MONOCOT Growing Basics

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Got a green thumb?

Basic growing instructions

The following blue list is the information that I began with and is enough

to get started. It's not much and I learned a lot more by trial and error.

The Book also covers this basic growing territory in detail. I will keep

adding to this page to hopefully make it make it your most valuable

resource for learning to successfully home grow your own superfood.

The entire growing process from soak to harvest is ideal at 65 to 70

degrees f. with good ventilation.

Colder than 65 will slow the growth but not harm the crop. Even a light

freeze will not hurt winter wheat.

At 70 and above, molds tend to advance more rapidly.

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1. Soak the seed for 6 to 12 hours

2. Invert the container to strain and sprout for 12 to 24 hours

3. Spread the soil 1/2 to 1" deep on a tray

4. Sprinkle the seed on the soil so it almost covers the soil 1 seed layer

deep

5. Water till moistened but not soggy

6. Cover and place in darkness for 2 to 3 days till sprouts are about 1"

tall

7. Uncover and move to light

8. Keep moist and ventilated near 70 degrees till grass is 6 to 9 inches

tall

9. Harvest by cutting near soil with scissors or knife and put into

wheatgrass juicer

Total time spent...... about 30 minutes to produce 12llounces. (12 ounces

is a successful 14"x18" tray and yields will vary from crop to

crop.)lTThat's over $21l worth of wheatgrass juice. (on a 14"x18" tray,

Cost: $0.75 Seed

$0.50 Soil

Total $1.25 for 6 days of "double shots" of wheatgrass juice!

Compare to $1.75 per ounce from the juice bar.

The detailed growing instructions

1. Soak the seed for 6 to 12 hours

Start with about a cup of seed to grow a couple square feet of grass.

(From the "Mold Page")

After obtaining good seed, seed washing, prior to soaking to sprout, is

the next most critical point. Because the method of washing can make a

difference, I will go into great detail on the method and reasoning that I

use.

Since mold loves to grow on broken open or small bits of damaged wheat,

molds that would result from these can be prevented proportionately to the

degree which they are removed from the batch. The directions here are for

a 5 gallon bucket. You can adjust the routine to whatever amount you are

rinsing.

(You might use a quart canning jar or equivalent holding a cup of seed for

a single home batch.)

1. Fill the bucket 1/4 full of wheat

2. Add water to almost to top

3. With clean (sanitized) hands, agitate the grain to wash and suspend the

grain in the water

4. Stop agitating. As the seed begins to settle to the bottom, quickly

pour off the water. Much of the dead seed and small bits will sink slower

and be poured off. Do not use a straining lid or screen . A screen will

catch the larger broken pieces that you want to get rid of. There may be

some loss of good grain by pouring as it settles but it is a minimal and

worthwhile sacrifice.

5. Repeat the rinse-pour cycle 4 or even 5 times and until the water is

pouring off very clear.

6. Fill the bucket again and leave to soak for 6-12 hours.

Invert the container to strain and sprout for 12 to 24 hours

Before draining the water off to begin the sprouting stage, is another

chance to remove some more damaged pieces of grain and possible mold

spores that now are washable from the seeds since they have swelled from

soaking. Put the seed (if it is not already) into a container that holds

plenty of water. Repeat the fill, agitate, pour off routine (1x) as

described above in the rinse section.

The container that you use to drain and sprout in will need a lid that has

some holes punched for the water to drain out. For a small amount, a quart

canning jar with the center of the lid removed works well. Put a piece of

plastic screen, nylon hosiery over the top and screw on the lid ring. A

plastic yogurt container with holes punched will work. (I prefer using a

container that bright light will not penetrate or else set the container

to drain-sprout in a dark location. I read a study on wheat growth that

indicated that light on the seed during germination causes a shorter blade

to develop. Most home sprouters do just fine with clear containers in the

light)

Invert the container in a dish drain rack or equivalent and leave 12 to 24

hours to begin sprouting.

I usually soak in the morning, drain that night and plant at any time the

following day.

The tiny white root will just be showing at the ends of the grain at

planting time.

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Spread the soil 1/2 to 1" deep on a tray

Trays can be just about anything that is flat and has a lip 1/2" deep or

better. Cafeteria trays, old plant flats from the nursery (the kind with

small holes-not the big cutouts), pie pans, hard waxed paper plates,

cookie sheets and so on. We use 14x18 fiberglass cafeteria trays with a

hole drilled in the center and one at each corner for drainage.

Drainage holes or no drainage holes? I have grown both ways and either way

has it's advantages:

-Drain holes allow for good aeration to the roots and usually will result

in a more solid root mass making the flat more easily handled if removed

from the tray. Drain holes prevent water logging and minimize the

monitoring needed to keep a proper moisture level. BUT drain holes also

mean that watering might need to be a little more frequent and the grow

shelf will need to have a tray to catch the water that drips below.

-No drainage means no dripping below and less frequent watering. It also

allows for a type of watering that helps prevent mold on the seed. After

the root mass has developed, the flat of grass can be grabbed by the hair,

lifted up off the tray, water poured into the tray and the flat replaced.

This keeps the top of the seed dry and is recommended for small

operations. BUT no drainage means that too much water can accumulate in

the tray if the moisture level is not checked before watering. Moist, but

not soggy is the rule.

It is good to use soil that is slightly moist, not bone dry. This will

make the water at planting time percolate through the soil evenly.

Pour out the soil onto the tray and spread evenly. Break up any clumps.

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Sprinkle the seed on the soil

Before spreading seed, I always give it a final wash. I do this a couple

of hours before spreading in order to give time for the seed to drain well

and soak up the wetness from washing. (Wet seed is a little more tedious

to spread. This won't make much difference for home growers planting a

single flat or two.) I use a light plastic 2 cup tupperware container to

shake out the seed, holding it about a foot above the tray and shaking to

evenly cover the soil.

The goal is to end up with the soil being covered with seed, wall to wall,

but without having the seed layered up on top of each other much. Too much

seed (grass) prevents good air flow and tends to mold more. Too little

seed, and the yields will be low.

Leftover sprouted seed is a potent food in it'self and should not be

wasted.

Water till moistened but not soggy

If the soil is not already moist at planting time, the water is not going

to percolate (soak) throughout the dirt with one watering. Dry dirt in

patches or at the bottom of the tray is going to thwart the grass at the

most crucial stage of growth. Birth.

If it is dry, give it a good watering before spreading the seed. This

watering should puddle some on a dry soil. It may look very wet but if you

dig a little you will probably find dry dirt under the puddles. During the

time it takes to spread seed, the water should have percolated through

some. Then a second watering after the seed is spread will supply enough

volume to adequately moisten the soil. It might puddle again, but should

soak through to a good "moist but not soggy" degree in some time.

If the soil is very moist to begin with, only a light single watering

after the seed is spread will suffice.

If you are growing on trays that have no drainage holes, tilt the tray to

pour off any excess water. (AFTER the water has had a chance to soak

through if it was a dry soil)

Cover and place in darkness for 2 to 3

We cover our trays with clear plastic, like Saran wrap and then have the

lights off in the sprout room during the next 2 or 3 days. A single flat

or two could be wrapped in this fashion and then placed in a dark location

or covered with a dark cloth.

Some growers, who use nursery grow flats, will cover the seed with a grow

flat placed upside down over the top. This keeps the seed in relative dark

but allows some air flow over the seed. Air flow means that the seed may

need to be misted with water once or twice a day. Air flow also increases

the chance that airborne mold spores might take hold. This method though,

is the most commonly used.

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Uncover and move to light

After 2 or 3 days, the grass will be between 1/2 to 2 inches tall and

stretching the plastic upward. There can be other micro organisms that

have grown along with the wheat. We see variance in the height of early

developing grass that appears to be from a bacterial, yeast or invisible

fungal growth. Some flats (about 1 out of 7 of ours) have an odor,

sweetish, that occurs on the flats that seem to be lagging in growth.

These will grow, but remain a day or two behind the rest throughout the

process.( If anyone has any knowledge of this and a solution, I want you

to contact me!)

My first home growing operation was a shelf in near a window. I would

place the covered (dark) flat on the bottom shelf,

then as the grass began to grow, I would move it up to the next shelf. In

a few days I would have a new flat to place on the bottom and continued to

move the taller grass upward. Twice a week I pulled a finished flat off

the top shelf.

The light does not need to be as bright as direct sun. Indirect light near

a window is adequate. The grass will grow toward the light, so rotating

the trays daily helps if a window is used. Fluorescent tubes work well.

There is a lot of speculation about varying amounts of nutrients in

relation to different spectrums of artificial light. The variances are in

my opinion negligible. It has been shown in one university study that I

chanced upon, that a light with more yellow in the spectrum reduced mold

growth.

Keep moist and ventilated near, preferrably under 70 deg f. until grass is

7"-10" tall

The amount and frequency of water that you will need will vary in

different situations. Some of the factors that dertermine how much and

when to water are:

1. The soil's water holding capacity and depth.

2. The tray's drainage or lack of drainage.

3. Volume of air flow, temperature and the humidity.

4. Height of the grass. 10 inch blades will transpire more water in a day

than 1 inch blades.

Under our growing conditions, (68 degrees f. with good ventilation from

the air filter, humidity control from the air conditioner, trays with

drainage and a rather fluffy soil mix,) these are some guidelines we

follow:

We always give the newly sprouting grass a light top layer watering or

misting just after uncovering from the plastic. After that, water roughly

every 24 hours. At least check to see if it needs it. If the young grass

dries out, it might never recover completely.

Check the moisture by pushing a finger into the edge of the tray to feel

the soil. If it is soggy, skip the watering. Dew drops at the tips of the

blade will also usually indicate that you can skip the watering. One side

of the tray may be drier than another. Be sure it is all evenly wet before

deciding to skip a watering.

Keep the flat away from the wall and situate it to allow good air movement

all around.

Harvest

The grass can be harvested at 10 to 14 days when 6 to 10 inches tall..

Some will cut the grass with scissors or a knife, bag and refrigerate it.

There is some misconception about the grass losing enzymes when cut. The

confusion arises from the fact that the grass JUICE deteriorates very

rapidly, within 20 minutes AFTER JUICING. The cut whole grass keeps just

as well as any other leafy greens for a few days in the fridge.

We keep the flat that we are juicing from on a table on the front porch.

With a sprinkle of water, it keeps growing for the few days that we are

using it.

When the flat is used up, some will grow the cut grass up to 4 or 5 inches

again to get a second harvest. The juice from the second harvest though,

only packs about half the punch that the young shoots did.

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