However, I'm not getting anything from the tomato seeds. I may have done one or two things wrong. One morning the pellets were dry, so I poured in some more water. The water moved some of the seeds around since they weren't strongly embedded into the peat. Does this movement retard germination? Perhaps the reorientation of seeds screws up their sense of up and down and initial root growth?

I started a new batch of seeds yesterday (using potting mix in tray cells). I'll still wait a while for the first batch, but I'm pretty choked that nothing has come up yet.

For the record, if you have ever grown tomatillos before, you may have heard that it's best to plant them in pairs; some won't set fruit if there is only one plant. Doesn't make sense to me, but I've always planted them in pairs, and never any regrets for having done so.

Don't give up on your babies; if it's nice outside, just put them outside in a greenhouse-style protection--just put those peat pots (watered from the BOTTOM to avoid more trouble) into a cleaned out milk jug. Go check out the winter-sowing forum and FAQ's(no, it's not too late to wintersow if you're still starting indoors from seed) and let mother nature do the hard part--just be sure your medium stays moistened--tomatoes are very unforgiving when it comes to moisture.