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Sprouting

I keep soaking but nothing ever sprouts. I change the water every day but nothing ever grows a “tail.” What am I doing wrong?

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  • michigan romanmichigan roman Raw Master

    do you mean by soaking theyre constantly in water . if so thats the problem . you only soak the seeds on average like 8 hours to start them off then strain and leave them out of water . then you rinse them like 3 or so times a day . heres a link to sprouting experts , link = http://www.sproutpeople.com/seeds.html ...

  • You only soak for a certain number of hours. Then, well what I do, is I take a clean cotton towel and dampen it. I rinse my seeds, then put them in the towel and wrap it over. About twice a day I take the seeds out, rinse them, rinse my towel and rewrap them. There’s a chart somewhere that tells soaking times for each type of seed and how long they take to sprout.

    There are so many different ways to do it, but this it the way I use.

    I started some fenugreek and sunflower seeds yesterday, and the little tails are showing up today. =)

  • Thanks for the help. will try.

  • SarahJSarahJ Raw Newbie

    I have the same problem. First of all I thought they weren’t getting enough sunlight so I put them in the front window. Still very little activity and it’s been DAYS!!! Now I think it’s because my house is too cold. Is there an optimum temperature for sprouting?

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Normal room temperature is fine, and you should keep the sprouts out of the light unless it is alfalfa or something which you uncover after the first few days to let the tops get green. Most other sprouts are gross when they start to turn green – they’re too big by then. Also, the soaking time is important. SarahJ – what kind of seeds are you trying to sprout? Maybe I can help you figure it out. :)

  • SarahJSarahJ Raw Newbie

    Thanks for the offer Angie. Here’s what I’ve been up to.

    I have sprouted some alfalfa seeds which haven’t done very well. They seem to grow but they don’t turn green. I didn’t realize that you should uncover them after the first few days. That explains it. Ok, I will try that. The other one I tried was adzuki beans. I soaked them overnight, rinsed and drained them, placed them in a mason jar (sideways so they were kind of spread out) with some mesh over the rim and then rinsed them twice a day. After a week and a half there were a couple of beans that appeared to be starting to sprout (very slightly) but that was it. Any suggestions would be great.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    adzuki beans need to be soaked longer – 24 hours. General rule is the bigger the seed/bean, the longer it needs to be soaked, but I don’t know of anything needing more than 24 hours. Lentils only about 6 – 8 hours, & alfalfa seeds I soak around 5 or 6, but I don’t know if they really need that long. Quinoa is awesome – only about 30 min. or so, and it sprouts by the nest day! Buckwheat I used to soak for several hours, but I just read that it should really only be soaked for about 15 min. or it will start to ferment. Grains (wheat & barley) are about 24 hours. Also, rinsing three times a day instead of two will help a lot of the smaller things grow faster, but being too wet will make them rot & mold, especially in hot weather. Also, if you are using jars, they don’t dry out as much as in an open colander or uncovered sprout tray. I liked to keep my jars tilted upside-down in my dish drainer (then I just moved them when I needed to do dishes), but just make sure you clean up the slime they drain out when you are done. :) That way, they stayed well-drained & didn’t mold. Wheat only needs rinsing twice a day. I rinse my alfalfa sprouts three times a day (especially after they’re uncovered) to help them grow faster & keep them from going bad or drying out. Sorry if this is too much or overwhelming. I had a lot of trouble with sprouting when I first started, so I just didn’t do it at all for a year or so. Then I just started experimenting. There are different sprouting/soaking charts in a lot of raw food books – just goes to show you there are lots of ways to do it (& it probably depends on the climate & humidity where you are. It is really dry here (Utah), and hot in the summer.

  • SarahJSarahJ Raw Newbie

    Thanks Angie. I am going to give it another try. I don’t know if I can rinse 3 times a day. I usually leave the house at 6:30am and get home around 6:00pm. Unless I set my alarm for the middle of the night. LOL Umm, no chance of things being too hot and humid in Canada in March. The summer might be interesting though – it’s brutally humid then.

    Thanks again for the help. I’ll keep you posted.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I should have clarified – the only ones I do three times are tiny ones – alfalfa & quinoa. Also, maybe you could rinse before you leave, when you get home, & again before you go to bed, or justsee how it works doing it twice. If they don’t go bad or shrivel up, you’re fine. It doesn’t need to be too complicated. After all, living raw should be joyful, not stress & running home to rinse your sprouts. :)

  • angie, I usually soak my grains (wheat,rye and barley) 8 hours, sometimes if I get home late :) 12 hours and they are fine

  • i am away at work for no less than 11 hours everyday. just curious, how do you manage your sprouting if you have a job or need to be in school?

    i only do my sprouts on fridays so that i have the weekends to tend to them. i have been thinking of bringing the sprouts to the office actually!

  • honeygal…rinsing twice a day (every 12 hrs once) is more than enough for any seeds/nuts to sprout. Also, initial soaking period can be 12 hrs (sometimes my soaking/rinsing times go even upto 15-16hrs without any harm).

  • Honeygal I just soak them for overnnight and rinsing them twice a day, in the morning before going to work and in the evening after I get home.

  • Here is a good site for sprouting as well…:)

    http://www.btinternet.com/bury_rd/sprout.htm

  • Just had to share. I’ve got my first TAILS! Both on my alfalfa and my lentils. This is my first attempt at sprouting, so I’m very excited to see (and taste) progress.

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