Are you familiar with cutworms? They cut off thin stems a few inches or less above ground level, or cut off leaves from larger stems. Often they leave piece of the plants on the soil's surface, though not always. They spend their days curled in loose soil near the base of the plant within an inch or two of the soil's surface. If you disturb them they curl up into a tight spiral. Go out with a flashlight at dusk and look near the base of the plant and up the stems. The cutworms vary in color from tannish to greenish to brownish, and the youngest will be less than 1/4" in length while older ones can be up to about 1 1/2". You can squash them or drop them into a container of soapy water. After dark they migrate over the garden's surface to find new plants, so you may need to check more than once. With small plants you can give them a plastic collar that goes an inch or so below the soil surface and a couple inches above to discourage new cutworms from finding your plant.

Looks like it very well could be a balloon flower. I suspect it is because it is being grown inside under artificial lights that it looks slightly off from a mature plant's leaves. But don't take my comment as a definitive yes. Rodney

Grief, it was so long ago since I sowed mine (they are incredibly long lived...at least 15 years). I think it most likely that I did an autumn sowing and probably did get a couple of blooms the following summer. I do recall them being fairly easy - this was quite early on in my seed sowing craze when I was even more slapdash than I am now so survivors are memorable. I have never found any volunteers...but they grow in an area where I often trample about so...

I wintersow it, so it may be different. But, it takes a good 3-6 weeks for mine to germinate. I was giving up on my short balloon flower seeds that I sowed on January 8, but they are FINALLY sprouting in the lat week or two. Whew! Indoors, it likely won't take so long. But, don't give up too soon!