Here are the photos you asked for. I did have a breakthrough on this.
I realized that a major problem is that my misters were hitting the maples (as they have now grown to about 5" tall) and are not letting the water get to the far corner here where most of the seeds are dying off. Dumb i know! Why didn't I notice the soil was so dry? Part of the problem is that I mostly check on these at night after work. They get watered in the morning (as per you guys).
I now water the corner by hand and went through and angled the spray up higher and it gets better coverage. In the future I will mount my misters higher.
Live and learn. At least it was just Green Japanese maples this time and I have plenty to spare.