Topic: How to Grow and Use Wheatgrass with Sproutman®
Date: Tuesday, October 04, 2011
8:00 PM – 9:30 PM Eastern Time

Use this Coupon Code WG2011 at check out to get $5.00 off the Wheatgrass Class!

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

Much has changed since Ann Wigmore had us bringing worms and compost into our kitchens to grow grass. Today, you can have a professional grow it for you; you can buy it in a bottle; you can get highly potent wheatgrass ice cubes that last a year in your freezer; you can get delicious wheatgrass elixer called “super shots” made from organic wheatgrass extract; and you can get wheatgrass extract in a skin cream; or in a spray. And for those of you who do want to grow it, you can now do it without any soil and just as much nutrition! Join me for about 100 color slides. You’ll discover things you never knew about wheatgrass and have plenty of time to ask your questions. 1.5 hours.

REGISTER HERE FOR WHEATGRASS CLASS

Dear Sproutman,  I am using your high quality wheatgrass seeds, why am I getting mold?  Please see my picture below.

Mold Starting on Wheatgrass

Dear Cynthia,  I can see from the photo that the Las Vegas growing unit is not providing sufficient air for the roots. Too much moisture is being trapped there. With moisture and insufficient air circulation, you do get mold even with the best sprout seed. Those wheatgrass seeds had a very low spore count. But under the right conditions and with enough time, their spores will breed. Honestly, I wish you were using my Wheatgrass Grower because I specifically designed it for growing hydroponic wheatgrass and it took some revisions to get it just right. And the feedback from now thousands of units sold is proof of a good design. The seed is only one factor in gardening.

I will be in Las Vegas speaking at the International Sprout Growers Association on Oct 18-20. If I can grab a few minutes (in theory??), and if you can provide transportation, I would be happy to look closely at your unit and recommend how you could modify it to be more adaptable for hydroponic wheatgrass. Do you have my sprout bags? Because that is the definitive test. If the spore count is high, mold will show in the bag on the fourth day. Test 8 tablespoons of seeds in the sprout bag. It is always possible if the seeds were improperly stored that the spore count increased during storage. That would be the case if they were temporarily exposed to moisture at some point during their storage. That’s a possibility. In either case, the sprout bag test will tell us if the seeds have gotten moldy. If the sprout bag growth is mold-free, then I’m sticking with my first take on the insufficient air for the roots during the early growth period of is the problem.

I would also like to recommend taking my online class How to Grow and Take Wheatgress.  I have classes scheduled for September, October, November and December.  For more on the online class click here.

Sproutman's Wheatgrass Grower

Brian, you could consider going to my competitor Easy Green, they make an auto watering unit for about $500. It’s good but I can’t support you on it. The only automatic watering system I have is the Freshlife 2000 Sprouter. However the yield would be smaller than my 3 tray Wheatgrass Grower. If you wanted to use the my Wheatgrass Grower, you could start the process as soon as you return from your trip.  The most critical period for growing Wheatgrass is the first 7 days.  You would need to stay around for this critical period, however you can experiment with the timing once you have grown a successful crop.

Freshlife Automatic Sprouter with Wheatgrass

QUESTION:

Mr Sproutman,

Thanks so very much for publishing Sprouts The Miracle Food.  I cannot put this book down…there is so much I want to do…so much to learn. I’m graduating from the JAR !!!!

I recently purchased products to grow soil “MicroGreens”. A lot more work & more difficult to maintain proper climate, PH, etc. What I need to know: Are the Hydroponic seeds I purchased able to be used in the “Fresh Life Sprouter”? You also suggest to hatch the garlic & onion seeds first & then transfer them to a 6″ sprouter.  What is a 6″sprouter & where do I get it if it is not the Fresh Life Sprouter?

Thank you for your assistance.

Martha 

ANSWER:

Dear Martha,

I am delighted to hear that you enjoy my book Sprouts The Miracle Food.  First I would need to know the name of the seeds you are trying to sprout.  Second, ideally you can hatch garlic and onion seeds in a Sprout Bag and then transfer them to the Freshlife Automatic Sprouter or the Freshlife Manual Hand Watering Sprouter.  The Freshlife Sprouter is the replacement for the 6″ Sprouter.  Pictured are garlic sprouts.

Sincerely,

DEAR SPROUTMAN: We got our Sprout Bags, but they are much smaller than we anticipated. Since the site says it is equivalent to a 3/4 gallon jar we expected to be able to sprout from 4 to 5 cups of wheat at a time. We routinely sprout 7 cups in our 1 gallon glass jars. Your instructions say 1 to 2 cups in the bag. Is that the max per bag? Please let me know. Thanks – David Read the rest of this entry »