Any Sprout Growers Here?

greyfurball
greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in Vegetables

I just tried growing sprouts for the first time last week. I've always heard they only take 3-5 days until mature. And yes, the package does say "Sprouts", not microgreens.

Well my first try I started last weekend and I'm still not eating them. It's been 11 days now. I did the first 10 hour soaking in a mason jar. I rinse daily 3-4 times. I've got a few sprouting but not that many.

As the weather cools down do the sprouts take longer? It is getting cool here so the house is getting cool also. I haven't started the heating system yet.

So do cooler temps make the sprouting process longer? If that's yes, should I place the sprout jar in a window instead during the day so it can get some heat from the sunshine? Then I can pull the jar back out of the window for over night.

Any ideas what's going wrong?

Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @greyfurball I too have started sprouts. I started the first batch in a mason jar and they smelled so badly that I fed them to the outside birds. The second batch has been put into a square sprouting bowl and is growing slowly.

    I got seeds sprouted in the initial soaking period. However, it has been a week and the broccoli sprouts are only 2 to 3 inches tall. I have been growing them on a kitchen counter away from windows. (The seed company sent me a sprouting e-book but I haven't had time to read it yet.)

    BEWARE! Broccoli sprouts make your house stink of cooked broccoli. I have been rinsing and dumping water to no avail. The next batch I will only use a few seeds to see if the crowding contains the smell.

    Maybe we are supposed to put them in the sun.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    If it has been 11 days, I would suspect the seeds. I have wood heat so the temperature in my house is quite variable and it doesn't seem to affect the growing. The more sunlight your sprouts get, the greener they will be. Depends on if you want the added chlorophyll or not.

    I have a set of three lids to fit wide mouth mason jars with different sized holes. So you can use ones with larger holes as the sprouts get bigger or for the larger seeds. I have never tried broccoli seeds so I can't comment on the odour but I do know that any of the sprouts will start to smell if they don't have proper aeration. I prop my jars upside down and on an angle to let the air in. I have seen fancy racks available on line for this purpose. Maybe try alfalfa or something less odorous than members of the cabbage family.

    Persevere cause sprouts are so tasty and give you extra greens in the winter when our gardens are asleep. Good luck!

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @torey Thanks for the advice. I have lids for wide mouth that have little legs to provide aeration. I will keep trying until I find the right solution for my environment.

  • gardneto76
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    I find some seeds just seem to take longer. I also have the lids to fit jars. I lay my jars on their sides after draining it completely.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    Is it possible that you are being over-zealous when rinsing? Sometimes you can break off the small sprouts just as they are starting and then the seed will just spoil.

    Seeds do not need light to sprout, but once they sprout you can put them in the sunlight to produce chlorophyll and green them up. Sprouts usually like a 70 degree temperature.

    You should only need to rinse seeds 2 times/day (3 times if you are in a very dry climate). If you are in a humid climate you'll need to keep them in a dry place. If I'm sprouting beans, then I will rinse 3 times/day. They tend to go sour if I don't. Each time I rinse, I cover the seeds with water and drain it off 2-3 times. I use lukewarm water. After each rinse and drain cycle I set the jar on it's side, out of direct sunlight.

    Note: if your climate is humid or you just want to protect your sprouts from bacterial growth, you can spray them lightly with colloidal silver.

    Most seeds will sprout within 3-6 days, onion seeds being the exception (10-15 days), and others that take less than 3 days. I let mine grow until I see little yellow leaves forming, which usually takes 3 days. Then I put them on a table in the sunlight for 2 days to green them up. Still rinsing them each day of course.

    I've grown Alfalfa, Red clover, Broccoli, Fenugreek, Black Sesame, and Garlic Chive sprouts this way without any problems.

    Hope this helps. 😊

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    Well pretty much everything which has been suggested here has been and is being done.

    So I guess the problem here has got to be the temperatures in my house. It's generally not 70 degrees this time of year because our lows have been getting down into the thirtys and the days around 45-55 so no, it's not staying 70 degrees inside.

    I only mentioned putting it in the window to get some of the sunshine's heat to see if that would help speed up the process some.

    I also changed to a radish sprout and a chard sprout in the same jar (the first jar was peas). I see the radishes are sprouting quicker but the chard are not. But when you think about it, that's what happens in the garden too if they are seeded there.

    So I guess I am just going to have to wait until I get the heating system on this house for me to see any type of good results.

    Thanks everyone.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    Have you thought about creating a micro climate for your sprouts? It's just an idea, but what if you put a seed warming pad in a box, possibly with a small towel on it since there is no soil to insulate the seeds. (I'm not sure if the pad would get too hot for the seeds without the soil around them.) Then lay your sprouting jar on the pad and lay something over the box to keep the warmth in. You could remove the cover and lay the box on it's side in the sunlight to green them up.

    Just an idea, but maybe worth trying. ☺️

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    @Leslie Carl I really only started them 2 1/2 weeks ago because everything seemed like it was going to be so easy. So my attitude was why not?

    I am getting new flooring placed in three rooms in my house. That started 6 weeks ago. So I was tearing all three of those rooms down, packing everything up in boxes and then moving all the furniture out into the other rooms in my house 1 week before that. So 7 weeks ago I was prepared for this all to be done in 5 days (that was the day they were scheduled to come.)

    Now 7 weeks later it has been one problem after another. I must be honest and say it hasn't been the installers fault. They have been the ones who have been trying to help me get out of this the easiest and most cost effective way possible. But since those three rooms and all its contents is stuffed into the rest of my house, I now have 3 rooms which are relatively useless since there's next to nothing in them and 5 other rooms in the house stuffed because that's where everything is.

    So yes, I do have a grow light I use in the Spring for seed starting so as soon as I can get to it I figured I would set that system back up and see what I can rig up to help then.

    Thanks for your help Leslie.