I too am waiting for some of my peppers to germinate. I may have to do a few more jalapenos as they seem sparse. I don't use a heat mat anymore, only because I don't know what I did with it, lol. You will get to all your seeds I'm sure. I plant eggplant in February to get large plants to produce enough for me. They take a long time it seems to fruit.

I have them growing in water. I use this method for some and then I also have them in a tower garden.
Here is a link to a post I did on the process from last year. I have been doing this for a few years now.

@sunscape/hydroponic-experiment-with-lettuce-by-sunscape