flowerbug
Garden Master
The first photo on top is where the soil is rather loamy. Has good sand content and doesn't crust easily. This is the plot where the majority of the broken heads appeared and where it looks like most of the possible damping off plants occured. Maybe that was just the luck of the draw according to the seeds that were planted.
i wonder if it just got to hot and dry and the seed heads cooked? i've had to water here some days twice or more a day to keep things evenly moist and i have a fair amount of clay in the soil so that also helps hold the moisture. i don't have mulch available so i just have to water instead. so far i've had good germination with direct planting and no presoaking.
the potting soil may provide more moisture retention for sandier soils and also perhaps some insulation and cooling effect. not sure though.