FODDER: A beginning. It's comin' along. Final shots.

[grumpy]

That is just incredible!

Are those just regular fluorescent lights up there? And do you move all the trays up a level every day, so the trays closest to harvest are the ones under the lights?

The fluorescent's were left-overs from my cage-bird days. I would imagine
they're a step above an average bulb. I can't say for sure what type they are.
It's been too many years since I raised the small finches.

The lower trays are "starved" for light. Which simulates a seed newly planted.
As they develop, they are advanced upwards each day towards the light.
The growth of the "grassy-part" doesn't really start until about the third
to fourth day. Then the growth is phenomenal. The last 12 hours before
harvest, the shoots will grow about an inch and a half more.

Those three trays are setting on about 6 days-8 hours of growth before
I remove them and cut them up for food. Add 16 more hours of light and
one can imagine the heights they would achieve. Plus probably another
6 to 8 ounces of weight with another watering. However, I actually starve
the biscuit for water because I don't want a false reading on weight prior
to it being processed for the stock.

All of my calculated "assumptions" are slanted more to the conservative side.
I'd not want anyone to be misled with what I'm attempting to do. It's easy
to come to a wrong conclusion "if" someone is not being completely forthright
in every aspect of this, thus far, successful endeavor.

Grumpy.

 

[Miss M]

The fluorescent's were left-overs from my cage-bird days. I would imagine
they're a step above an average bulb.

I had a feeling... way too "warm" looking light.

All of my calculated "assumptions" are slanted more to the conservative side.
I'd not want anyone to be mislead with what I'm attempting to do. It's easy
to come to a wrong conclusion "if" someone is not being completely forthright
in every aspect of this, thus far, successful endeavor.

That's one thing I've really appreciated about your thread. You've been very clear about the ups, downs, "off" appearance in the trays now and then (a pic of that would be great, if it can be seen), everything.

 

[grumpy]

I had one small portion of one biscuit this evening with a "spot"...
I sure wish I was smarter than the darned camera I was using. I took about
ten pictures but only two or three came out alright.

I cut the section out and excised it into thirds to show the penetration of the
?? into the biscuit. It's not really mold, I think. But for sure it's not correct.
So, it's into the trash can with it.

It's been several evenings since I've had to pitch some fodder because of
this type of bad spot.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pics.
grumpy.

 

[Miss M]

Hmmm... how odd! I was expecting to see some sort of effect on the greenery, but there isn't any.

But I agree with your "better safe than sorry" handling of it. I'll have to watch for that when I start up.

 

[Gearmpr]

That's a great idea! I've been tinkering around in my head about growing my own feed. I was thinking about making a box garden similar to my herb garden (out pallets), but this seems to be a lot more practical. I'd post a picture but I don't know how haha

 

[Miss M]

I'd post a picture but I don't know how haha

We have two different ways to do it, and tutorials to go with them:

picture-tutorial-t6003.html

attachment-tutorial-t5.html

 

[grumpy]

I've noticed an interesting occurrence when growing this stuff. While keeping
the temps low in the room I realize the growth has slowed down a good
deal. I've came to the conclusion that it might be "better" for more growth
if the A/C was turned off every night.

I realize that there's a fine line here and it's one that would be easy to cross.
However, I've kept the room temp at or below 71 degrees and it has
definitely slowed everything down. The increased temps will elevate the
possibilities of mold-growth but I'm willing to try it out and see what happens.

I'll post the results here in a few days.

grumpy.

 

[Miss M]

I wouldn't have thought 71* would slow it down that much. I'll be interested to see your findings.

I'll have to see how it goes here... in winter, we can let it get pretty cool in here. I might have to put my setup where I can put a small ceramic heater. In summer, we raise the thermostat to 76*, because otherwise we get bills we can't afford.

 

[Gearmpr]

Ok here it is, I think I got it

<br /><br /> __________ Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:46 am __________ <br /><br /> Not as nice but hopefully it'll do the trick

 

[grumpy]

I've been having concerns with the lower three shelves holding the newly
soaked barley.

For the first 72 hours, I've had to mist the tray because of the soaked seed
having a tendency to dry out. I "think" I've got the problem solved. After I
put the fodder seed in the tray, I cover the entire surface with a paper towel
and mist the towel to soaking wet.

The towel remains in place until the end of the third day. Then I remove it.
There's a MUCH more uniform pattern of sprouting and there's a larger
percentage of new shoots. Plus, the root mat appears to be nearly twice
as thick compared to the trays that weren't covered.

With the gravity watering, the paper towel saturates through wicking from
one end to the other. It keeps the seed sprouts wet and allows them to
sprout as if they were actually underground. It seems to be working very well.

Grumpy.

 

[the reluctant farmer]

That makes sense. I do the same thing when starting seeds for.the garden; don't know why I didn't think to put a paper towel on the fooder seed.

In order to prevent the seed molding at warmer temperatures, do you think a fan blowing lightly across the seed would help? It would keep the air circulating.

Thanks again for sharing!

 

[grumpy]

That makes sense. I do the same thing when starting seeds for.the garden; don't know why I didn't think to put a paper towel on the fooder seed.

In order to prevent the seed molding at warmer temperatures, do you think a fan blowing lightly across the seed would help? It would keep the air circulating.

Thanks again for sharing!

LOL.........Yes....a fan does help....But, there's "the" double-edged sword.

It also dries the see out too much in the bottom rows. I'll post some pics
after while. Got a list of "to-do's" as long as my arms............................
............................................spread far apart.

Later,

:x Grumpy :x

 

[michaels4gardens]

I've been having concerns with the lower three shelves holding the newly
soaked barley.

For the first 72 hours, I've had to mist the tray because of the soaked seed
having a tendency to dry out. I "think" I've got the problem solved. After I
put the fodder seed in the tray, I cover the entire surface with a paper towel
and mist the towel to soaking wet.

The towel remains in place until the end of the third day. Then I remove it.
There's a MUCH more uniform pattern of sprouting and there's a larger
percentage of new shoots. Plus, the root mat appears to be nearly twice
as thick compared to the trays that weren't covered.

With the gravity watering, the paper towel saturates through wicking from
one end to the other. It keeps the seed sprouts wet and allows them to
sprout as if they were actually underground. It seems to be working very well.

Grumpy.

I tried using a paper towel under the seed to hold moisture, -- and it worked, -- but-- I had to "feed" the paper towel with the sprouts as it became a permanent part of the sprout mat after the first couple of days.-- probly your idea of laying it on top is working much better then what I tried.

 

[grumpy]

I've been having concerns with the lower three shelves holding the newly
soaked barley.

For the first 72 hours, I've had to mist the tray because of the soaked seed
having a tendency to dry out. I "think" I've got the problem solved. After I
put the fodder seed in the tray, I cover the entire surface with a paper towel
and mist the towel to soaking wet.

The towel remains in place until the end of the third day. Then I remove it.
There's a MUCH more uniform pattern of sprouting and there's a larger
percentage of new shoots. Plus, the root mat appears to be nearly twice
as thick compared to the trays that weren't covered.

With the gravity watering, the paper towel saturates through wicking from
one end to the other. It keeps the seed sprouts wet and allows them to
sprout as if they were actually underground. It seems to be working very well.

Grumpy.

I tried using a paper towel under the seed to hold moisture, -- and it worked, -- but-- I had to "feed" the paper towel with the sprouts as it became a permanent part of the sprout mat after the first couple of days.-- probly your idea of laying it on top is working much better then what I tried.

It works pretty darned good....but, I'm having those little baby shoots
pop through the paper towel. Not very many, but a few. "Life" cannot
be restrained. It will succeed, not because of us, but in spite of us.
Grumpy. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:56 pm __________ <br /><br /> A few pics with the covers over the early phases of sprouting.

I leave the barley in the washing bucket overnight to drain. It spreads
easier and is less messy.

Overall shot of the system...it's still working fine. I've had some issues
with """single""" barley seeds showing "mold". THAT....makes me a little
nervous. I've increased the bleach percentage to a capful and a half.

We'll see, if this makes any difference.

Now for the "let-down"...I finally bought a bag of that cheaper seed.
When I opened it.....I could understand the cheaper price.
:evil: :evil: :evil: Horse Feed is all it's good for. :evil: :evil: :evil:
It's the one on the left. Lotsa junk in it and definitely not worth the effort
of trying to sprout it. No tellin' what you'd end up with.

 

[Miss M]

So, they're both barley, just one's a cheaper brand? It does look like it's got a bunch of stuff in it.

That's really odd about the single seeds molding... I'll be interested to see if the bleach increase stops that.

 

[michaels4gardens]

maybe, - the single seeds that mold are the ones that were not viable, and did not grow, and molded after they began to decompose. -- when you soak the seed , do you skim off the seed that floats?

 

[grumpy]

maybe, - the single seeds that mold are the ones that were not viable, and did not grow, and molded after they began to decompose. -- when you soak the seed , do you skim off the seed that floats?

Yes...............Twice... I skim the seed after 18 hours of soak. Then stir it
up real well and skim it again after about 10 minutes before it goes into
the bucket with the agitator pump and clean fresh water with a capful of
bleach. It stays in that bucket for a couple of hours. More than that, I can
feel the water warming slightly because of the pumps' operating temp.
Even with a magnetic-drive pump, it does create a certain amount of
residual heat.

I've increased the bleach addition to the water. I've just started seeing
this problem within the last week or so.

grumpy.

 

[michaels4gardens]

will be interested to see what the extra bleach does...

 

[grumpy]

will be interested to see what the extra bleach does...

Me too.... The trouble is, it takes 6 or 7 days to see what the results are.

I had a DANDY bad spot on one biscuit yesterday evening. The worst yet!
The other two....started the same....everything the same...were perfect.

The "Only" thing I can figure is that a mouse :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: got in and
pee'd in that one spot. I've been fighting them little @#@%$!'s since
day one. Poison, sticky traps-regular traps--bait boxes...You name it
I've tried it. I "thought" I had that room so tight, nothing could get in.

Obviously, I was wrong. I need to take everything out and check once
again for any small spots they can enter. Any hole bigger than a dime
needs to be filled with steel wool and covered with metal. AFTER I drop
some poisoned bait down the hole. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Grumpy.

 

[SoccerMom]

Maybe alternate weeks using bleach one week and peroxide the next, to keep bacteria and mold from getting too used to either one?

Great thread!