probably improve dramatically -- really. And by the time he's 18 or 19, he'll probably be really nice again. I suspect Dad is really enjoying his new relationship with his son. Many men don't seem to know how to relate to young children, and his son's 'emerging manhood' may have been exactly the clue Dad was waiting for (but didn't know it) to recognize something he could bond with. I imagine he's feeling really important in his son's life -- like he finally IS the mentor and 'example' he was always supposed to be...

Personally, I restart seeds after about two weeks or so. I will still keep the originals to see if they finally pop, but I don't want to get too far behind in case they never do sprout. It has been my experience that most all peppers (with a few exceptions) will sprout within two weeks if they are going to at all. Like I said, there are a few exceptions but even most super hots will pop within two weeks if they are under proper conditions. Heat and moisture are the two biggies. Too little or too much is not good. 70 to 85 for soil heat and constant moisture without being soggy is good. If you grew several other varieties of peppers and they sprouted fine, then I would consider it a problem with the seed. If you had wide spread failures to sprout, then I would look more at your setup. My 7 Pot Brain Strain-Yellow seeds that I got from the trade actually were the first to sprout for me. They were going strong at 6 days. The photo below shows my early sprouts. Notice the ones that sprouted first were near the center of the heat mat that I had them on. That probably had something to do with it. I expect it was just a bit warmer there than on the outside cells. If you click on the photo it should open in a bigger size so you can see it easier.