Sprouts?

[aolsz]

I've seen posted the feeding of sprouts. Is this just when the seed starts to germinate? When it's a few inches? More than that? I saw someone post that they sprout sunflower. Is there a particular reason for that? Sunflower seed is good for oil and protein. I wonder if that's lessened when the sunflower seed germinates.

BTW, for years, I've fed sprouted Mung Beans to cage birds. I let it grow to maybe 4 inches -- big enough so that I can bunch it up and stick through the cage bars,

 

[kusanar314]

I've seen posted the feeding of sprouts. Is this just when the seed starts to germinate? When it's a few inches? More than that? I saw someone post that they sprout sunflower. Is there a particular reason for that? Sunflower seed is good for oil and protein. I wonder if that's lessened when the sunflower seed germinates.

BTW, for years, I've fed sprouted Mung Beans to cage birds. I let it grow to maybe 4 inches -- big enough so that I can bunch it up and stick through the cage bars,

I believe the time between "sprout" and "fodder" is 7 days. So before 7 days the seed is considered sprouted and and nutritionally very similar to the seed, after 7 days it is considered fodder and is nutritionally similar to the mature plant. Also, sprouts do not typically require light where fodder does require light to grow properly

 

[Phrick]

Pretty sure @kusanar314 is right about the difference in terminology mostly being a timeframe thing. I recently started growing barley fodder and don’t feed it till day 7 at which point it is around 4 inches tall. I saw a video not long ago saying fodder isn’t adequate to solely feed and it talked about the difference in nutrition from seed to sprout to when it’s growing active shoots. I may start feeding the 4 and 5 day sprouts vs the taller fodder based on that. She was talking about fodder for larger animals but I imagine the nutrition angle still applies

 

[aolsz]

I believe the time between "sprout" and "fodder" is 7 days. So before 7 days the seed is considered sprouted and and nutritionally very similar to the seed, after 7 days it is considered fodder and is nutritionally similar to the mature plant. Also, sprouts do not typically require light where fodder does require light to grow properly

Commercial (for human food) producers of sprouts keep them in the dark. This way, the sprouts basically have no flavor and just give texture. Sprouting mung beans for birds, I keep the jar on the kitchen counter where there's light from a window maybe 10 feet away. This way, the sprouts are easier to keep an eye on and are less likely to mold. I make no attempt to give direct light.