Sprout failure

[BladeFireLight]

I have tries sprouting wheat twice and both times it smelled horrible by day 4 and was a slimy mess on the bottom
The tray I have has about one hole per 6 inches and it water drains quickly

What am I doing wrong?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

What's your method?

Have any of these wheat berries sprouted before? If not, they may be too old or otherwise unsuitable.

 

[BladeFireLight]

What's your method?

Have any of these wheat berries sprouted before? If not, they may be too old or otherwise unsuitable.

They sprout. And the bag was usposed to be new.
Do they need to be rinced Befor the soak?
Should I have alot more holes?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have photos of the trays and the sprouts?

I would rinse the wheat berries very well, then soak them overnight. Drain them very well. Maybe you need more holes in your tray?
You want whatever you are sprouting to have a little moisture but not too much.

I haven't tried trays, am thinking about buying a few and have not tried wheat berries. I think I would like to do larger batches for summer.

I do however sprout Lentils in wide mouth Mason jars. I have plastic "sprouting lids" with very fine holes. I rinse the Lentils well, then soak overnight, rinse well again, then let drain. I place the jars upside down in a cake pan to catch any more water that may drain through the lids during the day. I rinse daily. So far I have not noticed anything slimy or any bad odors.
I know there's others that sprout here on BYC. @gtaus is one, I can't remember who else.
Here's his article https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ee-dish-bins.75190/?page=5#ams-comment-524359

 

[glib]

standing water I guess. they need to be wetted once a day for a minute or two but then the water needs to drain. If your problem is bacterial you can try using a dilute (1/10) water peroxide solution. Or you can try using a salt solution, which I hear works but I have never tried (guessing 30g/liter). I concur that it is useful to wash them well with the first soak.

 

[gtaus]

I have tries sprouting wheat twice and both times it smelled horrible by day 4 and was a slimy mess on the bottom
The tray I have has about one hole per 6 inches and it water drains quickly

What am I doing wrong?

It sounds like your seeds are too wet for too long. I don't know what your setup looks like, but it appears you need to rethink your method.

I know there's others that sprout here on BYC. @gtaus is one, I can't remember who else.
Here's his article https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ee-dish-bins.75190/?page=5#ams-comment-524359

@BladeFireLight I would encourage you to read that article on how to grow fodder, and then compare that method to how you setup up your system. I water my fodder tower twice a day, about 12 hours apart, and I have never had a slimy mess on the bottom. But, if you read the article, you will notice that my fodder bins are all slanted and that ensures there is absolutely no standing water in the bins. I water the tower twice a day to keep the seeds from drying out. If the seeds dry out, you would stop the sprouting process.

The quality of the seed also makes a big difference. If your seeds don't sprout, you will grow mold instead of fodder greens. I always say that if you get a bag of seeds that will not sprout, then just dump those remaining dry seeds into the chicken scratch mix and feed them to your chickens that way. No need to waste time or effort on "dead" seeds that will not sprout. Better to look for a different supply of fresh grain that will sprout.

I buy my barley grain at our local feed store. It comes in 50 pound bags. I had the best results with barley seed, but I was also able to sprout wheat and oats. You might have to try out different seeds to see what sprouts best for you from where you get your supply.

Also, in that article, I covered my experiment with initial soaking times. I discovered that my barley grain had the best sprouting success at an initial soaking time of 12 hours. Too little time, then the seeds don't all sprout. Too much time, and you can actually drown out the seeds and kill them off before they have a chance to sprout. You would have to experiment with your initial soaking times with your grains to see what works best for you.

Anyways, I encourage you to read that article on growing fodder because I know that system works as this is my 4th year doing it that way successfully. I'm not saying everyone should grow fodder the way I do, I'm just saying that I know that the fodder tower system works for me.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them here on your thread but be sure to include my name @gtaus so I get tagged by the forum notification system. If you don't use a person's username, there is no method to make sure they get notified.

Best wishes.

 

[glib]

Gtaus, that is really a wonderful article.

 

[gtaus]

Gtaus, that is really a wonderful article.

That article has helped a number of people in growing fodder for their chickens. Like I said, I don't pretend that my method is the only method that might work, but it's a proven method for me and I have been growing fodder successfully for the past 4 winters.

Again, if you have any questions for me, please use my @gtaus address so the BYC forum system notifies me. If you don't add the "@" before the username, the system does not notify us of the hit.

If you quote part or all of the message from a member, then the system will also notify the user. With so many messages on the BYC forums, you want to be sure your responses and/or questions have the best chance of being answered.

Best wishes with your fodder/sprouting and I hope you don't give up. For me, it was well worth dialing in what worked best for me and now it's just on automatic with fantastic results. Fodder is the only fresh greens my chickens get here in the winter in northern Minnesota and I think they appreciate it.

 

[gtaus]

I know there's others that sprout here on BYC. @gtaus is one, I can't remember who else.
Here's his article https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ee-dish-bins.75190/?page=5#ams-comment-524359

Thanks for the shout out. I love talking to people about growing fodder for their chickens. It's a nice fresh green bonus treat for my chickens in the winter months, and I think the eggs I get are better for the fodder. The egg yolks turn a darker orange compared to a paler yellow if the chickens are only on commercial feed this time of year.

 

[Saundra4]

I have tries sprouting wheat twice and both times it smelled horrible by day 4 and was a slimy mess on the bottom
The tray I have has about one hole per 6 inches and it water drains quickly

What am I doing wrong?

I bought a set up at Amazon and it has a carrier on legs and 4trays it works great. Just sprouted mung bean and wheat for them. I thought the wheat grass was long so I cut them up before giving it to them