Wheat Grass Mold

[jthornton]

I've been growing wheat grass sprouts for my hens for years and off and on I get a blue mold the forms on the outside of the seed.

I've tried 50/50 hydrogen peroxide / water soak for an hour with no results.
I've tried 50/50 bleach / water soak for an hour with pretty good results in stopping the mold but it inhibits growth.
Currently I'm trying a 10 minute soak in vinegar with a forced air dry but too early to tell. It seems to stop sprouting but a bit early to tell.
I've also reduced the amount of seeds to 2/3 of what I used to use to give more air space in case that is the issue.

Anyone have any methods that work to kill mold on the seed hulls before sprouting?

JT

 

[SourRoses]

Consider trying this... Botanicare Hydroguard
It's a virulent strain of bacteria that eats any dead / dying root matter and other organic material. It outcompetes sludge forming bacteria and other harmful microbes in hydroponic systems leaving only perfect clean white roots. I bet it wouldn't leave anything for your mold strain to feed on, and it's perfectly safe.
Add it to the fresh water only after you have removed the peroxide / bleach water rinse.

 

[gtaus]

Anyone have any methods that work to kill mold on the seed hulls before sprouting?

When I have had barley that was growing some mold, sometimes a little bleach in the initial 12 hour soaking worked for me. But I have also had some barley grain that grew mold no matter what I tried. One year the mold was so bad that I just gave up on that bag of barley and got a different bag from a different source. I learned that if the seed is old and has mold in it already, you might end up using that supply as dry grain to mix in with the chicken scratch and not using it to grow fodder.

This year my bag of barley was fantastic. I never had to use any bleach or peroxide at all and I never had any mold growing on my barley fodder. The quality of the seed makes a big difference.

In conclusion, for me, if I get a supply of grain that grows lots of mold in the fodder, I just use that bag as dry mix for chicken feed and get a different bag from a different source. I know my process works for good quality grain, but I have no control over the quality of grain the feed store gets. Nothing gets wasted, it's just a matter if the grain is good to grow mold free barley or not.

 

[puddle_drinker]

I've been growing wheat grass sprouts for my hens for years and off and on I get a blue mold the forms on the outside of the seed.

I've tried 50/50 hydrogen peroxide / water soak for an hour with no results.
I've tried 50/50 bleach / water soak for an hour with pretty good results in stopping the mold but it inhibits growth.
Currently I'm trying a 10 minute soak in vinegar with a forced air dry but too early to tell. It seems to stop sprouting but a bit early to tell.
I've also reduced the amount of seeds to 2/3 of what I used to use to give more air space in case that is the issue.

Anyone have any methods that work to kill mold on the seed hulls before sprouting?

JT

Borax is a great anti-fungal. I've had good results with 20 Mule Team brand borax in various scenarios, haven't tried it on moldy seed hulls but it may work for that use case.

 

[Sally PB]

@gtaus, any ideas? I know you've grown fodder.

 

[jthornton]

In conclusion, for me, if I get a supply of grain that grows lots of mold in the fodder, I just use that bag as dry mix for chicken feed and get a different bag from a different source. I know my process works for good quality grain, but I have no control over the quality of grain the feed store gets. Nothing gets wasted, it's just a matter if the grain is good to grow mold free barley or not.

I've not seen barley or wheat locally so I'm stuck with ordering online. But I'll check my local feed store again...

JT

 

[gtaus]

I've tried 50/50 bleach / water soak for an hour with pretty good results in stopping the mold but it inhibits growth.

FWIW, when I used bleach in my initial soaking, I only used a capful of bleach in a dish bin full of water. The bleach seemed to help kill the mold, but the seeds still germinated and grew into fodder. Maybe the 50/50 water/bleach mix is way too strong?

If my grain was moderately infected with mold spores, the capful of bleach in the initial soaking seemed to be enough to kill the mold. When I got a bag of old barley that was very infected with mold spores, the bleach mix (at my ratio anyways) did not work.

 

[gtaus]

Well I have proven that a short soak in vinegar will kill the seeds but not the mold... this is day 4. I'll dump all the seeds that were in vinegar...
View attachment 3482331


JT

Well, they are not sprouting, but they look good to feed to the chickens as is. I don't waste any grain unless it is so full of mold that I don't want to toss it to the chickens. Then it goes into a pallet wood compost bin, moldy grain and all, and eventually will be recycled back into my gardens as compost.

 

[puddle_drinker]

How do you apply the borax?

JT

For killing mold on grain I'd probably soak the grain in a 25% borax, 75% water mix, for about 15-20 minutes mixing the solution from time to time. Then drain and let it dry out a bit. I would expect the borax to soak into the grain hull and impede the growth of the mold until the seed gets a chance to sprout.

 

[jthornton]

This is the mold.


Day 1 you can see the borax has slowed growth by 50% or more.


Day 2 root growth is about 75% and sprout growth is 25% of the control tray on the left.

JT