Wake Your Seeds Up!
Different seeds soak up different amounts of water.
Mix 2-3 parts water to 1 part seed.
The seeds are going to absorb a lot of water while soaking. All that matters is that we provide enough of
Wake Your Seeds Up!
Different seeds soak up different amounts of water.
Mix 2-3 parts water to 1 part seed.
The seeds are going to absorb a lot of water while soaking. All that matters is that we provide enough of it. As a rule 2-3 TIMES AS MUCH water (as seeds) is enough, but you can not use too much - the seeds will only absorb what they can regardless of what they have access too. But don't short them or they won't sprout well.
You can not use too much water, but you can soak for too long.
Read the seed information pages for the seeds you are sprouting.
Dry seeds are dormant.
Soaking a seed ends it's dormancy and begins a new life.
In nature this seed will make a plant which can, in turn make seeds, which can in turn make more plants, which can make More Seeds which make More plants and more and More and MORE!
We eat all this potential. Its no wonder sprouts are SO nutritious!
Mix your Seeds up
With small seeds in particular, it is important to mix up your seeds to assure even water contact. We use our hands or a nice wooden spoon or something - to stir the seeds around, or, if we're using an Easy Sprout we will repeatedly twirl and plunge the Growing Vessel into the partially full of water Solid Base.
Seeds like Alfalfa, Clover and Broccoli can be covered with water but still fail to soak any up - in the same way that a spoon full of Nestle's Quick plunged into a glass of milk will remain dry. If you Prep your Seeds before Soaking you will likely not suffer the "Nestle's Quick syndrome" since your seeds will already be thoroughly wet.
How Long is Long Enough?
A few seeds do not Soak at all and though most do, they Soak for varying duration's. The norm is 8-12 hours, but some soak for only 20 minutes, some occasionally soak in warm or hot water and for more or less time - Check the seed information pages for the seeds you are sprouting.
After your Soak is over
Skim off any non-seeds that are floating on the water*.
Run your finger tips over any floating seeds to see if they will sink.
Skim or pour off any seeds or non-seeds remaining afloat.
You Soak only once. Seeds will never germinate if left in water.
Proceed to the next step: Rinsing
Tricks & Trouble
Don't even read this until you have a sense of how sprouts work, and a tolerance for my rambling! This section may be edited in some distant future =:-}
There are some tricks you can use - like soaking in hot water, to shorten the time of the soak or to make seeds - which aren't soaking up water well - soak it up. Warm water can shorten the time it takes for a seed to finish Soaking. A warm spot in the house can speed up your crop while a cold spot can slow it down. You can Green sprouts outside in freezing weather if you make a tiny portable greenhouse.......... There are a whole lot of ways to make trouble for you and your crop. We will discuss a couple now and will improve this area as time permits. Really - you should just stop reading this page NOW.
Hot water can cook seeds if used incorrectly or it can make a "hard seed" sprout by convincing it to soak up water. If you are curious about these tricks read on.
We stock about 100 varieties of sprouting seed all the time. Every year we test crops from multiple farmers and seed dealers to find the seeds that sprout best, taste best and store best. But there are some crop years when it is impossible to find the quality we are looking for 