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

Of course you can make it any size you see fit, and using any materials that are easily available to you. Though I think 6 inches wide will probably do, I would opt a little wider 8-12 inches wide. Here's how I planed to build mine. First plywood would be stronger, but OSB board would be cheaper and still strong enough. It runs about $7-$8 for a 8x4 sheet around here. I plan the inside diameter to be 12 inch deep, about 12 inch wide, and 8 feet long. Make it as long as you want also, 8 feet is all I need. Though I plan to build 2, set them parallel with each other about 5-6 feet apart, and place a A-frame trellis between the two trenches. You already have your trellis. To strengthen the box structure, I plan on running 1x2's (they run $0.84 ea here) along the outside for added support. You can use 2x4's but would be about 3-4 times the price, and 1x2's should be enough support. For a trench box that long, I would probably run one horizontal row of 1x2 along the top and bottom of the box. Then periodically place vertical pieces between them. Here in the desert I need to insulate the roots from the heat, you probably wont want to do this part, especially if you are going to have the trench in the ground. My trench is planed to be on top of the ground. The inside of the box will be lined with probably 2 layers of 1/2 inch (or 1 inch) thick Styrofoam sheet insulation. Glued in with PL300 foamboard adhesive (it's made specifically to glue Styrofoam insulation to wood and construction materials. Then I plan to line the inside with vinyl sheeting. I don't know if Low's or Home Depot carry it, but ACE hardware just down the street from me does. They have 3 different thickness that run from about $3-$6 a square yard (in one yard widths). For the inside diameter I plan, it should just fit nicely without even overlapping it (except the end pieces. I plan to use 100% silicone to seal the ends and glue down the vinyl sheeting (as well as all corners and edges after the Styrofoam is glued in). Fish pond liner would be just fine, and plenty durable. I don't know how much it runs, but I think I will look into pricing that as well. For the drain I plan to cut a hole just big enough to run a pvc tube through the wood, and a little smaller than the wood hole in the Styrofoam (for a snug fit). Then glue it to the Styrofoam with the foamboard adhesive. Then run beds of silicone, and screw in a pvc connectors on both sides of the tube and snug it down. Making the lip of the connector on the inside of the box as short as possible (but still durable), so as much water will drain out as possible. I may decide to have more than one of these drains per box. But if one side of the box is raised a little, the water should flow nicely to the side with the drain/s. Because the heat and sun is so bad here on things. I plan to paint the outside of the box with a roofing material. I forget what it's called, but it's white, thick, durable and flexible. They use it on rooftops for reflecting the suns rays (overall cooling the building). That will also add another layer of insulation for the roots for me (reflecting the heat). But I need to find somewhere where they sell it in one gallon buckets. The 5 gallon buckets are way more than I need, and it's not exactly cheep (a one gallon should run about $10-12). That should protect the wood from moisture if you plan to bury it in the ground as well. However there is another material for that also, but it's black. I forget what they call that also, but they use it to protect walls that extend underground so they don't absorb moisture (like basement walls, underground stairways etc.). I don't know how much it runs, but you will want to protect the wood from ground moisture if you place it in the ground. And products like Thompson water seal wear off and need to be reapplied regularly. Once the box is ready, I plan to simply place a section of inexpensive furnace filter screening ($2, I just cut the screening material out of a inexpensive furnace filter) on top of the drain holes. Then I will place a layer of rocks on top of that to about 2 inches deep along the bottom of the trench. This will hold the screening in place and help with drainage all the way through the box. Then just fill with the growing medium and plants, setup the drip system. You should have a very durable planter box that will withstand the weather and you can use year after year. .

I place my pepper seeds on a thick stack of folded toilet paper soaked with water, in a bowl etc. covered with plastic and then put that in a warm place (on top of my computer, on top of the refrigerator etc). I cooked a set of seeds putting them in window light to warm up so I don't do that any more. The longest it took anything to break from the seed was about 8 days, and then another 5 days for seedling emergence after I put them in potting mix. Most good seed sprout in 4-5 days.

The soil itself breaks down slowly and that breakdown is enough for almost all plants. Dry poweder fertilizer is SALT. Salt kills plants. You go ahead and give them plenty of salt for food and watch them die. Organic fertilizers are usually not salt. But all the dry powder ferts are all SALT. A little salty fert can be OK but the salt builds up in the soil. It takes a lot of rain water to wash out the salt. Organic matter breaks down slowly and provides all the nutrients a plant needs that is why weeds grow without fertilizer. Trees grow huge without fertilizer. People are brainwashed by the companies that sell SALT. The politically correct term for SALT is Chemical Fertilizer. I call it SALT to remember what it really is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer Properly applied, organic fertilizers can improve the health, and productivity of soil and plants as they provide different essential nutrients intended to encourage plant growth[citation needed]. Organic nutrients increase the abundance of soil organisms such as mycorrhiza, which aid plants in absorbing nutrients[citation needed]. Chemical fertilizers have long-term adverse impact on the organisms living in soil[citation needed] and a detrimental long term effect on soil Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer