I started my basil in a window box and I am now transplanting bunches into
my garden and pots. I used a regular potting mix (peat, vermiculite,
perlite) and covered the seeds with 1/4" of potting mix. I wet the soil
completely and put plastic saran wrap across the top. It was on a table
outside on my screened in porch facing a west position (lots of afternoon
sun). With the plastic wrap, I don't think I had to wet it again until the
seedlings popped up. They sprouted within a couple of days and I took the
plastic off. After removing the plastic, if the soil looked dry, I used a
mist bottle. You could also use a fine mist setting on your hose nozzle.
Your problem may be overwatering and they are rotting, or as you said, maybe
the sprinkling is too harsh and it it damaging them.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"Darwin Vander Stelt" wrote in message
...
I have had problems getting Basil to start from seed in a raised bed
outdoors. I even covered the seed with a peat moss-soil-vermiculite
mixture
that wouldn't crust. I sprinkle it once or twice a day . .could it be
that
the new seedlings, which have very tiny leaf surfaces, are getting
destroyed
in the sprinkling? How do you do it?