Growing wheatgrass at home

[damandamn68]

I have been wanting to grow my own wheatgrass and I've decided to try it out. It doesn't look very hard and usually it takes like 7-10 days to get a nice size field of grass. Is there anyone who has done it? Any pointers? I could use any bit of help no matter how small. I'm completely new to this and would like to hit the ground running. Ive heard that if you soak to little or too much it affects the rapidness of the growth..? What do ya'll think.

[MysticTree]

take a look on youtube. There are lots of tutorials . . . this is how I do it.

Soak wheat over-night (you need enough wheat to cover the bottom of your container - not thickly)
I line my container with a piece of wool blanket and spread the soaked wheat over it.
Stand container on a deep plate or tray to catch water.
Give wheat a good drink under gently running water every morning and evening - more if it looks too dry
When the blades start to grow take care not to knock them over or damage them when watering.
Empty the plate or tray of drained water.
I grow mine on the windowsill in the kitchen. It's light but not brilliant sunshine there and the ventilation is good.

I don't juice it for me. I give it to my hens to eat when the grass is low in the summer.

[damandamn68]

Nice to meet you MysticTree thanks for the quick reply! I just youtubed it and yeah there are a bunch of videos that show step by step. I apprectiate your help, thats a good idea giving it to your hens I bet they're healthy and happy lol. Let me ask you is there any problems that you have ran into like mold or anything like that??

[MysticTree]

I've never had trouble with mold. Part of that is because there is good ventilation but also because I buy in quite small amounts of wheat (and other seeds for sprouting) so what I am growing from is always fresh seed. Others who buy in bulk must face the problem of optimum storage conditions before they even start to sprout their seeds.

[damandamn68]

Thanks for the info I'll make sure there is enough ventilation and Ill also keep in mind what you said about not buying in bulk.. I was going to shoot into it and buy a 15 pound bag of seed lol but what would be the point if I only go through a few pounds and the seed goes bad. Thanks for the advice I will get a 5 lb bag

[streetsurfer]

If you use one of these two products in presoaks and/or watering, you should see better growth results...

Vegetable Thrive-alphabiosystems.com out of wichita
Superthrive-from vitamin institute north hollywood ca

I used both in a test (soaks and rinses) with mung bean sprouts and had visibly obvious results.
Bigger, thicker tails than the control in water alone.

I have not tried it on wheat grass but my kale, herbs and other greens get occassional treatments.

[damandamn68]

Nice to meet you streetsurfer thanks for the tip. I just purchased superthrive from the home depot and I am going to try it out for sure. bigger yields I am excited lol I have heard of this before from someone else who uses it on their plants and they like it but I was still skeptical but for a few dollars its worth a shot. I appreciate it!

[CaraS]

I just started sprouting wheatgrass at home for the first time last week. I bought a starter kit from Handy Pantry that comes with the trays and a mat to sprout the kernels on and instructions. It was pretty straightforward. I've read that using hard red winter wheat is better to control mold - that the freeze in the winter prohibits mold production. I've also read that mold is pretty much inevitable but when you harvest the wheatgrass, you just cut it above the mold and then you can dip it in a hydrogen peroxide/water mixture or some GSE to kill any mold that remains. I'm probably 3 days away from my first harvest and I'm totally excited. I'd been wanting to find a way to get enough greens in my system and I was told that drinking 2oz of wheatgrass is like eating 2.2 pounds of dark leafies.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

you just cut it above the mold and then you can dip it in a hydrogen peroxide/water mixture or some GSE to kill any mold that remains.

'
Four ways to help prevent mold:

1). plant less wheat per tray so there is more room for it to breath
2). grow it outside under shelter
3). spray the grass with hydrogen peroxide/water mixture (adds oxygen to the mix)
4) don't soak the grain too long, 12 hours is enough.

[damandamn68]

Nice to meet ya'll CaraS and Mr Raw, that is so crazy about a couple ounces is two pounds of greens I have not started yet but I just ordered some seeds and will start probably next week. Im on a juice fast right now and have been drinking more fruits than veggies/greens because if I put too many of either it really kills the taste so yeah wheatgrass should definitely help me out.

thanks for the info!

[somedude79]

the growing part is actually not hard. i don't even use soil, i just use unbleached paper towels, and trust me, it will grow. the hard part is mold control. i still haven't master that part yet, so if anyone has some good tips, im all ears.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

the growing part is actually not hard. i don't even use soil, i just use unbleached paper towels, and trust me, it will grow. the hard part is mold control. i still haven't master that part yet, so if anyone has some good tips, im all ears.

See post #9.

[jourelemode]

See post #9.

what should the Hydrogen peroxide/water ratio be?

thanks

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

what should the Hydrogen peroxide/water ratio be?

thanks

1 teaspoon per 500ml of water.

[jourelemode]

hey mr. raw, do fruit fly's always develop because of the wheatgrass? I've seen a few fruit fly's coming from it. Is there a way to keep them from developing?