Growing wheatgrass in cooler climates.. :(

[pnj]

I'm in Seattle, it's currently mid 40's to 50's. My appartment is 60 or so...

I've grown many trays of grass, in the past so have tried many different ways.

This last batch I'm doing has taken two weeks to get 3-4 inches tall. TWO WEEKS!

Is it that it's too cold/cool? That is the only thing I can think of.

I also get mold, but that is less of a concern.

thoughts/suggestions?

[DebB]

I'm also in WA and the length of my WG differs too. I'll be juicing up 3 trays today and one tray is probably 6" and the other 2 are shorter. It's been growing 3 weeks now - ha!

I too get mold, but find I get less mold when I cover the soaked seeds with dirt vs. planting them on top of the dirt. That's what I've been doing the past 2 plantings and it has cut down on the mold.

Eventually I want to grow soil free... *Ü*

[pnj]

I've tried just about everyway to grow, dirt on top/under/soaking/not soaking, etc.

I have some seeds going right now that have no soil. I see no real difference in my methods, as far as how long it takes to grow.

I'm guessing it's the tempurature that is the cause for the long grow time...

[crkdjwlr]

I grow mine soil free for 14 days and it grows upward of 8 inches and no mold. I am in Bracebridge Ontario Canada where it is around 5-10 degrees.
Take care and good luck , Paul Le May.

[pnj]

so I have four different trays going right now, with each using a different technique.

I have mold on 3 of them. Those 3 I am using dirt. the fourth tray is too early to detect mold. It is also the only one without dirt.

I am also now using a grow light.

[Stina]

I was looking at the Happy Herbalist's website where there are warming pads to put under trays of seedlings. Anyone know anything about that?

[big foot marty]

While trudging the road to happy destiny I have become vegan ( was dairy free before.)

Now going raw.

Sprouts, and grass are powerful assets.

I keep wheatgrass mold down with a sprray bottle that has good water with some citric acid powder added. Have also used the citric acid when rinsing other sprouts.

I saw similr success when using seaweed plant food

[Mary Kay]

Citric acid---would not have thought of that......would think that you could also use GSE or food-grade hydrogen peroxide mixed with water to spray on to keep mold down.

I'd bet everything on the temps. I've had two identical trays growing in diff't areas and the warm ones grow quicker. Also, in the winter, within one tray, the grass closest to the cold window, take longer, so if I forget to rotate, I really notice a diff.

I've heard of those warm trays, and kind of feel they're like electric blankets. Not good for humans, so I was thinking prob not good for plants either. I do bet the warmth from them helps though.

Mary Kay

[pnj]

The heat blankets are usually used for starting seeds. I've seen no negative research on them. I can't imagine they are different then a greenhouse, which holds heat. It's 52 in the room where I grow my wheatgrass. If I turned the heat up or used heat blankets (which are not the same as a heat pad humans use), there wouldn't be any difference in the heat. Both ways would help seedlings grow.

[Mary Kay]

Thanks. So do the heat blankets have any electrical current in them? I was thinking about electromagnitic waves due to the electric current.

Mary Kay

[pnj]

http://www.gardeners.com/Seedling-Heat-Mats/GreenhousesSheds_Accessories,18383,default,cp.html