Thanks again Kerbouchard, Nice looking setup you have their yourself. After my issue about taking it apart to clean after the grow, I had thought about using some sort of rubber gasket, but just never really found something that would work reliably. I really like the idea of using a rubber band as the gasket, I'll be remembering that one for next time. Looks like you will be eating a lot of salads.
I'm not sure why your starts would die off. But a few things that would do it are incorrect temperatures, water-logging the roots, roots drying out, seedlings not getting enough light once they sprout. One thing that helps seedlings grow faster is high humidity, like using a clear plastic dome to hold in humidity, as well as let light in. Or if you were using a
nutrient solution to water them it may have been to strong. I just use straight water until they have the first set of leaves, then only about 1/4 strength for the next week or so, and then increase it to about 1/2 strength.
P.S.
I'm not sure if you plan to, but if you start seedlings a few weeks before you plan to harvest, that you'll have a replacement plant/seedling already as soon as you harvest, cutting time between harvests. I look forward to seeing how your plants do.