Fodder sprouting systems, anyone?

[mystang89]

Well, everything was going well on my end but now I've ended up with 3 trays full of molded winter wheat fodder. I'm not sure if it was because of too much water or what. I read somewhere that if you put a small amount of bleach in with the seeds when they are doing their soaking that you should kill the mold and I did that but still ended up with mold. Will have to try a new approach. I think I'm only going to water it once a day and see how that works.<br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:37 am __________<br /><br />I guess I should probably mention that I have been doing the same flat of fodder for 2 weeks. I don't know if that makes any difference.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I just started the Winter wheat project today so we'll see how it goes. On the website OAF linked they used 6lbs of seed in their tray. It seemed like an awful lot to me. My trays are 11" x 21" "2 1/2" so they seem to fill up quicker than what theirs did. I went from 6lbs to 4 lbs of seeds and might take it to 3 depending on how deep that would give me in my trays.

That seems like a lot of grains for the size tray. You don't need to fill it to the top. Just a half inch roughly. As the roots grow, they will mat and expand.

They were using VERY large trays...I am sure that is why it was so much.<br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:43 am __________<br /><br />

Well, everything was going well on my end but now I've ended up with 3 trays full of molded winter wheat fodder. I'm not sure if it was because of too much water or what. I read somewhere that if you put a small amount of bleach in with the seeds when they are doing their soaking that you should kill the mold and I did that but still ended up with mold. Will have to try a new approach. I think I'm only going to water it once a day and see how that works.

__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:37 am __________

I guess I should probably mention that I have been doing the same flat of fodder for 2 weeks. I don't know if that makes any difference.

It should not take more than a week...you flood and drain the trays, so they need LOTS of drainage. The seeds cannot be sitting in water at all. That is why trays made for sprouting have those recessed channels on the bottom. It may be too hot where your trays are...is it more than 70f there?

 

[mystang89]

__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:43 am __________

Well, everything was going well on my end but now I've ended up with 3 trays full of molded winter wheat fodder. I'm not sure if it was because of too much water or what. I read somewhere that if you put a small amount of bleach in with the seeds when they are doing their soaking that you should kill the mold and I did that but still ended up with mold. Will have to try a new approach. I think I'm only going to water it once a day and see how that works.

__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:37 am __________

It should not take more than a week...you flood and drain the trays, so they need LOTS of drainage. The seeds cannot be sitting in water at all. That is why trays made for sprouting have those recessed channels on the bottom. It may be too hot where your trays are...is it more than 70f there?

The temp is fluctuates between 65-75 in here. Colder at night, warmer during the day. I've been thinking about drilling a few more holes i it just to make sure it has lots of drainage and then only watering them once a day. Do you think the temp needs to be lowered for them too?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:43 am __________

Well, everything was going well on my end but now I've ended up with 3 trays full of molded winter wheat fodder. I'm not sure if it was because of too much water or what. I read somewhere that if you put a small amount of bleach in with the seeds when they are doing their soaking that you should kill the mold and I did that but still ended up with mold. Will have to try a new approach. I think I'm only going to water it once a day and see how that works.

__________ Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:37 am __________

It should not take more than a week...you flood and drain the trays, so they need LOTS of drainage. The seeds cannot be sitting in water at all. That is why trays made for sprouting have those recessed channels on the bottom. It may be too hot where your trays are...is it more than 70f there?

The temp is fluctuates between 65-75 in here. Colder at night, warmer during the day. I've been thinking about drilling a few more holes i it just to make sure it has lots of drainage and then only watering them once a day. Do you think the temp needs to be lowered for them too?

That sounds about right temperature wise....I would do more drainage holes and flood the tray daily and then let it drain completely and see what happens....also, make sure to spread the grain no more than 1/2" thick in the tray.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks OAF. I'll give that a try.

 

[skysthelimit]

I lined the trays with window screen and lifted the screen out to drain the trays. Might not be possible with bigger trays. Even in my cold house the seeds sprouted in three days, they just did not progress any further than the root tail and a small leave. I got some whole oats from Amish country today, I will try to sprout again soon. Going hunting for after Christmas rope lights too.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I think I know where I went wrong now. I put to thick of a layer of seed in my pans. I am going to give this a try again soon. I just need to get something set up in the basement to give it another go.<br /><br />__________ Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:14 am __________<br /><br />Also I read to keep the trays covered till the fodder leaves lifts the cover tray. I will try that next time too. Thanks for the tip on seed depth OAF.

 

[ckcs]

I have to say that this thread has sparked a lot of interest from me. I had never heard of fodder before. I have a TSC near me and looked on their site for product that I could use. Is this product suitable? http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5050123

 

[mystang89]

I have to say that this thread has sparked a lot of interest from me. I had never heard of fodder before. I have a TSC near me and looked on their site for product that I could use. Is this product suitable? http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5050123

It looks to me like those are Rolled Oats which, someone correct me if I'm wrong, won't grow, they are only feed.

@ TM -- I think I had mine WAY too deep too. When the wheat grew to 4-5" tall it was still pushing up unsprouted seed.
Let me know if covering the fodder helps it sprout faster. I saw that too on the video but haven't tried it.

 

[Frecs]

I have to say that this thread has sparked a lot of interest from me. I had never heard of fodder before. I have a TSC near me and looked on their site for product that I could use. Is this product suitable? http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5050123

I've been chatting with folks on several online groups about growing fodder and everyone...bar none...had found oats to be an exercise in frustration trying to sprout and get oatgrass.

 

[skysthelimit]

I have to say that this thread has sparked a lot of interest from me. I had never heard of fodder before. I have a TSC near me and looked on their site for product that I could use. Is this product suitable? http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5050123

It looks to me like those are Rolled Oats which, someone correct me if I'm wrong, won't grow, they are only feed.

@ TM -- I think I had mine WAY too deep too. When the wheat grew to 4-5" tall it was still pushing up unsprouted seed.
Let me know if covering the fodder helps it sprout faster. I saw that too on the video but haven't tried it.

This bag is whole oats, the paper bag is rolled oats. They sprouted when they dropped into the litter trays, but of course it was 85F outside. When I tried to sprout them in the spring, they would not grow.

 

[MaggieJ]

Oats are harder to sprout, in my experience, than either wheat or barley.

 

[Amy]

I have a question about feeding the fodder to a doe with kits (they are 1 month old). I know you have to be very careful with kits and fresh foods, but is it safe to give them (along w/mom) a little fodder at this age? I remember reading that it's safe b/c they get beneficial bacteria from their mom. But I am wondering if I missed the timing on that since they are 1 month old now, where as if I had been giving it to the doe all along then they'd be safe from problems.
Can someone explain in detail safety protocol for giving fresh foods to kits.
When is it safe? Not safe? Ages?

 

[MaggieJ]

The safest way to give kits greens is to start making them available as soon as their eyes are open. They only nibble at that point and their intake increases naturally as they grow. At a month old, I would be careful. If you fasten the fodder to the side of the cage perhaps 6 inches up, they will only get the bits that fall when the doe eats. A little later this will not be necessary.

 

[Amy]

Good idea, I'll try that! When you say a little later I won't have to do this, does this mean as long as I've been consistently giving it or just the natural age of being better able to digest/process it (8 wks)?

 

[MaggieJ]

I meant that once the kits have an opportunity to develop the proper gut flora for digesting greens, the chance of them having problems are slight. By the time they can reach and compete for the greens you hang on the side of the cage, you can feed them in a crock or on clean floor wire. I've always fed my rabbits greens, but I used to agonize if the kits stole some intended for the doe. Back then (2005) the rule was "no greens until six months of age". Then someone said "Begin as you mean to go on" and that made sense to me. So now the greens go in every day and new kits eat them with absolutely no problems.

 

[mystang89]

Ok, I'm stumped now. On the first try with fodder I ended up getting mold. I figured it was because it either had improper drainage, too much seed, too much water. So I emptied the trays, cleaned them with Simple Green and bleach, opened up the holes a bit more to about double their size and filled them up with seeds. I was less than 1/2 inch of seeds because in spots I could still see the bottom of the tray.

I have only watered them 1 time a day, during the morning. When I water them I drown them. I make sure there is water over top of the seeds and then it all drains out in a matter of seconds. It has been 3 - 4 days since I planted and have stuck with this routine and I am now noticing the starts of mold about the same time I'm finally seeing the starts of green.

What in the world am I doing wrong? I can't figure it out.

 

[Frecs]

Let me ask you this: are you sure it is mold? I ask this because, young roots can have a "fuzzy" look to them before they get wet so if you are seeing this mold before watering, it could be that. Does it smell moldy?

Here is a link to the sproutpeople's FAQ about mold which might help: http://sproutpeople.org/sprouts/help.ht ... r-My-23240

 

[mystang89]

Let me ask you this: are you sure it is mold? I ask this because, young roots can have a "fuzzy" look to them before they get wet so if you are seeing this mold before watering, it could be that. Does it smell moldy?

Here is a link to the sproutpeople's FAQ about mold which might help: http://sproutpeople.org/sprouts/help.ht ... r-My-23240

Glad you found this. I honestly can't tell you whether it is mold or fuzz now that you mention this. I will keep an eye on it. From looking closer at it, my wife and I both believe that it might just be fuzz as we can't "smell" the mold and it is white, not gray or black. At this point, time will tell. Thank you again Frecs.

 

[Frecs]

You are very welcome. I learned something from that site, too. I thought I was helping my sprouts by using warm water to rinse. According to them, I could have been doing more harm than good. So, now I will use cool water. This is definitely a learning process!