Sprouting Seeds with NO Mold

[jthornton]

This summer I've been having a problem with mold growth on my Wheat Grass sprouts. After some conversation with @gtaus in this long thread about my sprout experiments I came to the conclusion that the mold was actually on the seed shell. After some searching I found that some universities use a 5% Sodium Hypochlorite (household bleach) and water to sterilize seeds before germinating them. So I thought it was worth a try as I was just having a terrible time with mold... well it did look rather cool under the microscope but I didn't want to feed my hens mold.

I thought this needed a new thread so it's not lost in my experiments thread.

The method I use to eliminate mold from the seeds prior to sprouting them is to soak them for ~30 or so minutes in one cup of water with 1 tablespoon of bleach.


Then I use a small strainer to rinse the seeds off well. I like the small strainer as it's easier to use under the faucet.


Then I put them in my usual container and soak them overnight in a solution of Hydrogen Peroxide ( 1 ounce) and water (about 3/4 gallon).
I soak the rest of the containers for ~1 hour or so each morning.


This is day 8 and 9 on the left. The blue sticker shows me which one I started with the sterilization process.
These also get soaked for ~1 hour or so each morning in the Hydrogen Peroxide solution.


And the money shot! NO MOLD!


JT

 

[Sally PB]

Thanks for documenting this!

 

[gtaus]

I came to the conclusion that the mold was actually on the seed shell.

Yes, that is what I concluded this past winter when I got a bag of "bad" barley that had a very poor germination rate and mostly grew mold. My normal system of growing fodder worked just fine with good seed, but if the seed was old and/or had mold on the grain, then nothing I did seemed to help.

Given my very poor germination rate on that bag of "bad" seed, I think it must have been old grain stock which sat in the silo too long. Unfortunately, my local grain elevator only guarantees "feed" quality dry grain and does not guarantee the seed will be good for growing fodder. When they got a new resupply of barley grain from a different source, I bought another bag from them and that bag was just fine. So the quality of the seed is fundamental to growing fodder.

Thanks for outlining your method of killing mold on otherwise good quality/high germination rate seeds. I'm keeping that info in my back pocket just in case I need it this winter. Thanks for writing it up and for the pics. That is some wonderful looking fodder you grow.

BTW, if someone is struggling with poor quality seed that does not germinate, you can still use that dry seed mixed in with chicken scratch. That's what I do instead of buying premixed chicken scratch. You don't save any real money mixing your own chicken scratch, but if you do get a bag of lower quality low germination rate seed, then you don't have to waste any if you mix it up for chicken scratch.

 

[jthornton]

I've reduced the soak time in 5% Sodium Hypochlorite (household bleach) and water to 15 minutes with no noticeable change. I need to run a sample without the soak as this is a new bag of seeds now.

JT

 

[tmaguirre]

Great info! I'm currently debating if I want to try sprouting seeds in trays like this, making grazing boxes for the run (basically 2x4s with hardware cloth on top to keep the hens from digging up the roots), or a combo of both.

 

[jthornton]

Here is the final design of my grass boxes. I used 2x6 and made them roughly 1' x 2' and capped the hardware cloth with 1x2's.


I did end up with a mole or something like that digging up from the bottom so I put down some hardware cloth a few inches underground to stop them from digging up through the grass. From time to time I take the grass box off and let the hens clean that area up.

JT

 

[jthornton]

I went back to a 30 minute soak because I was getting some random mold on the seeds.

JT

 

[WIchickMama]

Thanks for the continues updates. I have fodder growing outside now in my garden boxes and trim to feed as needed BUT this thread will come in handy this winter when it is below zero and I want some fresh stuff for the ladies.

 

[jthornton]

And then you get a bag of wheat grass seeds that grows mold no matter what you do.

I figured out the mold was different than the previous mold by looking at it under the microscope.

So I started trying different things to stop the mold and by the end of the bag I figured out that only keep the seeds in a warm 80°F place until you see the first bits of green then move them to a cooler place to finish sprouting.

JT

 

[glib]

My 0.02, and keep in mind that inflation is galloping: I seldom had mold problems in winter with the house at 55F, and most often had problems in summer (75F). If you are a serious sprouter (I understand the benefits), it would be worth looking into a climate controlled system (perhaps as simple as a box with one gallon milk jugs of frozen water).