Fodder/Sprouting Personal test

Good use of materials and space, Quartz Ridge. Good idea as well on the bag and bucket for soaking.

Can't wait to try this its the best answer to high feed cost to date. I sure hope it works out. The only downside I see is adding 15 minutes a day to chores. After my last livestock check I'm working for .04 cents an hour now. So .035 cents an hour won't affect bottom line much.

:-) On the up side, your feed costs will drop, so maybe your hourly wage will actually go to .06 cents an hour ;-)

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Trisha in WA
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Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

I have been less than happy with the nursery trays I was using since I first read this thread. Several have cracked dumping the seed as I've moved it around. I've also found recycling codes that indicate plastic from any source and I was worried about leaching of toxic chemicals into my animals' feed. I've eliminated aluminum cookware from my kitchen for health reasons as well so aluminum pans were out.

I bought a LEM meat lug from BassPro and not only is it food grade plastic, it worked just fine after I had drilled holes in it. The problem was that it was $14 for one tray and I would need 5 more for a week's rotation. I noticed a manufacturer's name and product number on the tray and found their contact information on line. While they wouldn't sell me the trays, they referred me to a distributor in St. Louis who offered me a case lot of 12 for just under $6 each not counting shipping. At first, I thought 12 would be overkill but decided it would allow me to grow 2 trays per day for our animals while not costing much more than 5 additional trays from BassPro. These trays are approximately 15" x 22". One gives me almost as much space as the nursery trays and I've been pleased with them for growing fodder.

so, no dirt? kool

im not noticing anything about light?


8 day? thats all you guys let it grow for?

Nope, no dirt. This is like sprouting seeds for human consumption although I have seen info on growing microgreens that are grown in soil.

Yep, to get them to green up well, they need light. However, in my set up, the trays don't get light until the fifth and sixth days of growth. Mine spend 2 days in half gallon wide mouth canning jars before I spread them into trays, then 3 days in a space with no external windows, then the final two days in bright light. I don't get the maximum top growth some have but due to my space constraints, it works just fine. Fortunately, all this takes is the seed, some water and warmth. How you provide the containers and manage the rinsing schedule and light are up to you.

How much (time) do they get lights? Do you leave on 24 hrs?
Also, are you/she just dumping the entire tray to the animals or do you try and cut the tops then save the roots?

I'm interested and confused with all the info

The 3 days my trays are in the interior room start to turn green just a little from the incidental light when we are in that room. For those last 2 days, they are in a west facing window where I open the curtains as soon as I get up in the mornings. I know from their posts and websites that Sherry and at least one other person have dedicated shelves placed in front of or right beside windows where they grow their fodder for the entire time--from soaking through harvest. To use grow lights would raise the cost of my fodder and cost savings are a criteria for me.

I break the mats, or "biscuits" as some sites call them, into bite sized pieces for my goats to keep them from dragging them all over the feeders and wasting a lot. I've read about folks who try to get an extra harvest from the fodder by cutting and allowing it to grow again. I don't do this--just feed root, seed and shoots at one time.

With the microgreens I mentioned earlier, the book I read talked about the roots and soil being composted and recycled for subsequent crops but I don't grow my fodder in soil, just sprout the seeds as I've done for our table sprouts for years.

Look at some youtube video's on fodder setups. That will answer all your questions. You would want to dump the entire tray to the animals, I did set a few trays in with the rabbits and they eat the green quick. Took the trays out before they eat the roots and let the roots grow some more---I did not get alot more green groath but some, not worth the time. Just dumping and setting up a new tray saves alot of time.

I have been recirculating the water 15 minutes every 2 hours to a big container with holes above my trays that have holes and it is like rain. I think the fan in the room on high is helping with prevention of mold. I find I have to switch the water out daily as it starts to smell like it is fermenting. Would some baking soda in the water help with this?

I am building this system: http://grannysbest.blogspot.com/sear...%28part%201%29

I have all the shelves cut, along with the legs. I did make my shelves 40" instead of 36", so there's no waste. I'm also using the plastic under bed storage trays instead of the flimsy plant trays. The irrigation elbows and Ts are cheaper than using multiple hose splitters, but either way works.

I've got a tray of Black Oil Sunflower seed and a tray of barley in the bath tub right now. When I go in to use the bathroom, I turn on the shower for a few minutes. I haven't had any problem with mold, but I did use a teaspoon of bleach in the soaking water.

I was searching all around for barley. FINALLY, my brain kicked in and I called the place where we bought our soybean seed last year. Co-Alliance used to be Farm Bureau Co-op. I got barley seed in a 48 lb. bag for $13.50. It seems to sprout faster than the BOSS.

I'll be putting my rack in the basement. ( heated anyway) Barley likes temps between 60 and 70 degrees; hotter than that and I've heard you have trouble with mold.

I have given a handful of the BOSS sprouts to some baby ducks I have hatched. There is nothing left of those.

I found I was rinsing the trays too much and have loweted the room temp to about 68 degrees with a fan on. I now set my timer to every 4 hours. I add a small amount of bleach when initially soaking the seeds to inhibit mold. No mold problems and no fruit flies. I do change out the rinse water daily with cold water.. I use whole grain barley and get 40 pounds of sprouts on day seven from 8 pounds of grain. I am looking for better trays_