Need help growing my own wheatgrass

[islesgirl]

Hi rawbies! My husband was kind enough to build me a shelf in the garage window so that I have a place in the sun to grow herbs and wheatgrass. I would appreciate hearing from anyone here willing to direct me to the site on the 'net which they found to be the most helpful in doing this? I did the banana search above and all I found was a couple of posts about gnats and mold growing on someone's wheatgrass. Please, can you help me? Thanks so much.:D

[michigan roman]

no need for a site because wheat is like the easiest thing to grow ever

spinkle seeds over 4" soil or more at a rate of a seed about every quarter inch (dont have to be exact at all) then cover with a quarter inch soil and water once every day

ive been gardening in a big garden 15 years and have tried hundreds of different seeds and wheats the easiest and most vigorous , just give it water and keep it in warmth and itll grow anywhere from a glass jar to on top of soil uncovered

[Mary Kay]

I agree with Michigan Roman. It's very easy.

Good luck.

Mary Kay

[islesgirl]

Roman and Mary- thanks for your help and encouragement. My husband wondered if you plant your wheatgrass just in the ground during the warm months? I figure you put it in containers. Roman - Do you "sprout" your wheat first? You make it sound so easy. I am sure you are the one who recommended buying plastic strainers from the $ store for "sprouting". I went to every single $ store in town at the time looking for same and all they had were the metal ones. No matter. I found some at flea markets. But now that I think about it, wouldn't metal have been okay? I do also have some metal colanders. Anyway I have been reading here all the various threads about "wheatgrass". I am excited about this.

[michigan roman]

yes islehubby :D plant in the ground . im growing wheat in my garden all growimg season and grab a bunch to chew on every time im in garden ,
it grows just like regular lawn grass seed , just a bigger version . but just as easy

and could use metal colanders but ive never found one big enough and with enough holes so that seeds would drain good . because if they dont drain the water sitting around them can make them moldy

i buy hard wheat seed at local bulk stores for like 1.25 per pound so its cheap , plus fun :cool:

* chewing on wheat grass cleans tetth / refreshes breath

[islesgirl]

Yay, way to go - never actually thought we could put it right in the ground. How backwards us city people have become eh?! Where else would one plant it! You can be sure this is what I will be doing until it's too cold. Thanks so much michigan roman.

[DebB]

I grow mine indoors. I first started by ordering a wheatgrass kit from here (http://wheatgrasskit.com/). I've since ordered more trays from them as I increased my "operation" - ha! I've ordered from this company 3 times now and have had excellent service.

I follow their instructions. I soak the berries for 8 hours, but do not sprout them prior to planting. I plant in 1" of organic soil in the 11x22" trays.

For my husband and I, I now have 6 trays growing at a time. I start 2 new trays about every 2-3 days.

I just bought about 20 bags of Miracle Gro organic soil as it's on clearance for $1.66 per bag at Home Depot. I order my seed from Azure Standard. I order Azomite from above.

I grow mine in front of 2 extremely sunny (I filter the light) kitchen windows. I want to get some kind of shelving unit for the trays. I also want to start growing sunflower sprouts and microgreens... *Ü*

[islesgirl]

Deb - what you're doing sounds great too. I will keep that link you posted and perhaps order stuff from them.:) I'll use all of your advice, for sure. Thanks.:)

Sue.

[DebB]

Deb - what you're doing sounds great too. I will keep that link you posted and perhaps order stuff from them.:) I'll use all of your advice, for sure. Thanks.:)

Sue.

I'm a relative newbie to growing wheatgrass - in fact it was me that started the thread about mold and gnats - lol - but my current trays are mold and gnat free so far! (knock on wood)*Ü*

[splendorintheraw]

hi Isles girl!

I have a whole section on my website about wheatgrass. Its listed below. I think you'll find it helpful. if not, i will be happy to answer any more questions.

[splendorintheraw]

hi isles girl!!

I have a whole section up on my website about wheatgrass. I think you'll find it helpful. If not i will be happy to answer any more questions for you. In the meantime...

keep your flat inside out of the sun!! It likes it warm, but not hot, and the best thing to do would be to put a small fan on it so it gets a little breeze. Watering it every day, same time of day, has always worked best for me, and as crazy as this may sound run your hands thru the blades of grass, every few days, this helps to remove any hulls and gives them love at the same time. To water it, you can pick the blades up by the corners, and water there. Its also a good way to check to make sure youre not over watering. Too much water will cause mold.

[Factoid]

DebB: What do you mean by the light is filtered in your kitchen?

[DebB]

Hi Factoid ~ I snapped a picture of 1 of the 3 trays I have growing right now. It means that the light is filtered through the lace curtain. Here in the desert, it makes a huge difference filtering the light vs. having no curtain. I hope this helps. *Ü*

http://i27.tinypic.com/2ibjf2f.jpg

[jacsam]

Ann Wigmore has a whole book on wheatgrass......to me she is the guru of wheatgrass.

[EZ rider]

I just juiced my first WG experiment today. I started my WG experiment last monday so my flat grew for 8 days before juicing. My WG tasted good just like at the juice bar I have been getting it at before now. The thing that amazes me about this has been the cost. I measured how many cups of seeds were in the 4 lb bag of organic hard red wheat berries I bought at the HFS and then today when I made my first juice I poured the juice into the "double shot" plastic cup that I saved from the juice bar. Doing the math I am pleased to find that growing & juicing my own WG is 1/50 th the cost of the juice bar WG. That is 2% of the cost of juice bar WG. :)

[DebB]

Wow EZrider - I've never bought a shot of WG juice.. how much does it cost? *Ü*

[EZ rider]

For a small juice bar plastic "double shot" cup of WG it costs $3.23 (includes sales tax). A four pound bag of WG seeds cost $3.96 and measured out to fifteen cups of seeds.

[DebB]

For a small juice bar plastic "double shot" cup of WG it costs $3.23 (includes sales tax). A four pound bag of WG seeds cost $3.96 and measured out to fifteen cups of seeds.

Wow - I can see how you're excited about growing it yourself! *Ü*

[Factoid]

DebB: Thanks for the clarification.

EZ rider: You sold me! I have wanted to start growing this for a while but not sure how feasable it is the studio apartment I am in at moment..

Btw Are there any UK peeps here? If so where do you buy your seeds from? I am interested in finding a good source for all types of prganic seeds and beans for my sprouter too.

[margoss]

Do you juice this, can it be used in smoothies. I have a MB that use for smoothies.

[islesgirl]

And now I just hope it will grow. I am starting it in the kitchen and will keep it covered a couple of days but then I was hoping to be able to transfer it to a shelf in the garage window once it begins to grow. The problem is the garage might be too cold? Of course it isn't heated. What do you think? I like the idea of this garage window because we have very poor window lighting in our basement apartment and the garage window is facing west. Are you anywhere around today michigan roman? You seem to be a real expert on this. Another thing - I don't have holes in the bottom of my flat to drain any excess water. Should I simply tip it a bit each time I water it to let it drain? How important is having holes in the bottom of my containers? (the growing containers, I mean, not the soaking, sprouting ones). Thanks for listening.:)

Sue.