Welcome to the forum redgreenmonotomato,that is one hell of a name you got there my friend! I recommend you post your question in the vegetable forum, be brief and to the point.. Near the top of the page there us a "forums" tab, click on it and it will bring You link of all the forums, near the botten right it will say "kitchen garden" or something and that is where you will see vegetable forum... Anyways since your here I'll help you.. To start seeds I would get the brightest light you can, you don't need a special grow light, just a shoplight that is bright... I have a 4 bulb stoplight pushing with cheap flourescent tubes from hardware store.. That Is more than enough for seedlings... I wouldn't bother transplanting then to a bigger pot, why not just start in the pot it's going to be in until you transplant in the garden, it's going to take up the same space in the long run, with less stress on the plant... Here's my advice 1. Get seed starting trays big enough for the plant until you transplant them in the garden.. Dont use that real small crap 2. Use a good seed starting mix. I use peatmoss, it is cheaper than any other... 3. Bright light.. Put the light as close to the plant as possible with harming the plant.. Leggy plants are inadequate light and the plant is reaching for more light. 4. Have a fan on the seedlings as soon as they sprout.. Every vibration tells the plant to strength... The sooner you put the fan on the spouts the less leggy there are going to be... 5. Water, I use a spray bottle to lightly mist seedling until they germinate.. After they sprouted increase your watering slightly, but always light the soil dry out slightly... Overwatering is the main cause for killing seedlings.. 6. Fertilize with kelp or something lower in nitrogen.. Nitrogen makes the plants more leggy... Go easy on the fertilizer you don't need too much.. That should get you off to the right direction. Hope it helps, Joe Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable Forum

For me, the paper towel method has meant a lot faster germination of many seeds, and some seeds where I was getting very low germination, like some daturas, germinated great guns. It's especially good for seeds that like warmth to germinate (if you lay the baggie on a heating pad), I've found, so I bet your species peppers will do great with it. I also use a weak solution of liquid kelp to wet the paper towel, because kelp has stuff in it that helps break down germination inhibitors. The only seeds I have not been able to germinate in paper towels were dead - they started rotting instead of germinating. To plant them once they sprout, lift them up by the seed shell and poke a hole for the root in whatever you are planting them in. Then just stuff the root in and tuck it in, leaving the seed shell end above ground. Avoid touching the root with your fingers. I have heard that for tiny seeds you can just tear the paper towel into little bits and press it into the soil. I am going to try that this year with some tiny seeds I planted.

i think you need to think about living in MI .. and dealing with things that should have sprouted in early spring.. and if they will be hardy enough.. inside 2 months.. with the forced dormancy ... of the first hard frost freeze cycle ... or in the alternative.. how to grow them on under lights for winter.. and if in fact.. one can do that with conifers ... as they really arent house plants .... you are wildly out of phase timing wise.. not that it cant be done.. just to get you thinking from this direction.. its a huge variable ... also.. if you have more seed.. think about a bed for sowing them say.. late in October.. .. for winter... so that they come up naturally in may ... perhaps it might be called a form of winter sowing .... there is actually a forum for such .... though not specific to trees .. its more of a perennial thing .... i once made band pot equivalents from empty water bottles ... and of course.. the media will matter ... no clue if i can find that pic ... ken

That's terrific! I often get volunteers in the spring from throwing my Halloween pumpkins on the compost pile. I had the same thing happen with gourds too.