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

Kendra, Once your plant starts to wilt you should provide it with water right away. I suspect there's a fine line between withholding water to increase pungency, and damaging the plant if it dries out too much! Here's some more information, this time from Dave DeWitt & Paul W. Bosland's "The Complete Chile Pepper Book": About 50% of the pungency is genetic and about 50% is environmental. Generally speaking, stressing pepper plants increases their pungency. Both restricting water and overwatering (a dangerous practice) will increase the amount of capsaicin in the pods. Restrict the water until the plants just start to wilt, then water them slightly to perk them back up. Do this several times throughout the growing season and the pods should be hotter. The pungency is also increased when the fruit ripens at higher temperatures. In fact, the pods of New Mexican varieties ripening at temperatures between 86 and 95 *F have twice as much capsaicin as those ripening at 59 to 72 *F. Applying nitrogen after fruit set can lower capsaicin levels.

I have found that Jalapenos vary significantly in heat levels - some are decently hot and some are mild. I like the flavor nonetheless... I would say if you're looking for "hot" hot peppers, you need to mosey on to chinense varieties. I eat hot foods routinely down at the local Thai restaurant. I give them my super hot varieties because I have more than I need for powders. Normally, I can actually use Caribbean Red Hot's for sandwiches, etc. But this year, I grew 7 pots and Trinidad Scorpions and I now know that 700,000 scoville units is about my limit. These babies are hot beyond what I used to consider hot. My Thai restaurant will slice up one 7 pot into about 3 dishes and all of us are crying halfway through curry beef with green beans or beef bai kra pow. They're unbelievable. You need to upgrade to the superhots if that's what you want. And, they're easy to grow.......

Wow Bob... I feel for you. That's crappy. It might be an insect. I had a hornworm do similar damage to a bhut. But, in my case, somehow I bagged the hornworm when I bagged the blossoms, he didn't start eating the fruit until he'd eaten all the foliage, but he put a similar hole in my bhut. I have a ton of house sparrows that are living in my garden (and I mean about 30), but they seem to be more interested in my tomatoes than peppers. You need to get out there in the night and look around. I had a lot of damage a couple of years ago in my greenhouse, I am not sure if it was the lizard I found in there or if it was the crickets. I don't think mice or rats. One fall I had a mouse problem, the damn things removed the fruit off the plants and moved it into the corner of the greenhouse. While cleaning I found a big pile of peppers. They didn't touch the fruit other than removing it from the plant. Pam