I have been watching a lot of Youtube videos about fodder already. I've been thinking of giving it a try too, but haven't gotten my 'round tuit' yet. For some reason, I was under the impression that most of them soaked 24 hours, a day, then seven more in trays, I'm glad that you studied this, it seems that just knowing that could make a lot of difference in how well a system worked out.
Also I was thinking of making it with a cheap plastic shelf unit that still runs $20 - $30 at Harbor Freight or Wally World, your 2x4s ladder looks sturdier, and simpler, and I think I have enough free old lumber around, and I wouldn't even have to block one end of the trays up on the shelves. Thanks for the idea.
There are a few things that I still wonder about, having this set up already going, maybe you have some insights you could advise me on. I live near a small town, and due to the nature of my work, masonry, I end up working many times, in other towns radiating out from home. If the trip is 100 miles or less, I'll drive it daily, but over that, and I'll likely stay in a motel. Most of the time I'm in driving range, but when I'm not, I have someone who does all my chores - once a day (although I'm sure I could get her to soak barley at her house and bring it half a day later, on her one trip - it's a pretty rough, hilly, 12 mile one way, dirt road for her), and when I'm close enough to commute, I am gone different lengths of days, 8 or 10 hours working plus the trip x 2, often coming to 14 or 16 hours including fuel, snacks, and restrooms. The length of time of each construction project varies too from a few days, to a few months. I'm wondering about timers. I like the passive idea of letting the used water go, but am wondering about a timer to let water in twice a day. Or if already timed, if results would very, by say, half as much water four times a day? Maybe one could even have the soaking take place in the top tub right after you watered everything else, and soaking in enough water, that it could automatically be let out in 12 hours through the rest of the trays?
Also, have you tried other grains, or mixtures of grains? There is not a lot of barley around where I live (sure at feed stores), but there are thousands of acres of wheat, corn, oats, millet, and sunflowers, and farmers who'll let you shovel some from their bins a lot cheaper than a feed store, sometimes even free if you only want a few bushels, or they need a bin cleaned out, or you're buddies or related. I know barley grows well here in Eastern Wyoming, I've even helped combine it many years ago here, but I can't think of seeing a field of it around here for years now.
Also I was thinking of making it with a cheap plastic shelf unit that still runs $20 - $30 at Harbor Freight or Wally World, your 2x4s ladder looks sturdier, and simpler, and I think I have enough free old lumber around, and I wouldn't even have to block one end of the trays up on the shelves. Thanks for the idea.
There are a few things that I still wonder about, having this set up already going, maybe you have some insights you could advise me on. I live near a small town, and due to the nature of my work, masonry, I end up working many times, in other towns radiating out from home. If the trip is 100 miles or less, I'll drive it daily, but over that, and I'll likely stay in a motel. Most of the time I'm in driving range, but when I'm not, I have someone who does all my chores - once a day (although I'm sure I could get her to soak barley at her house and bring it half a day later, on her one trip - it's a pretty rough, hilly, 12 mile one way, dirt road for her), and when I'm close enough to commute, I am gone different lengths of days, 8 or 10 hours working plus the trip x 2, often coming to 14 or 16 hours including fuel, snacks, and restrooms. The length of time of each construction project varies too from a few days, to a few months. I'm wondering about timers. I like the passive idea of letting the used water go, but am wondering about a timer to let water in twice a day. Or if already timed, if results would very, by say, half as much water four times a day? Maybe one could even have the soaking take place in the top tub right after you watered everything else, and soaking in enough water, that it could automatically be let out in 12 hours through the rest of the trays?
Also, have you tried other grains, or mixtures of grains? There is not a lot of barley around where I live (sure at feed stores), but there are thousands of acres of wheat, corn, oats, millet, and sunflowers, and farmers who'll let you shovel some from their bins a lot cheaper than a feed store, sometimes even free if you only want a few bushels, or they need a bin cleaned out, or you're buddies or related. I know barley grows well here in Eastern Wyoming, I've even helped combine it many years ago here, but I can't think of seeing a field of it around here for years now.
I soak my barley seeds for 12 hours, which seems to work best for me. I tried soaking my barley seeds for 24 hours, but that was too long and I think the seeds "drowned" as they did not germinate and grow well. I manually water my fodder twice a day, about 12 hours apart. But there is no reason why you could not set up some kind of timer to cycle through the flood water. I typically use 1/2 to 3/4 a bin of water when I flood my tower. In my case, I turn on the faucet for about 30 seconds and then shut it off. That's about all the effort it takes. As long as the bins get watered at least once per day, I think it might work for you. If the bins completely dry out, you might risk killing off the growth.
@WannaBeHillBilly has posted a thread with growing fodder using other seeds, such as wheat and oats. What he has discovered is that soaking time does depend on the type of seed, so oat seeds work best when only soaked for 2 hours, for example. He has also had great luck with growing wheat fodder.