I just felt the need to jump in here for a minute.
Several questions have been asked about how long to let the water soak, or drain.
I have posted several pictures of my set-up, it came to me after several tries with blocks or lengths of 1" X 2" scrap I had to separate the trays, putting that between the trays and tilting them slightly.
I drilled holes through one end of each tray and then stagger them (the drilled ends) so that they drip into the tray below them, the water runs to the opposite end of the next tray, then drains into that and repeat all the way to the bottom.
I originally had too much water in my trays, they weren't draining totally. The result was tons of sees that seemed to have sprouted, but that was all they did, and after several days (10 days in the trays) they never seemed to germinate fully into grass. I wasn't getting a good root base. The holes I made weren't allowing enough of the water to run out the bottom of the tray into the next tray.
I then made bigger holes, and my seed count went way down, but they still weren't letting ALL the water to drain.
I now have holes that are a little more than 1/4", and they are draining wonderfully. Also, don't let the water take too long to drain. When my water was draining slow, I had a mass of seeds that didn't 'grow.'
I have posted several pictures in this thread and others, and now my ten trays drain completely within about three minutes, maybe four minutes. In my case, I am using three 1/2 gallon milk containers, filled to the place the milk had been, so it is almost a measured amount. Three of these (or one done three times) is sufficient to give me the grasses you have seen in my pictures. This is done twice a day.
Your seeds do NOT need to "stand" in water, they only need to be damp twice a day.
And I do not suggest misting, you really need to practically flood the seeds and let the water flow over and through the seeds. It is this flooding and draining (and maybe a LOT of air circulation) that has prevented my seeds from growing mold.
I hope this helps. I am NOT an expert at this by any means, your mileage may vary, I can only tell you what has been working for me, for nearly six months.
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Which is great cuz I'm thinking of planting some BOSS! Seeds for planting can be planted but not for sprouting due to the treatment given to prevent mold, etc. Which type of seeds did you use? Barley must have hulls, oats - they are such a pain, I'll post pix later for now keep oats of it. Wheat is super easy and Barley (with hulls) is also super easy! Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS) EASY! Triticale also sprouted very easy. Just go down to the grocery store to the bulk section and buy some whole - wheat berries. Sprout them! Rinse and drain @ 2x each day.
