Sprouting Seeds with NO Mold

[jthornton]

I hope by "tossing out trays" is that you mean the moldy trays go straight to a compost bin, or somewhere the worms can at least eat the fodder not fit for chicken consumption.

No mold just very poor germination and almost no growth.

JT

 

[jthornton]

OK. I am trying to follow you here. Did you find that your well water PH level was going too low? I think you stated your goal was to have a PH level of 5.5 for growing fodder, and that you were using some chemical called PH Down to reduce your well water PH level from 7.5 down to 5.5. If I understand you correctly, your well water PH level has gone down from 7.5 due to spring rains so you had to reduce your chemical additives that lowered the PH level.

The desired PH is 6.5, when the well water PH went down then I was down to 5.5 and got very bad germination and growth.

The only explanation that I can come with is seasonal rains changing the well water chemistry so in the winter it gets a bit higher in PH and grows some amazing mold and it drops in the spring when we get lots of rain.

JT

 

[gtaus]

No mold just very poor germination and almost no growth.

JT

In that case, do you feed the soaked grains to the chickens? Some people soak the grain overnight to soften them up and make them more digestible. I suppose ungerminated fodder grain, even if days old but no mold, would still be great feed for the chickens. That's what I do anyway, if I have fodder grain that does not germinate well. I only "toss out" fodder if it is full of mold, and then it gets tossed into the compost pallet bin or buried into the compost in the chicken run.

 

[gtaus]

Sounds like PH has a lot to do with good germination and growth. It is something I had not considered. But I am a bit confused as to proper PH level given previous posts....

They said micro greens like a PH of 5.5 and wheat grass sprouts are micro greens so why not.

At this point, I thought your target PH level was 5.5.

I tested my water and it's PH is 7.5, so I used 3cc of their PH Down in my almost gallon container to get the PH down to 5.5 or so.

Again, PH 5.5 seems to be the target.

I almost never see any mold maybe a couple of small batches since I started to acidify the water down to 5.5 PH.

Still looking like PH 5.5 is your goal.

Interesting turn of events here, spring rains started and it changed the chemistry of the ground water (I'm on well water). Whole trays started having poor germination and slow growth, so bad I was tossing out trays. I reduced the PH Down from 3cc to 1cc per gallon of h2O and like magic the sprouts took off again and started growing nice thick green healthy sprouts for the hens.

Here is where I started to get confused, because you seem to indicate that your well water PH level has gone down, and you no longer have to add as much chemicals to get that PH 5.5 target.

The desired PH is 6.5, when the well water PH went down then I was down to 5.5 and got very bad germination and growth.

Your latest post indicates your desired PH is 6.5, which seems to be different than your previous posts that I thought your goal was PH 5.5.

I know that a PH of 7.0 is considered neutral, and I would naturally think that big any change from PH 7.0 might start to have negative effects on germination and growth.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I am still not following what your target PH level is and how the PH level is affecting your fodder germination and growth. I think this is worth clearing up because I would like to know what PH level has worked best for you as you indicate PH level is a big factor in better fodder germination and growth.

@jthornton , Love all your posts and updates on fodder growth. Hope you don't mind my lack of understanding and questions on a subject that I am very interested in understanding better.

 

[jthornton]

Sorry for the cornfusion but the best PH is generally from 5.5 to 6.5 according to General Hydroponics. It's hard to read the PH with the test vial exactly so testing with different amounts of PH Down and viewing the results is a better test. I do know in the winter if I don't use 3 cc of PH Down in my almost 1 gallon jug I get mold like crazy and in the summer if I use more than 1 cc of PH Down I get poor germination and almost no growth.

JT

 

[gtaus]

Sorry for the cornfusion but the best PH is generally from 5.5 to 6.5 according to General Hydroponics. It's hard to read the PH with the test vial exactly so testing with different amounts of PH Down and viewing the results is a better test. I do know in the winter if I don't use 3 cc of PH Down in my almost 1 gallon jug I get mold like crazy and in the summer if I use more than 1 cc of PH Down I get poor germination and almost no growth.

JT

Thanks. That's helpful. FWIW, I'm colorblind, so reading the typical PH levels with the color gradients was always a challenge for me. Thank goodness for digital readouts nowadays.

 

[rjmyooper]

@jthornton You don't use a growing mat of any sort? You just soak the seeds. Hmmm. I do microgreens and I use a mat of coco coir.

 

[gtaus]

@jthornton You don't use a growing mat of any sort? You just soak the seeds. Hmmm. I do microgreens and I use a mat of coco coir.

Nice looking microgreens, I assume for people consumption? FWIW, when I grow fodder for my chickens, I don't use any growing mat in my bins. If the fodder grows well as it should, then it makes its own root mat. My chickens eat everything from the tip of the blades to the bottom of the roots. I would think that using a growing mat for fodder would just be an extra step and expense that is not needed.

Having said that, do you find growing greens in a coco coir growing mat to be better and worth that extra effort? You are the first person to raise such a question that I know of. I honestly have never considered it, myself.

Will be interesting to hear from @jthornton and pick his brains on this question.

 

[jthornton]

@jthornton You don't use a growing mat of any sort? You just soak the seeds. Hmmm. I do microgreens and I use a mat of coco coir.

No growing mat for wheat grass sprouts... now I do have mats for micro greens and need some hints on making that work, the first time didn't come out very good.

As @gtaus said the wheat grass form a nice root mass that acts as a grow mat. My Cinnamon Queen hens eat everything, my Rhode Island Red hens only eat the seed and root at this time but used to eat everything.

JT

 

[rjmyooper]

No growing mat for wheat grass sprouts... now I do have mats for micro greens and need some hints on making that work, the first time didn't come out very good.

As @gtaus said the wheat grass form a nice root mass that acts as a grow mat. My Cinnamon Queen hens eat everything, my Rhode Island Red hens only eat the seed and root at this time but used to eat everything.

Yea, I want to feed ducks my micro greens, but I'm a bit concerned with the compressed coconut husk being consumed. It's like compressed hair or fiber.