Germination Issues?

If your thermometer is thin enough, open one the vent and stick the thermometer into the compost you only need it in for a minute or so to get the temperature. As for watering, I sow the seeds then sit the tray or pot into a basin of water to let it soak up the water, another way to check the moisture in the compost is to press a bit of newspaper onto the surface and if its dry sit the tray or pot into water again