When I got my first cow, I went to IFA and asked about feeding and such. The girl that was working told me to not make it harder than it has to be. I think sometimes that we try to hard or buy to much stuff just to get some seeds to grow. I start my tomatoes in the house. I use peat pots with a mixture of sand,potting soil, and dirt from my yard. I put in 4 seeds in each pot and I usually get 1 or 2 plants out of each pot. I put them on a table by my patio window and open the blinds every morning. I do have to rotate and turn them about once a week, but that is no big deal.
Keep trying with your plants. It took me 3 years to get it down.

Bill

Hey Songbird,

I found a great resource online a few years ago for seed starting. Some seeds need darkness to sprout (like when they're buried in the ground) and some need light (like they're laying on top of the ground). Some need warmth and some need coolness. So I found several websites that had copied a document Thompson and Morgan used to print, with a long table of plant species and what their light and temp requirements are. One version of it is at the link below.

Also, I started sprouting my seeds by putting them between two moist paper towels and sealing them in a ziploc bag. Sometimes they sprout overnight this way! But of course, some take longer. If they need warmth, I pile several ziplocs on top of a heating pad (usually set on low, but put a thermometer on it to make sure it doesn't get too hot!). If they need dark, I put them in a drawer. You have to watch them every day, because if they sprout fast and you don't plant them right away, their little roots can start to penetrate the paper towels and will break when you pull them out (that doesn't necessarily kill them -- depends on how much broke off). Actually, I have a long post on this at my personal garden blog. It has photos, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed sprouting lists