I cut through the mesh of the pellet as suggested. After more that a week, maybe two there was little or no growth. I carefully lifted them up and peeled the mesh off. By then I believe it was too late. They remain stunted. I'm sure the problem was the pellets. I planted another lot of the same seed without the pellets about 20 days after starting these and they did fine. They're in the garden now. The medium for those was potting soil with some seed starting mix at the top.