How To Grow Wheat Grass
It is not as easy to grow at home as some folks claim. And it takes a lot of wheatgrass to make an ounce of juice. I get 6-8 ounces of juice from each tray of grass. There are a lot of companies on the net selling a few trays with a little seed and soil as a kit. Some kit sellers claim that you get 10-15 ounces from a tray. This has not been my experience. A single person or a couple can manage with the 6 tray sprouter. There are new small automatic sprouters on the market that claim to grow wheatgrass - they are a joke - great for small 3 day sprouts like alfalfa but hopeless for wheatgrass - unless you only want an ounce of juice a week!!
Wheatgrass Mold Varieties
There are a few varieties of mold which commonly grow on wheatgrass and are very difficult to avoid. Almost every wheat seed that gets planted produces a small amount of a “blue fuzz” mold. This is a type of “slime mold”, a non-pathogenic mold (i.e. not harmful) which does not penetrate the plant. More information can be found from Sproutman’s testing here.
Sprout the seeds in water for 6 to 12 hours. (Optional: Use a LITTLE bit of food grade H2O2 in the water to increase the amount of seeds which will sprout.)
Mix organic top soil with peat moss (50/50 mix) and place in a seed or cafeteria tray. (I purchase seed trays at K-Mart and cafeteria trays at Big Lots. Sometimes I find recycled seed trays at gardening centers for free.) The soil/peat moss mix should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep.
Spread the soaked wheat on the surface of the soil so that the grains are touching one another.
Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the wheat grains .
Wheat should be starting to grip the towel or baby blanket. If firmly attached, you may be able to lift the matting and pour 1/2 cup water into the tray.
Add approximately 1/2 cup water daily. Adjust to your conditions, more water if it seems too dry, less if too wet. You can allow the leaves to lift the loose polyethylene cover, in dry conditions. Remove if conditions are moist or mould is noted.
In addition to being a great soil for growing wheatgrass, it’s so easy too because all the nutrients for growing rich wheatgrass is alredy in the soil; you don’t need to add anything to it.
When your wheat grass is about 3-4 inches high, it’s ready to use. Just clip 3/4 of it’s length and allow the blades to regrow.
For pets, either clip and serve, or allow them to graze from the flat.
