I use jiffy pucks, those compressed peat pots can restrict the roots. They pretty much have to stay soaking wet to dissolve/be soft enough for your roots to get through. I learned that the hard way.
If the expanded jiffy puck is dripping when you pick it up it's too wet. Give them a gentle squeeze before you put the seed in to remove excess moisture. If you keep them under a properly sized dome you shouldn't need to add water to them until after the seed has germinated and the sprout has broken the surface.
You can also use sst, sprouted seed tea, to encourage germination if you think the seed is old.
For what it's worth some strains either won't sprout, or will have extremely low germination rates if you plant them less than one or two months after they were taken from the plant, or if you didn't cold stratify them. Seeds that are a year old should be at peak viability. I store my seeds in the fridge, and they seem to germinate just like usual years later.
Hope this helps.
