Guide to Home Sprouting

Transcription

Build A
SPROUTER
TO READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS, CLICK NEXT AT THE TOP OR BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE.
This Chapter "Build A Sprouter!" is from the Book How To Heal With Living Foods by Val Archer, © Copyright 2000 Valerie K. Archer. All rights reserved. No part may be
copied or publicly distributed in any form without prior written permission.
STEP ONE – Program Your Subconscious
When I was developing this sprouter, I asked the chief engineers at Orbit and AzMist – the valve-timer and mistnozzle makers – to run tests on the valve working with the nozzles. The valve is designed for the high water flow of
a lawn sprinkler, not for a few nozzles spraying a fine mist. The Orbit engineer said to me, "The tests are no
problem, Val, it's finding a willing soul with the time to do it."
Are you a willing soul? WILLINGNESS is the source of ACTION. COMMIT one day NOW in your diary for
your Sprouter – to buy the parts and put them together, or simply get a ready-to-go sprouter.
If you're in pain, then you're the luckiest soul on earth. Pain is the greatest motivator of all to TAKE ACTION.
You've got to believe – until you experience the HIGH first-hand for yourself – LIVING FOODS FOR A LIVING
BODY.
Program your subsconscious to transform your brain and body into a willing soul:
Bookmark the pages of wheatgrass and baby green photos – after you've clicked through to them below, and
Study the photos once a day while you remind yourself over and over – I WANT LIVING FOODS FOR MY
LIVING BODY.
The life force is healthier and has more energy than any nutrient on earth. We're all starved of that life force in
our food. Say it to yourself all through the day – I want living foods for my living body. Do it every day until you
have your sprouter. Then you will experience first-hand the power of living foods in your living body. You'll no
longer need your subsconscious to remind you – you'll exhilirate in the FREEDOM that LIVING foods bring.
Then will you teach the next person? Living foods for your Living body.
Click photo for close-up view of fresh
wheatgrass grown in Gene's automatic
sprouter, using my instructions in this
chapter.
Contents
Click photo for close-up view of fresh living
greens you'll harvest daily when you have
your sprouter.
Disclaimer
© Copyright 2000-to-date Valerie K. Archer - Get more Free Delights at GreenSmoothie.com
SPROUTER CONTENTS
This Chapter "Build A Sprouter!" is from the Book How To Heal With Living Foods by Val Archer, ©
Copyright 2000 by Valerie K. Archer. All rights reserved. No part may be copied or publicly distributed in any
form without prior written permission.
IT'S BEST TO FIRST READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CONSECUTIVELY
By Clicking at the Top or Bottom of Each Page.
Then later click on the links – use browser Back button to return to page you were on.
EVERY PAGE DOES LOAD
If a page doesn't load, please click the Refresh/Reload button or try another time.
If you download the free pdf file, all pages quickly load because you read this off-line.
Description
PDF FILE– for easy quick OFF-LINE READING AND PRINTING , download this
one pdf file (right-click on GO)
GO
ORDER PAGE – get a Mist-Kit of all the hard-to-find Misting Parts, OR get a
Ready-built Sprouter
Dan's site GoGreenSprouter.com has closed down – he now sells from amazon.
PLEASE EMAIL DAN at [email protected] to get a special price on
Mist Kits and Sprouters.
QUICK LINKS – When you receive your order, use these quick-links to connect
your Sprouter
GO
Mist Kit Customers – Quick Links to Assemble your Sprouter
Sprouter Customers – Quick Links to Connect your Sprouter and Program
the Timer
BUILD A SPROUTER
Step One – Program Your Subconscious
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I Want Living Foods for My Living Body
Photos of What You're Growing – Wheatgrass and Baby Greens
1. Introduction – Photos of What You're Building
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2. Why Build an Automatic Sprouter?
2.1. Limitations of a Manual Sprouter
2.2. Wheatgrass Juice
2.3. Energy Soup
3. Tools Needed
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4. List of Parts to Buy – also see final section below "Detailed list of parts in our
Products"
4.1. AzMist Nozzle Warning
5. Growing Containers and Plant Trays in USA
5.1. Containers in Canada
5B. International Help
5B.1. How to Build a Container with Plexiglass or Perspex
5B.2. How to Build a Container with Pipe or Wood Frame
5B.3. Plant Trays outside USA
5B.4. Metric Sizes for Container and Trays
5B.5. Valve-Timer and Nozzles outside USA
5B.6. Sprouter Parts in UK
6. How to Drill the Holes
6.1. Drill Holes in the Plant Trays
6.2. Preventing Seeds + Roots from Clogging Tray Holes
6.3. Drill Hole for Drain in the Growing Container
6.4. Drill Holes for Mist Tubing in the Container
6B. How to Fit the Drain Tube
6B.1. Use a Screw-in Drain Spout
6B.2. Use a Needle
6B.3. Use a Plumbing Piece
6B.4. Use a Plasic Bottle-neck
6B.5. Solution to Drain Hole drilled Too Big
7. How to Fit the Mist Nozzles
7.1. Nozzle Positions for 6-tray and 12-tray Sprouters
7.2. Connect the Mist Nozzles into the Mist Tubing
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8. How to Connect the Valve
8.1. Warning – Beware the AzMist Faucet Adapter
8.2. Best to Use Quick-Connect Fittings
8.3. Position of On / Off Black Lever
8.4. Valve Switches Off with Power Failure
8.5. Replace Valve Annually
9. How to Connect the Timer
9.1. How to Program the Timer
10. Options for the Water Source
10.1. For Apt Dwellers with Limited Space
10.2. Connect to a Faucet
10.3. Connect to a Pump Sprayer
10B. Options for Water Source (continued)
10.4. Connect to a Cold Water Pipe
11. How to Connect the Water Filters
11.1. Filter to Purify the Water
11.2. AzMist Calcium Inhibitor Filter
11.3. Graphic of Both Filters in the Mist-Line
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12. How to Attach an Automatic Fertilizer Unit
12.1. Dan's Feedback on Automatic Fertilizer Unit
12.2. I Personally Don't Fertilize
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13. How to Build a PVC Pipe Stand
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14. Prepare Sprouter for Use
14.1. Choose the Best Spot for Sprouter
14.2. Position Sprouter at Good Angle for Drainage
14.3. Connect Sprouter to its Water Supply
14.4. Precautions with Pump Sprayer
14.5. Turn on Water and Test all Connections
14.6. Switch on Sprouter
15. Ongoing Customer Additions
15.1. Wooden Stand
15.2. Plexiglass Lids
15.3. Plant Trays with Legs
15.4. Screens for Small Seeds
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16. How to Keep Sprouter Clean
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17. How to Grow Sprouts and Greens
17.1. Fill One Tray a Day with Seeds
17.2. Leave the Lid Slightly Open
17.3. Rinse off Hulls from Greens
17.4. The False Alfalfa Scare
17.5. Refrigerate in Air-tight Containers
Most of us do NOT get mold – I receive almost-zero mold inquiries. Please don't let this section
scare you off building your Sprouter NOW.
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18. Solutions to Mold – The Best
18.1. Buy Best Quality Seed
18.2. Keep Temperatures Comfortable
18.3. Change Watering Frequency
18.4. Use Hydrogen Peroxide (HP) 18. Other Solutions to Mold
18.5. Use Ozone
18.6. Use Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)
18.7. Use a Sprouter Mini-Fan and a Room Fan
18.8. Water the Roots Only
18.9. Reduce Seeds per Tray and Use a Grow Mat
18.10. Eliminate Mold Spores from Air
18B. No Call for Bugs
18B.1. Bugs in Your Seeds
18B.2. Fruit Flies and Other Fauna in Sprouts
19. Seeds that Will Sprout
19.1. Baby Greens
19.2. Bean Sprouts
19.3. Grain Sprouts
19.4. Wheat and Other Grasses
19.5. Sunflower and Buckwheat
19.6. Wild Weeds
19.7. Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO Seeds
20. Unique Tips for GREENS
20.1. How to Grow Greens to Full Leaf
20.2. Drip System to Water the Roots Only
20.3. How to Sprout Gelatinous Seeds
20.4. Double Your Sprouter Space
21. Large-Scale or Commercial Sprouting
21.1. How to Link Multiple Sprouters
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21.2. Controlling Water Flow to Multiple Sprouters
21.3. Run 24 Large Sprouters off One Faucet
21.4. Filtering Water to Multiple Sprouters
21.5. Drainage for Multiple Sprouters
21.6. Automatic Misting while You're Away
21.7. Automatic Water Shutoff when You're Away
21.8. Sources for Containers to Sell Sprouts & Wheatgrass
22. Building a Multi-Level Wheatgrass Grower
22.1. Foggers and Mold
22.2. Improvements to the Multi-Level System
23. Sprouts for Health – What to Eat Daily
23.1. Energy Soup GO
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24. Sauce Recipes
25. Rejuvelac Recipe
26. Resources and Web Sites
26.1. Sprouter Parts
26.2. Organic Seeds
26.3. Organic Raw Produce + Snacks
26.4. Kitchen Appliances
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27. Loving the Living Foods Lifestyle
28. Best Books & On-line Reading
Products
Describes Mist Kits and Sprouters you can order here
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Photos
of all our Kits and Sprouters
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Parts
Detailed list of parts in our Products – useful check-list if you're buying parts
locally
Check Lists
1. Order Guide for Automatic Sprouters
2. Order Guide for Mist Kits
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3. International and Off-the-Grid
DISCLAIMER – you apply the information on this web site at your own risk.
Please first read these Water Precautions. By using this site, you signify your assent
to the Water Damage Disclaimer and the Medical Disclaimer in this section. If you
do not agree to both disclaimers, please do not use the site. Thank you!
Top Page
Disclaimer
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Return to Step One
I WANT LIVING FOODS FOR MY LIVING BODY
Tray of juicy wheatgrass your home-made sprouter will grow for you. Can you
see any mold here? Never! The Wrap 'n Craft includes two of these 15x14"
trays for free.
In my experience, chewing on wheatgrass daily heals your teeth and gums faster
than anything else. Wheatgrass juice is the quickest way to build your CBC
count (red blood cells) so you enjoy fantastic ENERGY.
Right now – set a date – by which time you will have your sprouter!
Return to Step One
Return to Step One
I WANT LIVING FOODS FOR MY LIVING BODY
Can you sprinkle seeds in a tray once a day? Then you'll be an expert kitchen gardener
with your automatic sprouter! These are the sweet living foods you'll receive in return,
fresh every day. The tray on the left is red clover, the middle tray is a salad of alfalfa,
cabbage, and radish. The right-hand tray is broccoli.
What would you pay for these 3x12" trays of living greens at your local store? Truth is,
your store doesn't have them. Only in your kitchen is there no loss of nutrients and life
force.
In my experience, sprouts heal and give us energy only when they are alive – when
they've gone straight from sprouter to mouth – not when they've been trucked around for
days (poor babies). Vitamins and enzymes die quickly in the trucks – light, warmth and
oxygen will kill them.
Right now – set a date – by which time you will have your sprouter!
Here's beautiful sunflower from our world's cheapest and only fully automatic sprouter:
Return to Step One
1. Introduction
It’s easy to assemble your sprouter. Do it with a friend! Or pay someone to make one for you. For the rest of your
life, you'll have organic food fresh every day – with no shopping, planting, weeding or bugs!
Once you’ve built one sprouter, then it’s so easy to add as many as you like – for wheatgrass juice fresh daily, or to
start a home-based sprout supply business.
YOU CAN DO IT! SET YOUR MIND TO IT! Get a Friend to Help You!
I know we all want to press a button for instant satisfaction! But please, put aside a day to make your sprouter, or
order a ready-built one. You'll never regret your decision to eat freshly-picked organic greens every day. And
you'll love the joy of health they bring!
There's tons of books by both medical and naturopathic doctors confirming the power of living foods and juices to
restore our health.
This is the automatic sprouter you’re building:
A growing container (storage box) with plant trays inside (drawer
organizers – 5 will fit in this box), a drain hole on the bottom right
through which a tube drains waste-water into a bucket or sink, and misttubing with nozzles along the top back to automatically mist your baby
greens, bean sprouts, sprouted grain and wheatgrass. These days we fit
nozzles on both sides (back and front).
The end of all our labors! Fresh, sweet organic greens
daily – day 5 greens are on the left, taken out of tray
(turned upside down) and day 4 on right. Can you see any
difference between this and the expensive factory-made
sprouters? Never!
Behind sprouter, the hose (on left) from your water source (e.g. faucet) leads into the valve,
which is switched on and off by the square timer next to it. On the right, the mist-tubing leads
out of the valve into the sprouter. The valve and timer switch the misting on and off, even
when you're sleeping! That's all there is to an automatic sprouter – see how simple it is?
2. Why Build an Automatic Sprouter?
The only way you’ll eat a big plate of organic greens daily, freshly harvested, is when you use a sprouter that
automatically mists them and gives a tray-a-day. You're forced to eat your greens because the next day there's a
brand new tray!
Other methods are too much hassle, or they don’t produce enough greens daily, so you end up conserving them in
the refrigerator and not eating them fresh!
Most of us don't like our greens – especially the bitter ones like kale and collard. We love sweet and fat. But greens
will balance and heal you. As Dr. Bernard Jensen wrote: "When you're green inside, you're clean inside."
Most whole-food nutritionists teach that green leaves and green grass heal faster than any other food. It's my
personal experience too.
The sweetest-tasting greens come from my automatic sprouter. Try fenugreek – you'll love it! Get a mini-food
processor (3 inches high). Learn to make quick raw sauces for your greens, grow a tray a day, and see the powerful
results.
2.1. Limitations of a Manual Sprouter
I have readers across the world who use a 3-tier manual sprouter. If you want to test it, start with one because some
climates are too humid for them – the sprouts are closed in and starved of oxygen, a prime breeding ground for
mold! With my automatic sprouter, the mist supplies lovely fresh oxygen to the sprouts every three hours.
I personally find the manual sprouters too much work for too little return. I would rather spend a day with a friend
assembling two automatic sprouters, one for each of us. Then enjoy a 15-inch tray of labor-free greens, fresh every
day for the rest of my life!
To me, the manual sprouters grow squiggly bitter sprouts, with brown roots. The trays are too low in height to grow
the rich luxuriant carpet of greens that my home-made automatic sprouter produces. Greens grow from 2 (broccoli)
to 7 (sunflower) inches. The trays in those manual sprouters are only an inch high!
In my home-made sprouter, the greens feel free! They breathe free! They have plenty of height to grow in, the lid
is always slightly open, and I take off the lid daily, when I'm harvesting a tray, or planting one. So they get plenty
of fresh air in addition to the fresh oxygen in the mistings.
The cheapest 3-tier manual sprouter is the $11 Kitchen Crop at Wal-Marts (gardening dept) and Home Base – web
site is nklawnandgarden.com.
The $24-$30 Biosta 3-tier sprouter sold on the web is similar to the cheaper Kitchen Crop, except the Biosta's trays
are larger – web site is miracleexclusives.com.
If you use a manual sprouter, please try leave it in the same position – don't move it when you water your greens. Greens need to retain their orientation to our earth's magnetic field (created by the motion of liquid iron in the
earth's core).
If you want to kill a sunflower, just turn it a little every day, say 10 degrees!
2.2. Wheatgrass Juice
If you're addicted to a substance like sugar or cigarettes (or in a lot of pain, mental or physical), then you must juice
dark green leaves in addition to blending them. Alternate between one day juice, one day blend.
Green drinks will balance your biochemistry and free you of addiction. They're also the best natural treatment for
depression – their free-form amino acids build the neuropeptides for joy and creativity – and the best for anemia
(exhaustion). Their chlorophyll builds red blood cells. Ann Wigmore used wheatgrass juice as a primary therapy in
breaking down and flushing out tumors.
Sweeten green juices with Stevia, a herb sold in liquid and powder form (at health stores). It stabilizes the blood
sugar – both hypoglycemics and diabetics use it. Also tone the juice down with cucumber, or a little carrot or beet,
though go easy on the carrot – its hybrid sugars can slip past the liver and give you a blood sugar rush.
Use a wheatgrass juicer for green drinks (looks like a meat grinder) not a standard centrifugal (spins round and
round) vegetable juicer. Always include wheatgrass in the juice.
Home-built automatic sprouters are the only way to get a big tray of wheatgrass fresh daily for juicing, at
low cost. Once you've bought the valve and timer (a one-off cost) then it's only $139 for a big sprouter with two
14"x15" trays. Compare this to the factory-made wheatgrass sprouters at $253 each with one 13" x 15" tray!
Plus your home-built sprouter will grow a tray (or trays) of baby greens or bean sprouts alongside the wheatgrass
(can't do that with the factory ones).
2.3. Energy Soup
The first step in healing is to blend home-grown baby greens and bean sprouts into Energy Soup – please print out
the recipe at greensmoothie.com/blend/energy.php. A quick way to begin Energy Soup today, is to buy the greens
and bean sprouts at your local store.
Then make Energy Soup a few days a week. When you make two big cups a day, 4-5 days a week, you experience
the best results – really sick people feel different right away. Blend the freshest organic store greens with your
sprouts, avocado, apple and seaweed.
Don't leave out the seaweed – the minerals are important for protein functions in our body – both enzymes and
structural proteins.
Once you’re doing it in a small way, the day will come when you want more fresh food and wheatgrass juice. So
you build your first automatic sprouter!
That’s what happened to me. I began with one small step – bean sprouts in a jar. Today I have so much living food
growing all around my kitchen. I’m never without an instant fresh meal!
The Big Plus of a home-built sprouter is – it’s so cheap to upgrade to more sprouters, especially for wheatgrass
juice. You can’t do that with the 3-tier manual sprouter or the expensive factory-made automatic sprouters.
Remember, it's only the first sprouter that looks hard to build. After that, it's a piece of cake!
The bigger your kitchen garden, the greater health you enjoy. Health and energy come from eating healthy plants
full of living energy!
Contents
Disclaimer
3. Tools Needed
Drill (and old piece of wood to drill on), adjustable wrench, pliers, small screwdriver, sharp blade, and
scissors.
For your finished sprouter, one standard brick (or block of wood two inches high) and one empty bucket. The brick is for your sprouter to slope down at an angle, for drainage. The bucket is to collect the drain
water – a 5-gallon size works best. Or you can lead the drain tube directly into a sink or floor drain, or
into the garden.
4. List of Parts to Buy
The quick easy way to get parts is simply to order a complete kit on-line – or get a ready-built Sprouter. If
you've tons of time, then the big hardware stores (Home Depot, Home Base, Lowes) have all parts like
valve, timer, mist kits, etc., Wal-Mart has the growing containers, and both Wal-Mart and Kmart have
plant trays. The hardest part to find is the right connectors for the mist-line.
If you trek to the stores, take some photos with you, so the sales assistant has a clear picture of what you're
doing. Make sure you buy the correct model numbers. Substitutes allowed only if you live in a foreign
country and the part has the exact same features.
This parts list is everything you need to build a basic sprouter. But go carefully through the instructions
and make a list of extra optional parts you want, e.g. the different drain tube methods, or a water filter. You don't need to worry about this if you plan to order a complete kit on-line. If you're buying
locally, check your final shopping list against my Detailed List of Parts which gives all the parts we use in
our kits and sprouters, to make sure you have everything.
1 x Storage Box – for the growing container – choose your Part # in next Section 5.
6 x Drawer Organizers – for the plant trays – choose your Part # in next Section 5.
1 x Arizona Mist Redi-Mist Portable Cooling System – Part #20066 – to mist your sprouts; the
faucet adapter in the Redi-Mist cracks and should not be used, get the Watts-A25 part, see "Beware
the AzMist Faucet Adapter"; OR
2 x Redi-Mist kits if you plan to build the bigger sprouter (Wrap 'n Craft) – you need ten nozzles
for the Wrap 'n Craft and each kit has six – OR 1 x Redi-Mist kit and 1 x Redi-Mist Extension Kit
(slightly cheaper). Note that the extension kit can be used only within one big sprouter, but not
between two different sprouters – this is because it has no long lead-in tubing that's needed between
the two sprouters.
1-2 packs of Arizona Mist Brass & Stainless Steel Replacement Nozzles – Part #10106-5 – the
Redi-Mist kit has solid brass nozzles which spray one gallon an hour. The brass & stainless steel
spray half a gallon an hour, a finer mist that's better for our seeds. Use your solid brass nozzles only
when you're cleaning the brass & stainless steel (soaking them overnight in liquid nozzle cleaner). There's five nozzles per pack, so buy two packs for the bigger Wrap 'n Craft sprouter. Note that
AzMist has kits with brass & stainless steel nozzles (e.g. Mr. Cool) but their tubing is rigid and
inflexible – currently the Redi-Mist is the only one with the correct tubing for our needs, that can be
bent easily and cut with scissors. You need spare nozzles for cleaning anyway.
1 x Arizona Mist Liquid Nozzle Cleaner – Part #10103; OR
1 x Arizona Mist Mist Maintenance Kit – Part #10218 – the maintenance kit includes a bottle of
nozzle cleaner and a filter that stops minerals from building up in the mist nozzles.
1 x pack of 5.5" Cable Ties, e.g. Ty-Rap Cat. No. TY24M-9-252 – to hold the mist-tubing in place
in the growing container.
1 x Orbit WaterMaster automatic Sprinkler Timer – Model No. 57161 – to open and close the
valve at timed intervals. You will not save money on a cheaper timer – this one comes with the
transformer that the valve needs (a $15 value) and it connects easily and quickly to the valve and
you can program it from 2 minutes. Most timers stay on for 30 minutes, which make your seedlings
too wet. If you buy another model timer, make sure it will switch on eight times in 24 hours,
from three to ten minutes each time.
1 x Orbit WaterMaster 3/4" in-line Sprinkler Valve – Model No. 57100 – to control the water
flow to the mist-nozzles. If you buy another model valve, make sure it has a manual switch.
Connectors – to connect valve to mist-tubing – e.g. bushing and Watts-A25, for details see "Beware
the AzMist Faucet Adapter"; if you take the risk and use the Redi-Mist faucet adapter on the misttubing then to connect it to valve, buy a 3/4-inch brass M-hose to M-pipe adapter. A garden hose
connector will leak by itself. .
1 x Connector – to connect valve to hose – a washer hose ends in a female connector with hosethreads. Use a 3/4-inch brass M-hose to M-pipe adapter between this hose and the valve.
1 x reel of 1/2" Teflon Tape (I got Oatey gas-line tape Part #31403) – to wrap round the thread of
the connectors so they don’t leak.
1 x Garden Hose or Washer Hose – preferably labeled "safe for drinking water." Hoses are
usually a half-inch wide, but the hose width is not critical, it can be wider – to connect sprouter to
faucet. Buy whatever length of hose you need to connect to an indoor or outdoor faucet. I wouldn't
go above 75 feet because the valve needs good water pressure – the Orbit engineer says if your
municipal water pressure is 60 psi, as most are, then you can have up to 50 feet of hose, and if it’s
40 psi, then up to 35 feet. The hose must have a female connector on one end (for faucet) and male
on the other (for valve).
1 x Y-connector (optional) – to connect hose to washer faucet – this is the best faucet for your
sprouter because it's turned on all the time – the Orbit valve controls the flow of water to your
sprouter. One end of Y has hose leading to washer, and the other to sprouter.
3 feet of 1/4" clear Vinyl Tubing (cut off what you need from a roll at big hardware store) – for the
drain tube, where water will drain out from the sprouter, or can use 1/2" tube, see "Screw-in Drain
Spout".
1 x Hand Sprayer – to spray inside a plant tray before sprinkling in seeds (the water stops the seeds
from rolling round).
1 half-inch Paint Brush – to brush seeds away from the ends of the plant trays, so they don't block
the drain holes – you'll use this brush to clean your nut-seed grinder too. If you don't have a grinder,
it's a good idea to get it now at Wal-Mart, e.g. the Braun Aromatic Coffee Grinder for $12 works
great – you use it for nut-seed milks and yogurts – recipes in our Conference Rooms.
Optional – 1 x Ice-maker Kit instead of the washer hose, to connect sprouter to cold water pipe,
instead of to faucet.
Optional – 1 x 3-gallon RL Flo-Master Pump Sprayer, Model PGX 1003 – for a pressurized water
tank, instead of connecting to faucet or pipe – you may have to buy it direct from Flo-Master. Do
not buy this pump sprayer if you have an available faucet or cold water pipe for connecting your
sprouter. Most stores (Wal-Mart, big hardware stores) sell a 2-gallon pump sprayer. If you get a 2gallon model, make certain it has a pressure relief valve – for you to release the pressure before
filling the tank with water once a day. Do not buy a sprayer without this. The 2-gallon model is
too small for the large Wrap 'n Craft sprouter – one that grows wheatgrass, greens and beans all
in one container (see Section 5).
Optional – if you connect your sprouter to the Flo-Master pump sprayer, then you need 1 x 3/8" barb
to 3/4" male thread connector, and 1 x 5/8" hose clip – to connect hose of sprayer to the valve.
Please see Options for the Water Source before buying your water line, such as a washer hose, ice-maker
kit, or pump sprayer.
4.1. AzMist Nozzle Warning
In this guide, I advise the use of AzMist Redi-Mist kit for its flexible tubing – it's easy to cut with scissors
and twist round your sprouter.
However, AzMist now sticks a label on their nozzles which reads: “Warning: This product contains a
chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm.”
When we questioned AzMist, they basically minimized the concern. They e-mailed: “The nozzles are the
same. In the production of brass there may or may not be trace amounts of lead. That is what the warning
is about.”
Most American homes have brass in their plumbing system. That brass may contain a trace of lead, is not
new and not abnormal.
My sprouter builder and I don't think there is any concern here. With the Redi-Mist kit, you use its solid
brass nozzles ONLY for cleaning. Most of the time you use the lighter-spraying brass + stainless steel
nozzles. These nozzles have a solid ring of stainless steel in the center, where the water flows through. The
chance of lead, if any, in the outer brass being able to leach through the stainless steel into the mist must
surely be nil. The solid brass are one gallon per hour, the B+SS are a perfect half-gallon p.h.
To be 100% safe, we use ONLY the brass & stainless steel nozzles in our Mist-Kits and Sprouters. So
you only get solid brass if you buy the Redi-Mist kit locally.
We’ve searched the web and not found a comparable product to the tiny, ultra-fine mist nozzles of AzMist.
In USA, the only other nozzles are Ocean Breeze from digcorp.com. These nozzles are plastic, hang
straight down (instead of at the angle we need) and are one gallon per hour.
I personally worry that such heavy spraying from the Ocean Breeze nozzles would lead to mold. In The
Sprout Garden, Mark Braunstein writes: “if densely packed and drenched, the stems will rot.” To me,
gallon per hour is drenching.
One member who is using Ocean Breeze, instead of AzMist, had problems with mold – he used hydrogen
peroxide to stop it. But he insists the mold had nothing to do with the nozzles. He lives in Los Angeles.
My advice, as always, is to follow these instructions! Use the solid brass nozzles only when you're
cleaning the others. Or simply order your Misting Parts on-line so all your nozzles have a stainless steel
inner ring.
The solid inner ring of stainless steel in the Brass & Stainless Steel Nozzles which come in
our Mist Kits and Sprouters, but not in the Redi-Mist kit bought locally.
Contents
Disclaimer
5. Growing Containers and Plant Trays in USA
For the growing container of the sprouter, use a clear plastic storage box with lid. For the seedling trays inside, use
drawer organizers.
The size of your growing container, and the plant trays inside it, can be anything you want, depending on whether
you plan to juice wheatgrass or make Energy Soup, or simply have a plate of fresh greens for salad every day.
The critical thing is to get the right size container for the plant trays that go in it, to meet your needs (big or small). Make sure the trays fit in the box!
The height of the box should be not less than 9-inches. Sunflower sprouts grow to seven inches, wheatgrass even
more. The box must be clear plastic (not colored) because baby greens need light. Ideally, you want a clear lid
too, but all the lids I saw were white or blue.
In the USA, the Rubbermaid storage box Model #2223 is good for a small sprouter, and the Rubbermaid 19.2 gallon
Wrap ‘n Craft box is perfect for a large wheatgrass sprouter.
The Sterilite 40-quart box is 19.5"x19.5"x9"H (Model #1870
white, only at Wal-Mart). It holds five drawer organizers for
plant trays, each 15-inches long (3"x15"x2"H, Rubbermaid Model
#2917, any color, at Wal-Mart). This is the small sprouter I
originally built and you see in many photos.
Today our small sprouter is this Rubbermaid storage box
20"x14"x9"H (Model #2223 white). It fits six plant trays, each 12inches long (3"x12"x2"H, Model #2912). This photo is
misleading because the lid should be open by an inch.
Here's the small Rubbermaid #2223 with two 6x9 trays
in place of three 3x12. This small sprouter will give
you one tray of baby greens fresh every day. Five
trays are needed for fresh greens daily. Greens take 45 days to grow, so you harvest a tray a day, on
rotation.
These 6x9 trays are ideal for wheatgrass juice (two
ounces per tray). This small sprouter will grow bean
and grain sprouts too, but I prefer to use all trays for
greens, and use hemp bags or jars for beans and
grains.
When you use 6x9 in this position, you drill the drain holes ON
EACH SIDE, not at each end. The drain holes must always face the
mist nozzles, which will be at the back and front of the box,
interpersed.
If you have the space, then the best sprouter is the bigger Wrap 'n Craft on the right below, with six additional small
trays. You still get two big trays of wheatgrass, one in the sprouter (growing) and one out (being eaten – spray
this one with a hand spray and pour a little water on it daily).
The Wrap ‘n Craft box is great because it gives you wheatgrass, baby greens, bean and grain sprouts – all in one
sprouter.
Rubbermaid stopped producing the Wrap 'n Craft in mid-2005, so we now make our own large food-grade
plastic container, for wheatgrass and sprouts.
The bigger Rubbermaid 19.2-gallon Wrap ‘n Craft box is 38"x16"x9"H (Model
#2141 white). It comes with two 2-inch high 15"x14" trays – ideal for growing
wheatgrass. The box will fit another 3"x12" tray. Wal-Mart often has these
15x14 trays on the side, not in the W+C, so look out for them! They're free with
the W+C.
Or use one wheatgrass tray, and buy six 3"x12" trays
for greens, beans and grains, alongside the wheatgrass
(5 here but 6 will fit). These six extra 3x12 trays come
with our large ready-built Sprouter (with the two 15x14
trays).
Here's Dean's Wrap 'n Craft fully loaded. He's using two 6"x9" trays for wheatgrass instead
of one 15"x14". Up to twelve 3x12 trays will fit into one Wrap 'n Craft.
5.1. Containers in Canada
The Wrap 'n Craft is different in Canada , it's only six inches high, so Canadians please don't use it! Your growing
container must be 9 inches or higher. One of our members, Delayne Ann Groen, is using four Cornerstone boxes,
each 92.5 x 39 x 31 cm high (that's 36.5 x 15.5 x 12.5 inches).
It's far better to have a height of 12 inches and string your mist nozzles up at 8 or 9 inches, than to have a height of 6
inches and your wheatgrass grows into the nozzles!
Contents
Disclaimer
5B. International Help
This page is for everyone living outside north America. I promised on my web-site, greensmoothie.com, that
"wherever you are in our world, you can make your own automatic sprouter with cheap, local parts."
If you can't find a large storage box in your country, you can easily build one using wood or PVC-piping for frame
(cover it in plastic) or build a plexiglass or perspex box.
5B.1. How to Build a Container with Plexiglass or Perspex
Funnily enough, the plexiglass box was built by a member in the USA! Perspex was used by Corneille in Pretoria,
South Africa. From Corneille's photos and text, it seems to me that perspex is same as plexiglass.
Bev of Arlington, MA, writes: “The hardest part of the project was finding the Rubbermaid box. I spent weeks
looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere. No KMart, WalMart or any other mart.”
Note from Val – I’m told the Wrap ‘n Craft is a seasonal item in some States, but see rubbermaid.com under my
Resources for a mail-order source. This is not for outside US because boxes cost too much to mail, e.g. $20 box
costs $600 to ship to South Africa (that's not a typo, it really is $600, not 60).
Bev continues: “I decided I would have to make my own. Since the size was more up to me then, I made it fit the
cafeteria trays that I had been using already to grow wheatgrass. It holds two of them (which makes a lot of
wheatgrass since the grass grows almost 12 inches high) and three trays of sprouts.
The size I have is bigger than the large Rubbermaid box but works fantastic with the same number of sprayers as the
large Rubbermaid. Just in case anyone wants to know, the measurements are (includes a piece that I sit on top to
keep in the moisture):
1/8 X 10" X 38" - 2 pieces
1/8 X 10" X 18 3/4" - 2 pieces
1/8 X 20" X 39" - 1 piece
1/8 X 19" X 38" - 1 piece
One thing about working with plexiglass – I considered buying sheets and cutting it myself, but that's a very bad
idea. I tried working with one sheet and it's just about impossible. The problem is you must have the sheets cut to
perfection or they won't bond together properly.
The bonding agent is almost thinner than water, if you can imagine such a thing. There has to be a perfect match of
the edges because the seal is made by the top layers of the materials melting and fusing together. If you have any
little warps in the cut, you'll have a hole.
If you go to a big industrial plexiglass place and give them your measurements, they will cut the material with a
special machine that ensures the fit. Make sure to tell them you need it perfect for assembling a box so they're extra
careful."
Bev writes: "I went to a place that makes industrial plexiglass objects and gave them the exact measurements and told them I was
assembling a box so they knew they had to be perfect. They also sold the adhesive that glues together the acrylic. You use very little of it.
They told me how to do it. I put it in a syringe and let it run onto the joint. It melts the acrylic together. There's no excess nasty chemical
around because so little is used, and it bonds into the joint."
"The box is completely waterproof and pretty strong." Bev has her sprouter in a corner of her kitchen, with the hose leading off a pipe
under her sink (you can see hose coming down in far right corner) – see her photo at For Apt Dwellers with Limited Space. Note how with
a high-pressure hose, you can run it above a door and down the other side to sprouter, and not lose pressure. I wouldn't risk this with a
cheap garden hose.
Look at Bev's wheatgrass growing nearly 12 inches high – well above the 10-inch sides of her box, and into her mist nozzles. This is why I
insist, don't buy or make a box lower than nine inches high. In South Africa, our boxes are 12-inches high (30 cm) and this is perfect for
green pea shoots (at Servi-Star, Game, Makro stores).
See how Bev has her lid completely separate from the box, to allow natural light and air into her greens. It's resting on two pieces of sawedoff vinyl rain gutter, which Bev easily sawed with a little hacksaw blade. An 8 feet long piece was about $2.
Above her greens hangs a grow light connected to a timer, which Bev has on for seven hours a day, giving her plants a rest from
photosynthesis at night, so as to take care of their own metabolic needs – assimilate into their tissues the nutrients they made during the
day, so they grow so tall and rich. Never stress your plants with 24 hours of non-stop artificial light!
.
5B.2. How to Build a Container with Pipe or Wood Frame
Simon in Manchester, UK, writes: "I made my sprouter with your valve-timer mist-kit – built a wooden frame and
lined the inside with polythene then put plastic shelves inside it ( two nozzles to a shelf ). It stands next to the
window in my kitchen and works really well."
Patricia in Cahermore, Ireland: "For the growing container my son made one. He didn't use the measurements on
your website. Instead he decided to work with size of the pvc sheets so there would be less cutting." [Patricia also
bought Large Mist-kit from us, I'm wondering if PVC is the right word here, but haven't heard back from Patricia] If you use pvc pipe, follow the same principle as our PVC-pipe stand – fit together pipe-pieces, T-pieces and elbowpieces to create a box frame (instead of a stand) – see PVC pipe stand. Place a piece of wood in the bottom, cornerto-corner (or a large plastic drip tray), to provide strength for holding the plant trays (you'll drill your drain hole into
this wood). Then fit thick see-through plastic sheeting inside the frame and wooden base, e.g. with velcro on the
frame, so all PVC and wood lies outside the plastic.
Only the base can be all-wood. The top and sides must be see-through plastic, to allow light through to the greens. If you go with a wooden frame, staple or nail the plastic inside the box frame. See Building a Multi-Level
Wheatgrass Grower for an example of a multi-level wooden frame.
In the finished box, water from the mist nozzles should hit only the plastic. The misting is very fine, and drains out
right away, so there's little water pressure inside the box.
Remember to leave the plastic free at the top front – the area that would be the front of the lid. You roll it back by
half to one inch. The lid of the container is left SLIGHTLY OPEN BY ONE-HALF TO ONE INCH TO LET AIR IN, and
natural or full-spectrum light – not too open because sprouts like a little humidity. The hotter it is, the more open
the lid should be.
5B.3. Plant Trays outside USA
For plant trays, look for small plastic containers in the kitchen dept., e.g. food storage boxes (you won't use their
lids) or seedling trays in the gardening dept. A good size for a plateful of greens fresh daily is 3 inches wide and 1215 inches long, that is, about 36 square inches or 90 sq.cm. So, for instance, two containers each 3 x 5" (7.5 x 12.5
cm) both harvested daily, will give you the same growing area as one 3 x 10".
Greg in Cape Tribulation, Australia, writes:
"The trays I have solved by using hydroponic channel which is 100mm wide x 45mm high and can be
cut to any length and fitted with end caps. I will be using 5 x 320mm long trays in each of 4
containers."
This is a perfect size - 100mm is 3.94-inches (US trays are 3" wide) and 45mm is 1.77-inches (US trays are 2"
high). Do a search at google.com for your country, e.g. in UK search for "hydroponic supplies .co.uk".
Peter in Bournemouth, UK, writes:
"I've improved upon my growing trays. I use green seed meshing inside a shallow plastic frame. I
feel this will provide better drainage and more air and water to reach the seeds."
Robin and Desri in Ransanne, France, write:
We used a clear plastic box with a seperate clear plastic lid. They are sold at a large chain of DIY shops
here in France called "Conforama". It has small wheels on the base which fit into indentations in the lid
so that they can be stacked. They were 10 Euros each (about $10) and we bought 6 ready to expand our
sprouting !!! Each box is about 30cm x 60cm and 40cm deep, the mister works a treat [referring to
valve-timer + nozzles in Large Mist-kit they ordered]. We used photographic trays and 2 fit
perfectly."
5B.4. Metric Sizes for Container and Trays
For metric conversion, one inch = 25.4 mm, 4 inches = 10 cm. The critical figures are:
The growing container (storage box) should be no less than 9-inches (23 cm) high inside;
The length and width of your box you calculate after you've found your plant trays;
A plateful of fresh greens daily is harvested from plant tray(s) that total 36 sq.inches or 90 sq.cm;
The plant trays should be no higher than 2-inches (5 cm) or lower than one-inch (2.5 cm);
The fewer trays you use daily, the less washing up! So look for bigger trays;
If you can't find decent trays locally, you can now order trays on-line under Optional Extras.
5B.5. Valve-Timer and Nozzles outside USA
For the valve, timer and mist-nozzles, make sure they have the exact same features as given here in the Detailed
List of Parts, namely:
Valve – an ordinary lawn sprinkler valve, must have a manual over-ride switch;
Timer – must connect easily to valve and electrical outlet (e.g. made by the same company as a unit), and can
be programmed to switch on six to eight times in 24 hours, from three to fifteen minutes each time;
Mist-nozzles – must spray ideally half-gallon an hour, not gallon an hour, and may be plastic, or brass, or
brass & stainless steel;
Water source – if you connect to a faucet, it must have threads; I noticed in England, kitchen faucets don't
normally have threads, only the faucet for washing machine. Otherwise connect to a cold-water pipe with a
saddle valve.
If you can't find the valve, timer, and mist-nozzles in your country, they're available as a Mist-kit here. We now
supply Orbit international valve-timers too, as a free swap for the US 110v – simply check that box on the order
form.
Once you have this Mist-kit, all you need is the growing container, plant trays, and a hose leading from water
source, e.g. a washing machine hose.
You then connect this hose to the valve in the Mist-kit. I did this with no problem in South Africa. I used a little
sealant around my adapter that connects hose-to-valve, because faucet and hose-pipe fittings here are slightly
different from the US (I brought the US valve with me). Later I switched to our international metric valve, and it
easily connected to my South African metric adapters with no sealant needed.
With your hose and Mist-kit in place, you're free to connect multiple sprouters to it – see Large-Scale Sprouting. So
it's a one-time investment.
5B.6. Sprouter Parts in UK
Geoff in England writes: "Here's some links that might be useful to your UK customers. For nozzles, there's food
grade ones, with the right flow at domestic pressures. They come with filters and Tee joints that will fit to standard
1/2" piping." Search at – sprays.co.uk/nozzles/mistingfogging.
"I've talked with the technical director and these nozzles do seem to be sophisticated designs in a food grade plastic.
He claims they should give smaller droplets and more even coverage than older designs. Also, they are less likely to
clog. They have a range of 20 nozzles, and it's given me an idea to simplify things a bit. One of their threaded
mister nozzles has a flat-fan spray profile, rather than the more common 3D cone profile. This means you can safely
fire it at a shallow angle without leaking spray out of the top. It also has a very wide angle of 110 degrees."
"The idea is to use just 2 nozzles, one at each end rather than 3 on each side, and fire them pretty much straight at
each other at a shallow angle, so the interference pattern gives nice even coverage. The flow-rate is around 3 US
gallons per hour each at domestic mains pressure, so the 2 nozzles would have a flow of 6 gallons an hour rather
than 3 an hour with the present 6 nozzles. This suggests that I'll probably need to halve the run-times of each cycle."
"The technical guy, who's a bit of a nozzle guru, thought that the coverage should be pretty even. The only downside
I can see is that the droplet size on the fan nozzles is slightly courser, though he says there's not all that much in it."
"John Lewis has a nice box that's an ideal size for a standard UK kitchen counter." Search at – johnlewis.com.
"Found a great box locally with a transparent lid (hooray!) 17" x 12.5" x 11" high. Struggling to find long trays, so
have fallen back on six trays of 5" x 6" giving 30 sq" each. MUCH easier to find, and only $1 USD each, food
grade."
"I'm having a hard time finding anything like your mains-driven valve-timer combination. The only alternatives are
far too costly: industrial rather than domestic. One merchant claimed it's because there are tough new EC regulations
for devices that bring water and mains power into proximity. So I think for safety and simplicity I'll go with a
battery driven one. The batteries last a year, so it's not that much of an issue. Found one by a better known brand:
looks easy to use and very flexible, and only around $30 USD." See – trueshopping.co.uk/product.php?
cid=44&pid=4279&pn=Draper+Electronic+Water+Timer. If link does not work, then search at – trueshopping.co.uk,
and also at – gonegardening.com.
Heating: in this country, many of us will need to heat the system in the winter. It's fairly easy to pick up waterproof
heating mats for propagators from garden centres, which could be placed under the seed trays inside or outside of
the box."
"So here are my costs (writes Geoff): £10 for 2 nozzles & Tee joints, £23 Valve-timer, £6 In-line filter (he gives no
link for this), £6 Box, £6 Trays, £15 Piping, fixtures & fittings (estimate). Total: 66 UK pounds = 120 USD. Not
bad!"
Contents
Disclaimer
6. How to Drill the Holes
I use the word “side” to refer to the left or right side of the sprouter or plant trays, and the word “end” to refer to the
front or back end. All photos show the smaller Sterilite box with five 3"x15" trays. Today we use the #2223 box
with six 3"x12" trays.
6.1. Drill Holes in the Plant Trays
Drill five tiny holes at both of the 3" ends of each plant tray, on the bottom, against
the edge. Drill one hole in each corner, then three between these corner holes. I used
a 5/64-inch bit. You drill at both ends of each tray. Water drains out these holes
when the seedlings are misted. The holes must be small so the seeds won’t run
through them. You always drill the drain holes in the ends of the plant trays that will
face the mist nozzles.
If you’re using 6"-wide trays or the 15"-wide Wrap ‘n Craft wheatgrass trays, drill
more than five holes – about one drain hole every 5/8”. In the Wrap ‘n Craft, the holes
are drilled along the 15-inch end of the trays, because the mist tubing runs along the
38-inch end of the box.
For all trays, Daniel (below) drilled much smaller holes.
6.2. Preventing Seeds + Roots from Clogging Tray Holes
I've never had a problem with seeds clogging holes. Once a day when I plant and harvest, I brush my seeds (in the
newly-planted trays) back from the holes with a 1/2-inch paint-brush. By day 2 or 3, their rootlets have anchored
them in the tray and they no longer slide down to the holes.
Daniel in Newburg, MO, writes in our conference rooms: "I haven't had any problem with seed clogging the holes
in my trays. One improvement I have done to the tray holes is this: I took the smallest numbered drill bit we have. It
is very very small. I drilled holes .25" apart on the ends and the same on the sides up 1". This works great for all
seeds. Clover doesn't get clogged and its less hassle than the screens." [Daniel means Dean's screens, see Ongoing
Customer Additions]
It seems Daniel's holes are too small for the seeds to clog them, or the rootlets to grow through. For me (Val) green
pea roots clog my holes but it's not a problem. When the roots of my pea shoots grow through my 5/64-inch holes,
the tray fills to the top with water because it can't drain out through the clogged holes. I simply empty it once a day
– green pea is happy to grow in water, and by the time its roots are so thick as to clog the holes, the peas are well
into their green leaf stage. Sunflower has long roots, but not thick like green pea, so it too grows through the holes
but doesn't clog them. All other greens (e.g. broccoli, alfalfa) have tiny rootlets so they stick to where I brushed
them back, a half-inch from the end.
Charles of Silver Spring, MD, had a lovely idea – nylon put scrubbers. He writes: "They work wonderfully. You cut
them to the exact width of the tray end using only scissors. You can leave them in place throughout the sprouting
cycle, since they're just nylon. I did two trays of Mumm's "Sandwich Booster" mix like this [tiny seeds]. I didn't
have to leave any gaps anywhere – I put seed on the entire floor of the tray. When harvesting the sprouts, I just pull
out the pot scrubber pad. I had to pull out maybe 3 sprouts and rinse it off, then it was perfectly clean. None of the
roots made it through enough to block the holes, and the water drained through the pads very easily."
6.3. Drill Hole for Drain in the Growing Container
Drill one hole for the drain tube in the front bottom corner of
the growing container – here my drain hole is in the front right
corner. Can you see the drain tube peeking up through the hole? If there’s an indent in the plastic (as in Sterilite box) drill in the
center of this indent. Use a small drill bit to begin the hole, then
switch to a larger bit. I ended up with my largest, a 5/16" bit, and
wiggled it round to make the hole a little bigger.
The drain tube leads out the drain hole in the front corner of the
sprouter, into a collecting bucket or floor drain. I later discoverd
this one-gallon bottle, to collect the waste water, is too small for
the amount of water sprayed by the mist nozzles over 24 hours. I
now use a 2-gallon bottle. (At the back is the 3-gallon water tank
– the pump sprayer – with its hose leading to the valve behind the
sprouter.)
For this drain hole in the growing container, drill the hole in a front corner of the box – on the right if your sprouter
will hang over the right side of the table or bookshelf, or on the left if your sprouter will drain on the left. In this
text, I always refer to the drain hole on the right.
It’s critical this hole is no wider than the drain tube – the 3 ft. of 1/4" clear plastic tubing. Make the hole slightly
smaller than the 1/4" tube, then to fit the tube into the hole, run hot water on the end of the tube, and use a knife to
help squeeze it in – until it just peeks through the hole. If the hole is larger than the tube, then water will leak out
here.
Best of all, fit a screw-in drain tube into this drain hole – see next page.
6.4. Drill Holes for Mist Tubing in the Container
See 7. How to Fit the Mist Nozzles – BEFORE you drill holes for the mist tubing or fit the mist nozzles. We now
run the mist nozzles on both ends of the box, front and back, not just along the back as pictured here. Plus it's easier
to cut the mist-tubing and fit the nozzles first, then drill these holes in container.
Drill one hole for the mist tubing into the side of the
growing container, 1.5 inches from the top, 1-inch
from the back end, on the side where the tubing
comes in from the valve. Use a drill bit to match the
width of your mist tubing of 1/4" in the Redi-Mist
kit. At the back, you see picture wire sticking out – I
used it to hold the tubing inside the box, but you can
The mist tubing runs across the back and front of the sprouter, near the top. I
drilled my mist tubing hole on the left side at the back, because my drain hole is
in the front right at the bottom. You can see five mist nozzles here, one for each
of the five trays in the Sterilite (nowadays we fit three at the back and two in the
front). The nozzle on the far right has an end cap. The drain valve would go flat
against the inside of the container on the far left – you don't want it dripping into
your plant trays.
use cable ties. If you have an automatic drain valve
(in the Mist Maintenance Kit) then this hole should be
lower than the cable-tie holes (1.8" from top) because
the valve must be lower than the mist nozzles.
Also drill three thin holes in the back of the box and two in front – (five +
five for the Wrap 'n Craft) – 1.5" from the top – just before each nozzle – you run
cable ties through these to hold the tubing in place. The tubing looks loose and
wavy here, but actually it must be stretched tight against the back in a taught
straight line.
The mist tubing and nozzles face the drain holes in the plant trays. In the Wrap ‘n Craft box, the tubing passes first
along the back long 38" end – so you drill the hole for the tubing entrance in the 16” side, an inch from the back.
It’s best to have the hole for the mist tubing higher up from the trays, rather than lower down – so the mist-nozzles
don't get lost in tall greens like green pea, wheatgrass and sunflower. For both Sterilite and Wrap ‘n Craft boxes, I
drilled my tubing hole 1.5” from the top.
Contents
Disclaimer
6B. How to Fit the Drain Tube
Two problems with the drain tube – quarter-inch is narrow and the big hulls of sunflower seed can stick inside it. This doesn't bother me, I dislodge them with a piece of wire (extended paper clip).
Second, the tube can slip out easily – especially if you knock against it when emptying your drain bucket. It's
difficult to squeeze such flexible tubing back into the small drain hole. But you don't want to glue it because when it
gets black with microbes, you remove it for cleaning.
First choose your drain-tube width – 1/4 (6.25mm) or 1/2-inch (12.75mm) – then choose a spout below for that
width. Or choose your spout first, as we have, then your tube-width.
6B.1. Use a Screw-in Drain Spout
We use a nylon thread-to-barb adapter. It works only with 1/4-inch drain tube because a bigger spout won't fit into
the indent channel in the base of the 2223 and Wrap 'n Craft containers.
We chose this method because the barbs hold the tubing in place, whereas with say, the plumbing piece or bottleneck, the tubing gradually widens over time (from pushing it on and off the connector) and slips off. Which is not
serious, you simply snip off the end of the tube where it's widened so once again it fits snugly.
Below is the Screw-in DRAIN SPOUT in our Mist Kits and Sprouters
The Screw-in Drain Spout has three parts –
nylon thread-to-barb adapter, nylon washer
and nylon nut. The parts are not easy to find
in stores. Two spouts are in this photo.
The spout just fits inside the indent
channel in the base of the 2223
container.
The same adapter inside the indent channel in
the base of the Big Wrap 'n Craft container.
6B.2. Use a Needle
With wider 1/2-inch tube, a nifty solution is to push the tube up through the drain hole, so it sticks out far into the
container. Then push a thin needle through the top of the tube, so it goes in one side, out the other. Cut off each
end of the needle, so it sticks out a little from each side of tube.
Now pull the tube down through the hole, until the needle rests on the floor of the container. You must stick the
needle through the very top of the tube, so the tubing is almost flat with the container base. If the tubing sticks up
too high, water won't be able to drain out of it.
Only problem with this, each time you remove your tube for cleaning, you must stick a new needle through the top
afterwards.
6B.3. Use a Plumbing Piece
A solution for 1/2-inch tube is to push a rigid piece of white plastic into the drain hole – say a 1-inch long plumbing
piece – then squeeze your drain tube over the other end. It's much easier to push the rigid connector in and out, than
a piece of flexible tubing.
Peter in Berlin, Germany, used an elbow piece because he wanted his drain tube
coming out horizontally – later he changed his mind and switched to a vertical
drain. The photo shows the type of rigid piece of plastic I mean, except you'd get a
straight connector, not an elbow. Peter drilled his drain hole slightly larger, then
glued the elbow in – you can also see his wooden stand.
For narrow 3/8-inch tubing, Gene of Houston, TX, suggests: get a toilet seat hinge kit. It comes with a plastic bolt. Flatten off the top of the bolt, and drill a hole down through it so it becomes basically hollow. Make a washer from
a piece of it and use the nut that comes with it. The tubing fits tightly over the threads of the bolt, like a barb fitting,
with no leaks.
6B.4. Use a Plastic Bottle-neck
Gene in Houston thought up this truly ingenuous solution! He uses it for 1/4-inch tube, but you could look for a
bigger plastic bottle-neck for 1/2-inch. A note of caution – the photos below make the screw-in spout look big, but
it's actually very small.
Many of us use this method because Dan shipped it with sprouters and kits for the first three years – then he hunted
down the thread-to-barb adapter.
Let's listen to Gene describe his brain-wave:
"When I built my first sprouter, I squeezed the tube up into the drain hole and it fit good and tight. But it was into
the container further than I wanted so I trimmed it off closer to the bottom for the water to run into and it fell right
out easy as could be. I re-did it, this time with the tube poking up into the container a little bit more. I felt a slight
concern that someday, I hope this doesn't get bumped or work itself out. I did not want the drain tube falling out
and I really didn't want to glue-install it. I found exactly what I was looking for, and it costs only 33 cents!"
In Gene's words: Start with a little bottle of breath freshener – mine were 3-for-a-dollar at Wal-Mart. My breath is fresh from eating
fresh greens, no need to put poison in my mouth, so I dumped the blue down the toilet! Made it smell good :)
1. The bottle must have a tapered tip, sticking out past the
threads, and a rim below the threads.
2. Pull the nozzle out of the spout, then cut the spout off behind
the rim.
3. Hold the cap with a pair of pliers and with a 3/16" bit, drill
through the top ...
5. Attach the 1/4" vinyl tubing by pushing it onto the taper of the
cap. It fits really good and tight. Perfect!
7. Now all you do is screw the cap onto the threads and it
4. ... so you make a hole all the way through.
6. Drill a 5/16" hole in the front corner of your growing
container where you want your drain, and push the spout through
it. The threads will hang down and the rim will stop it going
through.
8. Simply unscrew the cap when you want to clean or change the
drain tube, or ship the sprouter.
tightens the spout down to be snug and watertight.
Pretty neat, huh?
6B.5. Solution to Drain Hole drilled Too Big
If you drill the drain hole too wide, water will leak out here, instead of flowing through the drain tube. Regular
plastic washers are too big to stop the leak.
Delayne Ann in Winnipeg, Canada, hit on this solution: "I bought the clear thin plastic rings for shower curtains
that stop the holes in the curtain from tearing. They are sticky on one side and seal so well into the bottom of the
container. I snipped them to size before putting them in."
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Disclaimer
7. How to Fit the Mist Nozzles
The basic rule for nozzle position is one mist nozzle to face the center of each 3"-wide tray, interspersed at the
back and front of the container. This – fitting the nozzles on both sides of the growing container – is my favorite
customer addition.
My feminist pride is happy to report that a woman, Connie Efferding, first suggested it in our conference rooms. Arrogant me pooh-poohed the idea, saying it would water-log the seeds. Then Peter Brinkmann in Germany (who at
that time never read the conference rooms) thought of it independently. How did he make it work? By
interspersing the nozzles. Brilliant! So for the small sprouter, you still have five nozzles, but three are at the back
and two at the front, interspersed.
We used to turn every tray once a day, because the seeds facing the mist-nozzles grow quicker. Now that we fit the
mist-nozzles on both sides of the box – you never need turn the trays!
Peter wrote: "The positioning of jets on both sides of the box is absolutely sensational and hard to beat. In the
middle of the box a mist vortex is created. This is definitely the better way to do things. Every inch of the plant
trays is sprayed perfectly – no need to turn the trays every day. The nozzles are pointing down at a 45 degree angle.
It is absolutely stunning to see the storm of mist covering every inch of the box. As the jets are interspaced they
don't blow into each other's face but create drafts which hurl the mist all over the place. I am totally ecstatic."
7.1. Nozzle Positions for 6-tray and 12-tray Sprouters
To place the mist nozzles evenly and interspersed on both ends (back and front) of the two growing containers, these
are their positions :
Rubbermaid Model #2223 (6-tray sprouter) uses five nozzles, three at the back and two in the front. The position
of the nozzles at the back (water supply side) of container are: two nozzles at 3.5 inches from each side (left and
right), one nozzle at 10.5 inches (centered). Then the nozzles at the front (drain side) of container are: one nozzle at
7-1/8 inches from each side.
Rubbermaid Wrap 'n Craft (12-tray) uses ten nozzles, five at the back and five in the front. The position of the
nozzles at the back (water supply side) of container are: from the inside left side of the container to the center of the
first nozzle 3.5 inches; then 6-7/8 inches between each of the next four nozzles (center of nozzle to the center of the
next nozzle). This will leave about 6-7/8 inch between the last nozzle and the right side of container. Then the
nozzles at the front (drain side) of container are: use the same spacing for the five nozzles, but start measuring at the
opposite right side of the container – so the nozzles will be at alternating spacing (interspersed).
The sterilite also uses five nozzles, same as the Model #2223. In my photos, you sometimes see three nozzles –
that's because I began with three nozzles then later realized more are better! The three nozzles still produced
beautiful greens (the ones you see in many photos).
The Redi-Mist kit has six nozzles, so for the 2223 you need one Redi-Mist kit, and for the Wrap ‘n Craft you need
two Redi-Mists. The packs of brass + stainless steel nozzles have 5 per pack, so you need one spare pack for the
2223 and two spare for the Wrap 'n Craft.
Alternating the mist nozzles on both sides of the Wrap 'n
Craft – and a wooden stand underneath.
7.2. Connect the Mist Nozzles into the Mist Tubing
To insert nozzles into the tubing is easy because the Redi-Mist kit comes with nozzles already fitted in the tubing. You can easily see what's going on. Basically, you cut your tubing into the desired lengths, push nozzle T-fittings
into each end, and slip a white compression ring on each side of the T (the rings are in the kit).
Warm the ends of the tubing with hot water to soften it for easier insertion of the nozzle T-fittings. Without
warming the tubing first, it's more difficult to squeeze the nozzles into it. Do NOT twist the tubing onto the T-s, you
risk breaking a T. Heat the tubing to push it onto T's.
Take the first length and push a nozzle into it. Slip the end-cap onto the other side of the T-fitting (end-cap is in
kit). Then slip a compression ring onto the tubing's other end, push the second nozzle into that end, and squeeze the
ring onto the T. Continue in this way for all the nozzles, and use the white compression rings over each nozzle Tfitting.
It's hard to describe, but easy to see! And easy to do!
5.5" Cable tie – Ty-Rap
#TY24M-9-25 – 25 to a
pack.
Nozzle (spraying fine mist) with endcap.
On the left is a nozzle between two lengths of tubing – I'm about to squeeze a length of tubing onto the other side of the nozzle T-fitting.
Can you see the white compression ring round the T-fitting? And the picture wire holding the tubing in place? Or use cable ties (center
photo) instead of picture wire to tie mist-line to back of box. We use high-quality tubing hangers (below).
Our ready-built Sprouters and Mist Kits come
with these more expensive plastic tubing
hangers. The three parts are: 1/4" Nylon Clamp,
and 6-32 x 3/8 Nylon Pan Head Screw, and 632 Nylon Hex Nut.
Here you see the T-fitting holding the
nozzle, flanked by a white
compression ring on each side, and
the high-quality plastic tubing
hanger.
Here's the mist line fitted with plastic tubing
hangers. Dan in Michigan, who supplies the
Mist Kits and Sprouters, finds these hangers
allow you to position nozzles at the angle you
want, so they're superior to cable ties.
After the last nozzle, the tubing will lead out of the sprouter to the valve – so you push your main length of tubing
onto this last T-fitting. Later you'll cut the tubing at the valve.
If you bought the Mist Maintenance Kit, then you'll need to squeeze one extra T-fitting into the tubing, flat against
the inside wall of the container where the tubing comes in . You screw the Automatic Drain Valve into this,
instead of a mist nozzle. See instructions in kit. It's not needed if you clean your nozzles regularly in nozzle
cleaner.
Once you've fitted all the nozzles into the tubing, unscrew each nozzle, and replace them with the brass & stainless
steel (b+ss) nozzles that you bought in separate packs (5 per pack). Use the solid brass nozzles only when you're
cleaning the b+ss. The b+ss nozzles give a finer half-gallon per hour spray which our seedlings prefer. The solid
brass are gallon per hour. Our Mist Kits and ready-built Sprouters come only with brass & stainless steel nozzles
(because the Redi-Mist solid brass nozzles may leach lead into water).
Make sure each nozzle is screwed tightly into its T-fitting. Then turn each nozzle to a downward angle (nearly
straight down) so the seeds in each plant tray at the end closest to the nozzle, get the most mist. If a nozzle faces too
upwards, those seeds at the nearest end don't get touched by water. They dry out and sprout very slowly – this is
especially true of wheatgrass (which loves water).
The thin holes you drilled before each nozzle are for the cable ties, or plastic tubing hangers. Run a cable tie through
each hole, round the tubing at the nozzle, and back through the hole, pull it snug and cut off the excess. This will
hold all nozzles in place. This tubing must be in a taut, straight line flat against the top back of the container, not
all loose and curving.
We use plastic tubing hangers in our Sprouters and Kits. Dan Schaefer, my sprouter builder, writes "they work
much better than the cable ties. With the tubing hangers you can easily adjust each nozzle to point where you want it
to, and it stays there. The mist is directed more evenly throughout the sprouter...And they look better."
Contents
Disclaimer
8. How to Connect the Valve
Tighten all connections with an adjustable wrench – it's rightey-tightey, leftey-loosey!
The mist tubing leads out of the sprouter and round the back of it, then you cut
the tubing and push it into the faucet adapter in the Redi-Mist kit. Make sure
you pull the tubing well into the adapter.
If you have our GE water filter, it goes in the mist tubing before the valve. On
the left side of the valve is the hose leading to the water source.
Connect mist tubing to faucet adapter – pull the AzMist tubing well into the AzMist faucet adapter with pliers. After pulling it through, I pushed a pin through the tubing, about 1/4" from its end, then cut the pin so it juts out a
little from each side of the tubing inside the adapter. This ensures that if the water pressure does pull the tubing out
towards the sprouter, the pin will hit the hard plastic inside the faucet adapter and prevent the tubing from popping
out. Or use sealant (see below).
To connect the valve, screw the M-pipe side of each adapter into the valve, and the M-hose side into the
AzMist faucet adapter on left and the washer hose on right. When you order the Mist-Kit from us, the M-pipe
side has teflon tape pre-wrapped round the threads. The M-hose side of adapter doesn't need tape, it screws
directly into the hoses on each side, without leaking.
In Sprouters and Kits we supply, we don't use the adapter on left. Instead we use a quick-connect fitting – see
photo below.
Connect the hose from your water source into the valve – (right side of photo above) Take one 3/4-inch brass
male-pipe to male-hose adapter, and wrap teflon tape 7-8 times round the threads on the M-pipe side. Make sure
you wrap the tape in the same direction the brass adapter will turn in the valve. If there is too much tape or too little
the joint can leak – 7-8 turns gives the best results. Our Mist Kits and ready-built Sprouters come with the tape
correctly pre-wrapped.
Screw your washer hose (or high pressure hose) onto the M-hose side of brass adapter – that is, onto the side that
has no teflon tape (a washer hose ends in a female-hose connector). Then screw the valve onto the M-pipe side of
this brass adapter.
Connect the mist tubing into the other side of the valve – (left side of photo above) Take the second 3/4-inch
brass M-pipe to M-hose adapter, and wrap teflon tape 7-8 times round the threads on the M-pipe side, in the same
direction the brass adapter will turn in the valve.
Screw the M-pipe side of brass adapter into the valve. Then screw the plastic faucet adapter onto the M-hose side of
brass adapter. Now twist the mist tubing round inside the faucet adapter so it's in a straight line from the last nozzle
in sprouter.
Finally, if you like, you can drop a dab of sealant (e.g. gorilla glue, waterproof and non-toxic) where the misttubing enters the faucet adapter, to prevent the tubing from slipping out or developing play in it that might start a
leak.
The connection between the AzMist faucet adapter and the Orbit valve is the only real problem in building your
sprouter. A standard 3/4" garden hose connector will leak by itself. The AzMist adapter has female hose threads
and the Orbit valve has female pipe threads. I didn't know this when I built the first sprouter using the Qest
coupling. We stopped using the Qest after member Lee Washington in California figured out the hose and pipe
threads.
8.1. WARNING – Beware the AzMist Faucet Adapter
That beige plastic connector at the end of the AzMist tubing, CAN CRACK. This is the only report I've ever
received of anything breaking or leaking in the sprouter. By June 2003, three users out of an estimated 1,000+
sprouters in operation reported that this part broke.
If you buy the Redi-Mist kit locally (i.e. do not get your Sprouiter or Mist-kit from us) then a more durable way to
connect the AzMist tubing – one that will not leak – is to buy the following two parts in place of the AzMist faucet
adapter:
1 Brass Fitting – Tube with Insert to MIP Connector 1/4" x 1/2" (Watts part # A-25)
1 Threaded Bushing 3/4" x 1/2" (this can be plastic or brass)
Instead of the AzMist
faucet adapter, you may
use –
these 2 parts – plastic threaded bushing on
left (can be brass) and on right a Watts A-25
brass tube to MIP connector with insert.
Here you see valve, threaded bushing, then Watts A-25
with insert pushed into 1/4-inch tubing.
This method of connecting Valve to AzMist tubing costs only a few dollars. The tubing is difficult to attach to the insert –
heat it first, and be sure to use Teflon tape for a leak-proof connection. Easy to follow instructions are included with the
Watts brass fitting.
8.2. Best to Use Quick-Connect Fittings
In our Kits and Sprouters here in Dan's order form, we do NOT use the AzMist faucet adapter. One cracked adapter
is one too many! Instead we use a quick-connect fitting to connect the mist-tubing to valve. So you can easily
unclick your sprouter from the water-line, e.g. to move it or clean it in the bath-tub.
We have not found these parts in a local store. Dan has to order them by the hundreds. They're available as a QuickConnect Upgrade Kit under Optional Extras on Dan's site.
Dan writes: "I consider the quick-connect fittings to be a significant improvement on our product!"
This is the quick-connect fitting in our Sprouters and Kits.
Here you see the (1) beige AzMist tubing leading from sprouter, which fits onto a
(2) white threaded-male quick-connect ("q-c") fitting, which easily clicks onto
and off a (3) blue adapter, which screws into a (4) white 3/4"x1/4" pvc bushing,
itself screwed into the (5) green valve.
Our Sprouters have the white q-c fitting and the blue adapter. The blue has a builtin valve so it's auto-shutoff. When you unclick the q-c fitting from it, the water
automatically shuts off, avoiding spills.
Our Mist Kits have a white open-flow adapter in place of the blue, so there's no
auto-shutoff – you switch water off at faucet.
Make sure you install the valve so the water flows in the proper direction. Can you see the pointer arrow next to the
word FLOW in the photo above? This arrow must point toward the mist tubing leading to the sprouter. It's showing the flow
of water from washer hose to sprouter.
If you bought the Mist Maintenance Kit, then you fit the Calcium Inhibitor Filter into the water-line between the
washer hose and the valve (that is, on the water source side, not sprouter side). One side of the filter screws into the
washer hose leading to your faucet, and the other side into the valve. See How to Connect Water Filters.
IGNORE THE PHOTOS BELOW IF YOU HAVE OUR MIST KIT.
They show alternative ways of connecting the mist tubing in place of using a brass adapter.
Here's a Qest Bibb Valve connecting the mist tubing to valve. It
screws all the way into the valve (left out a little here to show
threads) and is 100% leak-proof. It's benefit is that you can manually
switch off the water to sprouter if the little black manual lever on the
valve ever breaks. I don't think this precaution is needed.
Here's a standard garden hose on left (we've since switched to
washer hose), then a connector that's female-hose to male-pipe
(garden hose ends in male connector, while valve has female pipe
threads), then the Orbit valve, then the Qest coupling (Model
QBC33 1/2 x 1/2), then the Redi-Mist faucet adapter.
If you use this plastic Qest 1/2 x 1/2 coupling to connect valve to
mist-tubing – use only the inside cone of the coupling, ignore the
nuts and gripper rings. Wrap teflon tape three times round the
threads of the cone on both sides (tape not shown in photo).
8.3. Position of On / Off Black Lever
You'll see the valve has a manual on/off lever (a black switch) which is On when it faces up – toward the "On"
printed in the green metal. This lever remains switched Off permanently (in the down position) even when connected
to the Timer.
The only time you switch this lever to On is when you're manually testing all connections. Once you're satisfied with
the water flow to your sprouter, you switch this black lever down, and leave it off. The timer switches the valve on
internally, it by-passes this manual lever.
8.4. Valve Switches Off with Power Failure
If there's a power failure during a misting cycle, your valve will instantly switch off. There is no chance of a flood
from power failure. Dan Schaefer (our sprouter builder) wrote:
"I tested a power failure situation by unplugging the timer while the valve was open during one of the regular
misting cycles. The valve closes and misting stops – power to the solenoid in the valve is cut off. I had batteries
installed in the timer, so the clock on the timer continued to run.
I have taken the valve and solenoid apart. There is a light spring (in the solenoid) that forces a plunger out and
against a port to stop water from flowing through the valve. When power is supplied to the solenoid the plunger is
pulled back and water flows through the valve. When the power is cut the mechanical spring forces the plunger
back against the port and water will not flow through the valve."
The batteries in the timer are only to keep the program in memory. They do not supply power to the valve. That
comes from the mains, through the valve connected to the timer, and the timer in turn has a transformer that's
plugged in.
8.5. Replace Valve Annually
Orbit, who make the valve switching our mist nozzles on and off (WaterMaster Sprinkler Valve No. 57100) told me
they cannot honor their warranty for our use of the valve. Although in actual practice they have replaced every
faulty valve free of charge in the first year. My experience is it's either faulty at the start (e.g. cracked, or missing
the black manual lever) or it works fine for a year then starts to act up.
The solenoid in the valve is designed to be sensitive to the static pressure (water build-up when it’s switched off) of
water from a municipal faucet – 60 psi – and for the dynamic pressure (water flow-through when it’s switched on)
of a lawn sprinkler. It’s expecting water to gush through, not trickle out to a few mist nozzles.
The Orbit engineer told me we must expect the solenoid (and hence the valve) to fail, that he can’t guarantee it’ll
last out its warranty of one year. In my experience over three years with 1,000+ users, the valve never failed within
the first year. In the second it may begin to falter – switch on intermittently instead of regularly with every cycle
programmed in the timer.
My advice is to replace your valve once a year, even if it seems to be working fine. The cost is minimal, compared
to the cost of having no sprouter and buying dead greens and sprouts from the store.
A $360 solution is to use a leak detection system with an automatic shut-off valve in your household plumbing – see
Avoiding Water Damage when You're Away.
The cheapest solution is to replace your valve annually.
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9. How to Connect the Timer
Slide the terminal cover off the timer and insert two AA batteries. Then loosen the screw at the terminal labeled
COM, slip one bare wire from the valve under it (either wire, it doesn’t matter) and tighten the screw until wire is
secure (don’t over-tighten and break the wire). In the same way, connect the second wire from the valve into the
terminal labeled “1".
Connect one bare wire from the transformer into the terminal labeled 24V, and the second bare wire into the other
24V terminal. These instructions are also in the timer box.
9.1. How to Program the Timer
Orbit – orbitonline.com – has a video on their site showing how to program a timer. Although it’s a different
model from ours, the steps are mostly the same.
After you've programmed your timer, whenever you want to change a setting, turn the rotary dial to the selection
you want changed, press Next to get to the display point, then enter the new figure and press Enter.
If you press the Clear key accidentally, you stop the timer from working – in the display, you’ll see a water drop
and the words “Off 24 Hours”. Press “Enter” to clear this.
Sprouts need different amounts of water in the summer and winter. If you have huge temperature differences –
like New York’s hot humid summer and freezing snowy winter – change the day and night Station Durations on the
timer each season, e.g. to mist 10 minutes in the summer and 5 minutes in the winter by day. During regular months
in USA (no extreme of hot or cold) I found a 3-minute mist every 3 hours works well.
If it’s very cold at night, you may want to give your sprouts a rest from misting and set only two start times at night,
not four. In sunny South Africa, I sometimes don't mist at night at all. My sprouts are still happy as larks.
Play with the misting times based on your climate and time of year.
Here's how to program your Timer for the first time:
Turn the rotary selector to point the white dot at Time/Date. Press and hold down the "+" key to advance the clock
to the correct time and press Enter key (use the “-” to go in reverse). Similarly, use “+” or “-” and Enter keys to
enter the year, month and date. When finished, you can press the Next key to check they’re correct.
Now program the times you want your sprouts misted. In hot, dry New Mexico, I misted four times from 6 a.m. to
3 p.m. for 8 minutes misting each time, and four times from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. for 8 minutes each. Misting can be less
when you intersperse the nozzles on both sides – one reader in Texas mists for only four minutes each time. In
sunny South Africa, for a year I turned the faucet on manually four times a day for 10 minutes between 8 a.m. and
10 p.m. and my baby greens were perfectly happy with this, not a sign ever of mold. Today in S.A., I mist
automatically every three hours (6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9, 12, 3) for 3 minutes each time. You can experiment with a wide
range of misting times.
The batteries in the timer retain the mist programming for when the power goes out. The timer must be connected
to an electrical outlet to switch the valve on and off.
Test different times and durations for misting, based on your climate and the season (hot summer or cold winter). The hotter it is, the more misting your plants need – just as any garden enjoys more watering in the summer!
If your sprouter is connected to an indoor faucet that's not your washer faucet, don’t program it to mist at a time
when the faucet will be in use (e.g. the morning rush in the bathroom).
Start times should be evenly spaced three hours apart, e.g. 6, 9, 12 or 7, 10, 1. The mist-nozzles make no noise so
you can program it to mist while you’re sleeping.
In the left-hand blue section, turn the rotary dial to Start Times. You’ll see in the top left of the display, an “A”
and a blinking cursor next to Start 1. A for us means Day Cycle. Use the + key to get to 6 a.m. press Enter (or 5
a.m. or 7 a.m., whatever time you want to begin the 3-hour count). A solid black “<” shows next to 1, and the
cursor advances to blink at Start 2. Set this to 9 a.m. and Enter (or 3 hours after your start time). Similarly, set Start
3 for 12 p.m. and Start 4 for 3 p.m.
Turn the rotary dial to Station Duration (on the blue side). You’ll see in the bottom left of the display, a blinking
cursor over Station 1. Press + to get to 3 mins and press Enter. An “A” will appear over Station 1. Ignore stations 2
to 6 as we have only one valve connected to our timer. Go straight to the next step.
Turn the rotary dial to Watering Days (in the blue). You’ll see in the bottom right of the display, a cursor blinking
over Days M. Press “Enter” over M, T, W, T, F, S, S and STOP at 2nd – let the cursor carry on blinking over 2nd
(do not press Enter) and go straight to the next step.
In the right-hand green section, turn the rotary dial to Start Times. You’ll see in the top left of the display a “B”
and a blinking cursor next to Start 1. B for us means Night Cycle. Now enter your night-time start times at 3-hour
intervals to follow the day times, e.g. 6 p.m. (at Start 1), then 9 p.m., 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. (at Start 2, 3 and 4
respectively).
Turn the rotary dial to Station Duration (in the green). You’ll see in the bottom left of the display, a blinking cursor
over Station 1. Press + to get to 3 mins and press Enter. A “B” will appear over Station 1. Ignore stations 2 to 6 as
we have only one valve connected to our timer. Go straight to the next step.
Turn the rotary dial to Watering Interval (in the green). Press + once so 1 Day is flashing, press Enter. Don’t
press Next to go to Odd/Even as the instructions say – you’re watering every day.
Your timer is now programmed and ready to use. Turn the rotary dial to Auto. Now your sprouts will be misted
automatically, beginning at 6 a.m. or the start time you chose.
Plug in the transformer connected to the timer, to a wall outlet. Do this on a day when you’re at home so you can
check the sprouter is working A-okay.
Your sprouter is now rearing to go! The timer will switch on the valve (and mist nozzles) automatically at each
start time you programmed, for the duration you programmed.
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Disclaimer
10. Options for the Water Source
There are three ways to lead water to your sprouter:
High-pressure hose, 1/2-inch or more, connected to a faucet which can have a Y-connector for both
sprouter and another device. Although a garden hose will work, most come with the warning, "Do not leave
hose under pressure for extended periods of time." So it’s best to use a hose designed for high pressure such
as a braided washing machine hose (washer hose).
High-pressure hose, 1/2-inch or more, plugged directly into a cold water pipe using an ice-maker kit with
a saddle valve – make sure you use special high-pressure 1/2-inch hose and not the 1/4-inch plastic tubing
that comes with some ice-maker kits.
Pump sprayer, 3-gallon – works best with small sprouter, or the large one if you decrease your watering
frequency and duration. This method is good for RV owners – but be ready to pump 3-4 times a day!
Use the best high-pressure adapters (e.g. brass) on the water-pressure side, for all connections between water source
(like faucet) and Orbit valve. And use a hose designed for pressure, so you get no leaks and no cheap hose bursting
and causing water damage. In our Sprouter kits we supply only high-pressure hoses.
Here’s pros and cons of the different water sources, to help you decide.
Faucet or Cold Water Pipe
Pump Sprayer
The sprinkler valve is designed to work with
municipal water pressure.
Orbit will not honor warranty when valve is connected to pump sprayer, because
the water pressure from the sprayer may be too low for the valve to work
consistently over a long period.
Your only “work” is to eat and re-plant a tray a day.
You must fill the sprayer’s tank with water daily, pump the handle 2-3 times a
day, and clean the tank regularly (monthly?).
Go away for a week and your plants will be watered
every day.
Needs daily nursing of the pump.
Easy to connect multiple sprouters, e.g. for
wheatgrass juice.
One pump sprayer per sprouter, and sprayer will work only with smallest
sprouter. It doesn't hold enough water for the Wrap 'n Craft sprouter unless you
decrease your mistings.
I first went with the pump sprayer. Then I got tired of pumping pumping pumping, and the day came when I
wanted a bigger sprouter for wheatgrass. I realized my washer faucet was free! Now I've connected a hose from
the faucet to my sprouter. It's incredible! There's nothing left for me to do, except empty the drain-water bucket
once a day. You don't even need to do this if you drain into a floor drain, sink, or the garden. If you use a pump sprayer (2- or 3-gallon), please pump the handle two or three times a day. The sprayer’s pressure
of 40 psi is at the low end of the valve’s specifications. Always keep this pressure up to maximum. I left my pump
handle up (not locked into the cap) so I could easily pump twice a day when passing by.
When we have a faucet and a hose to an indoor hydroponic garden as a standard feature in every home, that's when
we'll all know the joy of health!
10.1. For Apt Dwellers with Limited Space
Bev of Arlington, MA, writes: "I've been meaning to write to thank you for your brilliant sprouter instructions. I've
been using my sprouter almost a year now and it constantly provides me with all the wheatgrass and sprouts that I
want."
"When I saw your plans, I wished that I could build one but was a bit discouraged because a] I'm a
renter b] I didn't know where I could put such a thing anyway. Well, I was determined and solved
both."
Bev (an apartment-dweller) continues:
"When I looked under my kitchen sink I discovered that the
plumbing to the cold water had a piece inserted that was about
a foot long. I just removed it and replaced it with my own foot
long piece that included a T-valve to my sprouter."
"I ran the plastic piping [hose] out from under the sink, under
the cupboards, over a door and into a corner on the opposite
side of the room back down to the sprouter."
[see photos of Bev's sprouter under International
Help]
"It's really funny because people come in and are astounded by the sprouter and no one has a clue
about how it works. The sprouter filled with greens is such an eye catcher that no one even notices
this tube snaking along the ceiling."
"My son and I have had great benefit from being able to have wheatgrass and sprouts everyday. I
have an autoimmune disease that affects my liver and it has given me a tremendous energy boost."
The above is a neat solution if you live in an apt and don't have space for a Y on your kitchen sink. Simply play
with the piping under the sink. Fit an open saddle valve into a pipe, so the water flows both to your faucet and to
your sprouter – see Connect to a Cold Water Pipe. The valve and timer at your sprouter then control water flow to
the nozzles.
10.2. Connect to a Faucet
Your washer faucet is a good water source, with a Y-connector on the faucet, to attach both washing machine and
sprouter. Buy a Y that has a switch on each branch, so each side can be turned on and off separately. The sprouter
remains permanently on. If you live in a land where temperatures don't go below 65 in the winter, then your
sprouter can stay outdoors and use an outside faucet or cold water pipe.
To attach the sprouter to a faucet, we use this 6-foot 1/2-inch high pressure washing
machine hose, braided stainless steel for superior bursting strength, with a tough, non-toxic
inner core that resists rotting. It's flexible, won't kink or crack, fits in tight places, and
exceeds all requirements for flexible water connectors. The hose is easy to install, and comes
with a ten-year warranty. If you need more than six feet, just connect them, say up to four
lengths or 24 feet.
Washer hoses end in a 3/4-inch female connector at both ends, so here you see the brass
male double adapter (M-hose to M-pipe) at the right end, ready to screw the hose into the
Orbit valve. The other female end screws straight onto the male threads of a 3/4-inch washer
faucet.
At first we connected the sprouter to a faucet with a cheap 1/2-inch garden hose, but these
carry warning labels not to leave the hose under pressure for extended periods, so I now
advise against this option. If you're using a garden hose, it's a good idea to switch over to a
high pressure hose.
If you don't mind multiple adapters at your faucet, then in place of this washer hose, you can use the 1/2-inch high
pressure ice-maker hose in picture 3 below. The benefit of the ice-maker hose is length. The benefit of the washer
hose is built-in connectors. They're both 1/2-inch in diameter and look aesthetically pleasing, the washer hose is
stainless steel, the high pressure is white.
If you use your kitchen faucet, you'll need to unscrew the aerator from the end. Take the aerator bit and your hose
to a plumbing or hardware store and ask a knowledgeable attendant to give you an adapter for connecting the hose
to the faucet in place of that aerator. Kitchen faucets come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so we can’t provide this
specific adapter in our Sprouter kits.
10.3. Connect to a Pump Sprayer
If you use a pump sprayer, then once a day you must fill the water tank – DE-PRESSURIZE IT FIRST by pulling
up on the stem of the pressure relief valve. After filling, pump the handle to pressurize it again.
The valve is sensitive to low pressure – it’s designed for the high water pressure of a faucet. I pumped my handle
three times a day because the valve engineer said the valve might last longer that way, by keeping the pressure in the
water tank up to maximum.
If you’re using a pump sprayer as your water source, cut off this
end brass flow control handle, using a sharp blade, so you have
only the hose coming from the sprayer's water tank.
Here's the 3-gallon RL Flo-Master Pump Sprayer Model PGX
1003 connected using a 3/8" barb to 3/4" male thread connector. Fit
the 3/8" barb side into the end of the hose and tighten a 5/8" hose
clip over it. Then screw the 3/4" side of the connector into the
valve. I used a couple of adapters to go from 3/8" to 3/4".
Note: The Flo-Master will work only with one small sprouter. It
does not supply enough water for a large or two small sprouters.
It's best to connect your sprouter to a faucet or cold water pipe
from the start, even if you have a small system. One day you'll
want another sprouter, especially for wheatgrass, and pumping the
Note the red pressure relief valve so you can't overpump the handle.
Once the container is fully pressurized, air hisses out the valve and
you stop pumping.
Contents
sprayer's handle is a daily chore you're tied to 3-4 times a day. This
solution is more for RV owners.
Disclaimer
10.4. Connect to a Cold Water Pipe
A washer hose connected to a faucet is not suited to running the hose over a long distance in your home. If you're
locating your sprouter far away from the water source, then use a longer-length (20-ft instead of 6-ft) high-pressure
hose plugged into a faucet or a cold water pipe. If you don't own your home, check first with the owner or manager
whether you can make a hole in a water pipe! When you leave, the saddle valve will keep the hole permanently
closed.
Dan in Rhodes, MI, discovered that an ice-maker kit – with a saddle valve plugged into a cold water pipe – looks
good and saves you from finding a suitable faucet. Thank you to Dan for writing the bulk of the instructions below,
and for photographs.
1. This illustrates the best benefit of using an ice-maker kit for
the water supply, No MESS! NO hose pipe – see the little supply
tube coming into the sprouter from the bottom of the cupboard?
Installing the sprouter next to the sink means I don't ever have to
dump the drain water. But I don't use the sink for the supply,
only for draining. Using the ice-maker kit gives lots more
options for placement since you can easily run the small water
line to any place in the house – under the floor, through a wall or
cupboard, or along the edge where the wall meets the floor.
3. In our Sprouter kits, we supply only high pressure hose, not
the plastic tubing. It's labeled "VERY SAFE – BURST
2. Dan used 1/4-inch polyethylene tubing, translucent and semistiff. He writes: "These ice-maker water supply kits are made to
be left in place under normal household water pressure
indefinitely. The water is turned off and on in the ice-maker, so
the tubing is under pressure all the time. I have had one in
operation supplying water to my refrigerator for about nine years
with no trouble. Using the kit was quick and easy."
4. Choose a convenient pipe to tap into for water, close enough
to your sprouter for the hose length you bought. Here Dan
attaches his tubing to a pipe in the ceiling. He cut away some
insulation to get to the pipe, then put it back afterwards.
Make sure it is a cold water pipe. You can find out whether it's
PRESSURE OF 1400 PSI." Normal household pressure is 60 psi.
It's 1/2-inch in diameter and is easy to route through a cupboard
or wall. This high pressure hose has a built-in connection at each
end that will connect to the saddle valve (pic 5) and the A-25
fitting (pic 10).
5. The saddle valve has a bracket assembly for clamping it to the
water pipe. Over the end of the valve is a rubber seal (with a hole
in it) that will be positioned between the pipe and the valve.
cold or hot by touching it, then run hot water from a nearby
faucet, touch it again, there should be a change in temperature,
either hot or cold. If there hasn't been a change in temperature,
you may not have run the water long enough or else the faucet is
not on that water line. Try another faucet.
6. To fasten the bracket around the water pipe, turn the screws on
each side until the rubber seal is visibly compressed between the
bracket and the pipe. The saddle valve is now in place on the
water pipe. The bracket in our Sprouter kits will fit up to oneinch diameter pipes.
8. It was easy for Dan to install a water filter in the line before
the Orbit valve. Make all such connections except the final one
where the hose goes into the Orbit valve. Place the end of the
hose temporarily in a bucket.
Now go back to the saddle valve and turn it's handle to actually
pierce the wall of the water pipe. A sharp point is forced through
the side of the pipe. Some older ice-maker kits don't have this
self-piercing mechanism. In any event, it works only with PVC,
copper and brass pipes, not with braided hose. For iron pipes,
you must drill a hole – switch off the water supply first if
drilling!
7. Now lead the hose to your sprouter. Dan writes: "I routed the
tubing above my drop ceiling and down into a cupboard next to
the sink. I had to drill holes through the shelves to run the tubing
through the cupboard. I kept it close to the back wall so it would
be out of the way. The cupboard can still be used pretty much as
it was before. You can see where the tube comes out the bottom
before it goes to the sprouter. I drilled the holes just big enough
for the tubing to fit through. Be sure to drill all holes and run the
With the built-in piercing machanism, no water will come
through until you turn the valve back counter-clockwise. This is
because the piercing needle needs to be withdrawn from the new
hole to let the water pass through. The beauty of this is that the
saddle valve also serves as a shut off valve. You may want to
turn off the water supply to this pipe before this step, but you
don't need to since you control the water flow using the saddle
valve itself.
tubing through before installing any fittings on the tubing – they
will not fit through the holes."
Next, open the saddle valve and flush the line until clear water flows through into the bucket.
9. Finally, turn off the saddle valve and finish connecting the
water line to your sprouter – here you see how the hose comes in
from (the pipe) above and connects to the Orbit valve. After this
valve comes the AzMist hose adapter, then the tan colored misttubing loops out to the sprouter. The power supply line for the
timer runs off to the right, routed along the inside of the
cupboard to a point just above the electrical outlet. Dan drilled a
small hole in the bottom of the cupboard there too, so the power
cord is out of sight.
10. Different fittings are needed to connect the tubing or high
pressure hose leading from the Saddle valve to the Orbit valve
(than used with the washer hose). Only two adapters are needed.
The white fitting is a 3/4 x 1/2 inch Threaded Bushing. The brass
fitting is a Watts A-25 brass tube to MIP connector with insert
(1/4 x 1/2 inch). Easy to follow instructions are included with the
brass fitting. Use Teflon tape on both sides of the bushing.
Check for leaks over the first few days of operation. Tighten
connections if necessary.
Dan reports: "It has not leaked a drop since I installed it!"
When you use this watering method, it will leave a permanent hole in the water pipe. This should not be a problem. The saddle valve can be turned clockwise to close the hole and stop the flow. It should not leak. When you move
out of the house or apartment, you'd leave the saddle valve on the pipe, but disconnect and remove the high pressure
hose.
Or simply replace that piece of piping under your kitchen sink, as Bev did in For Apt Dwellers with Limited Space.
Contents
Disclaimer
11. How to Connect the Water Filters
Baby greens and sprouts are 80% water so it makes sense to use the highest quality water. It's good we use water
with minerals (from the faucet) because plants do take in minerals through their leaves too. Water filters may be
fitted at any point along the line bringing water to your sprouts, but personally I prefer to have them at the Orbit
valve just next to my sprouter, where I can see that the connectors are not leaking.
11.1. Filter to Purify the Water
The General Electric filter fits neatly into our mist-tubing, using the fittings included with the filter. It's reasonably
priced, and is sold by all the big stores so it’s easy to buy replacement filters. In the Sprouter kits, we use the
GXILQ – GE Refrigerator/Icemaker In-Line Water Filter with 1/4-inch fittings. It has a 750 gallon filtering
capability, filter change indicator sticker, and quick connect fittings for easier filter changes.
This filter reduces lead, cyst, chlorine, bad taste, odor and sediment. It includes a carbon block filter and particulate
removal of 1 micron.
The GE GXILQ Refrigerator/Icemaker In-Line
Water Filter
It's easy to fit the GE filter into the mist tubing. Done correctly, it does not leak – as
always, heat the tubing in hot water to soften it. You should not have extra line as in this
photo – the longer your water-line, the more you lose pressure for the mist nozzles. Keep
it as short as possible.
To connect the mist-tubing directly to the GE filter fitting, you use a "compression"
or "tubing 1/4-inch" adapter. If it comes with sleeves in the packet, ignore them –
use only the nut and insert. First push the brass insert into the tubing. It's not easy
and takes some force to push the tubing all the way up to the insert’s neck. Then slip
the brass nut over the tubing and insert. Finally, place an O-Ring (buy separately, #5
O-ring) around the tubing inside the nut to make a water-tight seal.
Here Gene shows how easy it is to change the filter
when you have the mist-tubing connected to the
GE's quick-connect fitting. On the left is the brass
nut (with insert) screwed onto the GE fitting. You
turn off the water supply, then snap on the new filter
in place of the old without any trouble at all.
Gene tried hard to get the above connection to leak. He found it to be water-tight. Fitting the filter after the valve
means that this connection is not under constant water pressure – only for the misting time.
Note – GE has discontinued the GXILQ for a new more efficient filter, the GXRLQ, at higher cost but we offer it at
same price as older GXILQ. Dan writes of the new model::
The GXRLQ uses push connect fittings. It's a little different than the GXILQ. It doesn't need any other
fittings than those that come with the filter. You simply push our mist tubing into the hole in the side of
the filter's connection housing, then pull out on the tubing to 'set' the fitting. The customer needs to be
careful to observe the directional arrows on the filter. It is designed to flow only one way. I have been
testing it here to be sure of a leak-proof seal. It seems fine.
A cautionary note – Delayne Ann Groen in Canada found that the GE filter reduced water pressure to multiple
sprouters. She added a Y after the valve, then a filter to each end of the Y, and then two mist tubes leading to two
separate sets of two containers. If you plan to have multiple sprouters, then it may be best to fit the GE filter before
the valve, between washer hose and valve, instead of after in the mist tubing. This may supply better pressure for
multiple nozzles, and it's easier to change only one filter every six months. The hassle here is you'd need to get 3/4inch adapters for the filter, because it comes with 1/4-inch.
Some stores do sell the GE with 3/4-inch fittings, but it's elusive.
11.2. AzMist Calcium Inhibitor Filter
The AzMist filter is part of the Mist Maintenance Kit, along with a special nozzle that acts as an automatic drain
valve. Together they reduce mineral build-up in the nozzles. So the filter adds to the life of the nozzles, but it is
NOT a water filter for toxins. Filter needs to be replaced once a year.
When minerals clog the nozzles, they shoot a straight jet of water, or no water at all, instead of a fine mist. You
must clean these minerals out periodically by soaking the nozzles in AzMist nozzle cleaner (not in white vinegar). Using the AzMist filter may mean you soak the nozzles less often. If you keep a spare set of nozzles, then this
additional expense is optional, not a necessity.
Box description (for you to decide whether you want it): "The Arizona Mist Calcium Inhibitor Filter protects your
mist system in two ways. First, it has a micro-fine mesh screening system that prevents solid particles from passing
from your water source to your mist nozzles. Second, as the water passes through the filter the calcium inhibitors
act as a "coating agent" on minerals which assists the minerals in passing through the mist nozzle without adhering
to the nozzle and obstructing nozzle flow." [AzMist informed Gene that the coating agent is a polyphosphate and is
safe to drink.]
And on the box: "The automatic drain valve [ADV] is a check valve that stays sealed when the mist system is in
use, but most importantly releases the standing water in the mist line when the system is not in use. Draining the
water from the line prevents mineral deposits and blockages from forming in standing water within the mist line and
nozzles."
We don't sell the Mist Maintenance Kit any more because the ADV is so dependant on water pressure, it didn't
always work. I myself have never used the valve (I used their filter for a while) and my nozzles have been working
fine for more than a year. It's cheap to replace nozzles every couple of years (cheaper than replacing the MMK).
11.3. Graphic of Both Filters in the Mist-Line
The water-line connections are the trickiest part of building your sprouter – expect to be sprayed a little! You might
want to test outside first, and be ready to duck – or play duck! Once you have leak-proof connections, then they
last forever. If you're getting the complete kit on-line – do-it-yourself or ready-to-go – then you're okay. All
connectors in the kits are guaranteed leak-proof.
A connector has a gender – it's either female (with threads on the inside) or male (threads on the outside). And it's
a specific thread type – either pipe or hose. Most metal items have pipe threads, and plastic are hose threads. The
hoses (garden, washer and ice-maker high-pressure hose) and AzMist filter have hose threads, while the GE filter
and Orbit valve have pipe threads.
Each adapter must make a connection between gender – female or male – and thread type – pipe or hose. When
looking for the right adapters, it's always best to test things in the store – take your filter(s) and valve with you.
Below you'll see the Omnifilter, not the GE water filter. We've now stopped using Omnifilter because some people
had problems with its blue container leaking. With GE, you simply replace the entire filter, there's no holding
container.
This photo shows a female hose to male pipe adapter between the AzMist filter and the Orbit valve,
but I personally found no need for a connector here – my AzMist filter screws directly into the
valve on one side and into a garden hose on the other.
Contents
Disclaimer
12. How to Attach an Automatic Fertilizer Unit
Thank you to Dean Pomerleau for this brain-wave (deanpomerleau.tripod.com/sprouter/index.html). You fit a hoseend fertilizer sprayer into the water-line, e.g. the Miracle-Gro Hose End Sprayer. These sprayers are about $5 at
garden centers. Dean writes: "It works like a charm."
Sproutman Steve Meyerowitz (sproutman.com) reports in his book Sprout It! :
"Plants have a remarkable ability to absorb nutrients through their leaves as well as their roots. ... Sprouts normally
have higher vitamin and mineral levels than regular vegetables because, as baby plants, their nutrients are more
concentrated. But, with the addition of liquid kelp fertilizer, these levels are elevated to rival vegetables grown
outdoors."
In a chart analyzing kelp meal (used to make liquid kelp) Steve gives "a short list of what you'll be adding to your
sprouts." It includes 60 minerals and trace minerals, 10 vitamins including B12, carotene, pantothene, 21 amino
acids, enzymes, alginates (protect against radiation), RNA, DNA and cell growth factors. Because of its low
nitrogen level, liquid kelp will not burn our baby plants.
Steve writes: "Some nutrients are more concentrated in kelp than in soil and are more available to the growing
sprouts because they are readily assimilable. The nutrient boost the sprouts get actually makes them heartier and can
improve taste and texture."
To automatically fertilize your greens, you simply screw a Hose End Sprayer into the water-line AFTER all water
filters. The Miracle-Gro "works on hydraulic pressure, so there's no suction tube to clog" (their advertizing). It has
a screw-off bottle called a reservoir for the soluble fertilizer. The Sprayer diverts a little water from the main hose
line into the reservoir, mixes the water with your liquid fertilizer and/or hydrogen peroxide, then water pressure
forces the mix back into the water line, to be sprayed onto your sprouts.
The reservoir is always full, as water from the hose line is squirted in, forcing the mixture of
fertilizer/disinfectant/water out. It is how diluted the liquid becomes that determines when it needs to be refilled. Since liquid kelp is dark brown in color, you can see when the color of the water in the reservoir bottle becomes
pretty clear, it's time to add more kelp. Steve advises to mix enough liquid kelp into the water to make it look like a
dark tea. You may first have to remove any sediment with a fine sieve.
seaspray.com has "the finest kelp fertilizer in the world" (their advertizing) – organic, cold-pressed – and they're an
environmentally responsible company. Our organic seed farmer, Jim Mumm of sprouting.com, also distributes it, so
we can order seeds and fertilizer together.
Their site makes for fascinating reading. You'll wonder how you ever grew sprouts without kelp fertilizer! They
confirm the research that seaweed fertilizer is absorbed equally effectively through both roots and leaves ("foliar
spraying"). Then they state that Miracle-Gro doesn't work at all with sprouts – "little benefit has been demonstrated
of spraying highly concentrated NPK fertilizers directly on leaves." Seaweed's so effective for plant growth because
of its "micronutrients and growth hormones."
Liquid kelp was expensive (not any more at seaspray) so I've never used it. I make sure I eat a different sea-weed
every day for minerals. In my experience, just eating the life force has power enough to heal and take away pain! There's such a synergy of nutrients in any plant that's alive – perfectly balanced life for our living bodies.
I recommend AGAINST using the powdered Miracle Gro fertilizer that comes with their Sprayer. Jim Mumm
reports that "it may contain chemicals that could be toxic if not rinsed off thoroughly." Furthermore, the excess
nitrogen and phosphorus in artificial fertilizers, and in animal wastes, causes phytoplankton (like algae and fungi) in
our rivers and oceans to proliferate out of control, so the poor fish and living corals die of suffocation. It's an
unsightly smelly green scum that makes the water unfit for drinking, swimming, and irrigation.
The Miracle-Gro does leak – that's why there's a bucket under it.
Here Dean's water-line (from faucet) comes in at the back right, then comes the AzMist filter, then the Miracle Gro
sprayer. On the left he has three mist-lines leading to separate valves for his three sprouters (you could also have
one mist-line and valve, and daisy-chain multiple sprouters one after the other). The bucket catches the water that
drips from the sprayer. It has a hole in the bottom with a drain hose leading to his laundry room floor drain.
On the front right is a hose which ends in a brass garden spray nozzle (not shown). Dean uses this hose to wash out
his sprouters on harvest day, but you don't need it. We take the plant trays out and switch the valve on manually,
for water to flow from the nozzles into the sprouter to wash it. I do it about once a month.
.
12.1. Dan's Feedback on Automatic Fertilizer Unit
Dan Schaefer, my sprouter builder, does not like this leaky method. He writes:
"I spent lots of time researching this. I've given up trying to design an automatic fertilizer solution. The
extremely low water-flow with our sprouter rules out using a venturi solution (which is the type of
solution mentioned above). I called a few companies and talked with their engineers. Nobody makes a
venturi solution for less than a water flow of 1/2 gallon per minute. Our water flow is about 1/10 gallon
per minute. There are other ways, but it would be much too costly."
"If you'd like to use fertilizer, then the best is to spray your plants with a hand-spray bottle once a day.
This is cheap and accurate!"
12.2. I Personally Don't Fertilize
I've never bothered with fertilizer. John & Phyllis Van H. write: "I talked with a friend of mine who is a
professional botanist. When I asked him about an alternative to the Miracle Gro, he responded: Why would you
want to fertilize sprouts? He went on to explain that fertilizing sprouts can actually be toxic to the sprout and inhibit
its growth. He added that the plants can not even utilize the minerals and nutrients until photosynthesis begins when
the plant begins to pull energy from the sun through its leaves. Up until that point the plant is growing from the
energy that was contained within the seed itself."
Contents
Disclaimer
13. How to Build a PVC Pipe Stand
Gene Green wrote: "I wanted to make a stand where I didn’t have to put metal screws through the sprouter. I came
up with this idea last night – it only takes an hour to build once you have the parts. You use cheap PVC pipe that’s
easy to work with. The Wrap ‘n Craft has a groove jutting out underneath that fits snugly inside the stand so the
sprouter doesn’t slide off."
When you cut the pipe, you lose the threading so you must use non-threaded Tee and Elbow pieces to connect all
piping.
A PVC Pipe Cutter Tool is an optional extra – you can use a saw but the pipe cutter works so well it’s like cutting
cardstock with scissors. If you use a saw, try to get the cut edges fairly smooth so they fit into the joint pieces
easily.
First put all pieces together without glueing them. Then set the stand on a table to push every joint in tight,
straighten legs, and get it tweaked just how you want it. Now drop a bead of glue around each joint to make it
permanent. Don't use glue if you plan to travel with your sprouter (disassemble the stand). You don't need PVC
cement because there’s no water in the pipes, plumbers glue is okay.
That’s it! When the glue has dried, you can file off any little defects on the joint pieces so they sit smoothly against
your growing container.
Stand for 6-tray Sprouter (Rubbermaid #2223 box) –
buy 1/2-inch PVC pipe parts:
4 Elbows
4 Tees
2 Back and Front End Pieces 13" each
2 Side Pieces 12" each
4 Connector Pieces 1-3/8" each to connect tee
to elbow (not shown)
Legs – Tall Back 3-1/2", Short Back 3-1/4",
Tall Front 2-1/2", Short Front 2-1/4"
Plus 4 Plastic or Rubber 7/8" Feet
Stand for 12-tray Sprouter (Rubbermaid Wrap 'n Craft
box) – buy 8.5 feet of 1/2-inch PVC pipe (two 5-ft
lengths are easy to carry home) and elbows, tees, feet
(furniture leg tips):
4 Elbows
6 Tees
4 Back and Front End Pieces 13-3/8" each
2 Side Pieces 10-1/8" each
4 Connector Pieces 1-3/4" each to connect tee
to elbow
Legs – Tall Back 5-1/4", Middle Back 4",
Short Back 2-3/4", Tall Front 4-1/4", Middle
Front 3", Short Front 1-3/4"
Stand for 5-tray Sprouter (19.5" square Sterilite box) –
buy 5.5 feet of 1/2-inch PVC pipe and elbows, tees,
feet:
4 Elbows
4 Tees
8 Pieces 6-11/16" each for back-front ends and
sides
Legs – Back 3" each, Front 2" each
Here the Wrap n Craft sits on its stand – the
drain hole is in front left corner. Ignore the
single line of nozzles at back – they should be
in the front too.
See how neatly the stand fits around the Wrap 'n Craft's
groove.
Contents
Disclaimer
14. Prepare Sprouter for Use
That’s it! You have built a fully automatic sprouter! Very satisfying, isn’t it? Mahatma Gandhi taught that we
should all work a little with our hands – remember him spinning his own cloth? Now that we've built this magical
sprouter, let's switch it on!
14.1. Choose the Best Spot for Sprouter
Use a firm level surface, where you can control room temperature. Avoid direct sunlight. Don’t let room
temperature go below 65 degrees in winter, or above 80 degrees in summer. Sprouts are happiest in the 70's. I use a
$3 room thermometer from the hardware store. Don’t place sprouter near a heat source like a stove or radiator.
If you don’t have enough light, install a grow light or full spectrum light above the sprouter so your greens will go
green! It’s critical we eat lots of green chlorophyll every day.
The sprouter should be at least 1.5 feet above the ground for drainage – table height is good.
14.2. Position Sprouter at Good Angle for Drainage
The growing container must slope toward the drain hole – it slopes down from back to front, and down from left to
right (when drain tube is in right corner). So the back must be higher than the front, and the left higher than the
right.
My drain tube is on the right. I have a 2-inch high brick under the back left, giving the back-front downward slope,
and an empty plastic audio tape box under the front left, giving the left-right downward slope – so all water flows
toward the drain hole, like this:
See brick under back left and audio tape under
front left, giving back-front and left-right
downward slope.
It's easy to build a stand for your sprouter – see How to Build a PVC Pipe Stand.
Let the drain-hole corner of your sprouter (my right front side) hang a little over the edge of the table, so the drain
tube leads straight down, and not along the table. The drain tube leads into a container to catch the waste water – or
directly into a floor drain or sink, or even the garden.
Cut off the drain tube so it ends halfway into the bottle or bucket that's catching the waste water. I use a twogallon bucket for this. You can use anything, e.g. a 5-gallon bucket. A one-gallon empty plastic water bottle is not
enough for longer misting periods. Use this drain water to water plants – it’s rich in minerals!
14.3. Connect Sprouter to its Water Supply
Now let's test the water line! First make sure the valve is closed – switch the black lever to its off position. With
the first valve I bought, this lever was broken. When you buy the valve, open the box at the store and make sure the
lever is there – you can see it in the valve picture on the box.
Next, if you’re using a faucet, screw the garden hose onto the faucet. Turn the faucet on. Or with an ice-maker kit,
switch the saddle valve on.
If you’re using a Flo-Master pump sprayer, remove the pump from the water tank (turn cap counter-clockwise) and
fill the tank with water to the Max Fill Line. Close tank – insert pump back in and turn clockwise to seal it tightly.
Connect the hose to the tank – insert the white siphon tube into the hose-end, then push the siphon firmly into the
small hole at the side of the tank, slide the hose nut over the threaded connection of the tank, and securely screw the
hose onto the tank.
Pressurize the pump sprayer. Unlock the pump handle – turn just it (not the cap) counter-clockwise. Pump the
handle up and down until it will pump no more (you hear air escaping from the pressure relief valve). You can’t
over-pump the PGX 1003 or any model you bought with a pressure relief valve – the sprayer's valve will release air
when the pressure reaches 40 psi. After pumping, the manual says to lock the handle firmly into the pump cap, but I
left it up for easy pumping at ay time.
14.4. Precautions with Pump Sprayer
From now on, every time you add water to the tank, FIRST RELEASE ALL PRESSURE OUT OF IT. Pull up on
the valve stem of the pressure relief valve until all air has escaped. NEVER OPEN A PRESSURIZED TANK – the
pump could shoot up into your face. After all air pressure is out, then only remove the pump and add water.
Please right now stick a note to the pump cap – FIRST RELEASE ALL AIR OUT OF THIS TANK BEFORE YOU OPEN
THIS CAP.
The manual says to never stand with face or body over the top of the tank when pumping or loosening pump. But
I'm not such a beautiful contortionist!
14.5. Turn on Water and Test All Connections
Switch the black lever on the valve to its On position. Water should immediately flow through the tubing, out the
mist nozzles, onto the plant trays, down their drain holes into the growing container, out the container into the drain
tube, and out into the bottle or bucket where the drain tube ends. Eureka! We did it!
Ensure that there are no leaks at the valve. If anything is leaking, tighten the connector with an adjustable wrench,
and, if needed, use a washer. I found the Qest coupling works perfectly with both valve and AzMist hose adapter,
so there should be no leak if you’re using it.
When you’re happy the automatic misting is working perfectly, switch off this black lever so the valve is again
closed.
14.6. Switch on Sprouter
Now switch your Sprouter on, at the mains plug. Remember the valve on/off lever (a black manual switch) remains
switched Off permanently (in the down position). Once you're satisfied with the water flow to your Sprouter, you
switch this black lever down, and leave it off. The timer switches the valve on internally.
Eureka! You did it! You're now the proud owner of the most advanced indoor hydroponic system on planet Earth
today – its working principles based on the latest research into NFT (nutrient film technique).
Now you'll enjoy fresh LIVING greens for the rest of your life. Watch for the amazing changes in your health and
energy over the next year.
The more fresh greens you BLEND into Energy Soup, and the more wheatgrass you JUICE with a wide variety of
dark green leaves, the quicker the changes in YOU.
I hope you install your second Sprouter soon – follow the green brick road...:) – love, Val
FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS
Gene in Houston, TX, writes: "I did have one 'accident' while making final connections. I'm
glad no one was video taping me or I'd have made it on Americas funniest home videos. I had
closed the manual valve switch to check for a faucet and filter leak before connecting the
misting hose. Great, no leaks when the water at the faucet was turned on. So then I go to
connect the adapter from the valve to the misting hose and as I was turning it I accidently hit
the little manual valve switch and the full pressure of water gushed out and hit me squarely in
the face and I backed off, only to have it hit the ceiling and it was like raining in the room. It
was not easy to find that little switch with a full stream of water shooting out all over. So for
dumb guys like me, if testing water leaks and pressure on the line as you go is done, it would
be really wise to turn off the supply when continuing to make connections. Duh. After all the
fun I had, it works beautifully."
Contents
Disclaimer
15. Ongoing Customer Additions
This is a shareware product with open code, so I receive beautiful customer additions. Bookmark this page and
check back from time to time – to make your next sprouter even better than the last!
15.1. Wooden Stand
Peter wrote: "Instead of a brick under the sprouter, I used two pieces of wood screwed in, to create a perfect angle
for the water to run into one corner and out through the drain hole."
You screw the wood on from inside the box, using two 1" Sheet Metal Stainless Steel Screws. The stands are cut out
of a 2"x 4" block and varnished before fixing to the box. Measurement of lower stand (drain hole side): 1-1/4" high
on the higher side, 3/4" on the lower side, 10-1/2" long. Higher stand is 2" on the high side, 1-1/4" on lower, 11-1/4"
long.
Close-up of the hinge joining lid to box.
Peter's wooden stands on each side, and his plexiglass lid. Do
you see the eight 6"x9" Rubbermaid trays, fitting snugly inside?
These bigger trays are useful for families.
15.2. Plexiglass Lid
I myself find it easy to remove the white lid each day, and sufficient light and air reaches my greens with the lid left
slightly open. My sunflower grow to a lovely green. I also find it easier to clean the removeable white lid.
However, Peter prefers a permanent fixed clear lid, so here's how he did it! He uses a matchbox to keep the lid
slightly open.
Buy (e.g. at Home Depot) a piece of clear plexiglass 32”x44” and 0.236" thick. Thinner quality will not work. Out
of the 32x44 piece, ask the store to cut you two pieces each 16" x 38-1/2" – making two lids for two Wrap 'n Crafts. Even if you're making one sprouter, the minimum size you can buy is 32x44.
Fix below the upper lip of the sprouter box, a piece of wood 1/12" x 1/2" and 36-1/4" long. Fix it temporarily with
scotch tape. Place the plexiglass on top of the box and two 4" x 2" brass hinges onto the plexiglass and over the
wood at a right angle. Drill with a 1/4" bit through the hinge holes, through the wood and the box, and fix the hinges
with 1/4" diameter, 1" long Bolts (4 per hinge) with nuts on the inside of the box. Then place the plexiglass again
under the hinges and mark the drill holes on the plexiglass. Drill CAREFULLY with not much pressure the holes
through the plexiglass and fix the glass to the hinges, using four 1/4" diam. 1/2" long nuts and bolts.
You can also bolt the lid directly to the plexiglass, without using any wood. Gene used two pieces of plexiglass, one
only 2-inches wide.
Three hinges made of heavy-duty plastic (type used on igloo
coolers) join the front piece of plexiglass to the back 2-inch
piece. Gene used stainless steel nuts and bolts to attach the
hinges, and to bolt the back piece to the container. He found the
Wrap ‘n Craft lip works great as a seat and he didn't need any
back wood piece.
Close-up of the hinge joining front piece of plexiglass to back 2inch piece. The front part lifts up and the 2" strip in back is
bolted to the container. Note the two bolts fixing back piece to
Wrap 'n Craft lip.
We don't offer the the plexiglass lid in the Sprouter Kits because, as Gene wrote, "it is such a hassle to make, and
adds to shipping weight. I personally don't like it. You have to prop it open for air and it's top heavy for the
sprouter. The Rubbermaid lid is easily removed for working inside the sprouter but the plexiglass has to be held up. It makes it much more difficult to clean the sprouter. I think it is unnecessary."
15.3. Plant Trays with Legs
Gene used DV International trays from KMart, each 12x3x2"
(instead of the Rubbermaid drawer organizers). Each has riser
"legs" underneath that keep it off the bottom of the sprouter for
better drainage. Notice the almonds at each end - good for
stopping small seeds from running down on day one. By day two
their little roots keep them in place.
Gene's lovely tray of wheatgrass growing alongside six trays of
baby greens and bean sprouts in a big Wrap 'n Craft. This would
cost about $560 in a noisy factory-made sprouter.
15.4. Screens for Small Seeds
Dean Pomerleau writes: “Val suggests using a barrier of big seeds to prevent small seeds from clogging the drain
holes in the trays [note from Val - I do it for teff only]. Since I’m planting 30 trays of new seeds each week, I found
this solution to be much too time consuming. Instead, I use small pieces of standard window screen [wire mesh]
held in place with clothes pins, to form a barrier over the drain holes."
In our conference rooms, Dean shows a different way to make these screens. Check his site at
deanpomerleau.tripod.com/sprouter/index.html.
Also see Preventing Seeds + Roots from Clogging Tray Holes.
"These screens and clothes pins can be seen here,
preventing the small seeds of alfalfa and clover from
clogging the drain holes of two trays.
If you are around, it helps to remove the screens after a
couple days (once the seeds have germinated) to prevent
the roots of the sprouts from getting too entwined in the
screen. But if not, it is pretty easy at harvest time to rinse
off the few sprouts that do grow into the screens."
Contents
Disclaimer
16. How to Keep Sprouter Clean
Trays – scrub plant trays out with soap and hot water after harvesting. You can also put them in the dish washer. It’s good to have ultra-clean growing conditions. I use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide regularly for the trays
(not daily!). Don't use chlorine – it makes the fish go blind.
Nozzles – get calcium and mineral build-up over time. Once a month, unscrew all mist nozzles and soak them for
24-48 hours in Arizona Mist Nozzle Cleaner (a citrus-based, non-toxic, biodegradable liquid) to dissolve the buildup of minerals. Screw your spare set of nozzles into the T-fittings.
Arizona Mist advises not to use white vinegar – it's not good for the fine holes in the nozzles. If you live overseas,
then use warmed white vinegar to soak your nozzles, because AzMist Nozzle Cleaner is expensive to ship outside
USA.
Also with clogged nozzles, one reader uses a syringe to squirt some water in the opposite direction to unclog them.
If your water is hard (mineral-rich) and your nozzles clog quickly, Teus Benschop in Holland found that taping
magnets to each side of the tubing after the valve solved this problem. The magnets place a charge on the minerals
long enough to stop them from sticking to the inside of nozzles. You can use ordinary magnets or special antilimestone magnets. Anti-limestone will even unclog partially blocked pipes (plastic or hose pipes, not metal).
With magnets, your plants and you get the calcium you need (unlike AzMist's calcium inhibitor filter) and your
nozzles happily spray along.
Growing Container – is so easy to clean (compared to factory-made sprouters). While nozzles soak, remove all
trays from the growing container, and switch the valve on manually so water pours into the container. Scrub out the
container while the water flows – I use a big nail-brush. This removes all the stains. I also wipe my container with
a sponge whenever it looks dirty.
Drain Tube – gets black with microbes, which isn't a problem because it's your drain tube, it's nowhere near your
sprouts. It's simply unsightly when it's dirty. Quickest way to clean it is to pour boiling hot water down the tube.
Another way is to remove tubing, place thumb on one end, pour hydrogen peroxide into the tube, close the other end
with finger, and shake it vigorously. Most of the microbes (and black markings) bubble up to the top. At some
point you'll want to put a fresh clean tube in – this plastic tubing is in local hardware stores.
Pump Sprayer – if you’re using a water container (not faucet), clean the water tank once every 2-3 months. I'd depressurize it, take out the pump and hose, empty it of all water, pour a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide into it,
screw the cap back in and shake it around, then empty out the peroxide, and rinse the tank out with hot water. I
don’t like soap in my tank. The peroxide kills micro-organisms.
The plunger seal in the pump must be lubricated often with petroleum jelly – see instructions in Flo-Master box.
17. How to Grow Sprouts and Greens
Never soak the seeds beforehand. Sprinkle them straight into the plant tray. This is a big benefit of an automatic
sprouter, because minerals are always lost in the soak water. Your sprouts will be higher in minerals than those
grown in jars or hemp bags.
17.1. Fill One Tray a Day with Seeds
You should have five trays. To harvest a tray a day of greens on rotation, you fill tray one on day one, tray two on
day two, and so on. On day five, you harvest tray one and re-plant it.
First spray the bottom of the tray with filtered water, using a hand sprayer – the water drops help to hold the
seeds in place.
Hand Spray
Sprinkle a few teaspoons of seeds evenly across the bottom of the tray, in one layer – how many teaspoons
depends on the size of the seeds and of your trays. Leave a 1/2-inch space at each end so the seeds don’t run into
the drain holes. I use a little 1/2-inch paint-brush (the one I use to clean out my nut-seed grinder) to brush the seeds
away from the ends, and a paper clip to remove them from the holes if they fall in.
Sprinkle seeds evenly – leave a space on each end. Can you see
the drain holes at each end?
Don’t fill the tray with too many seeds. It’s better to start with less, then when you get used to what is needed for
your size trays, you can sprinkle more in. Each seed needs space to grow. They can be touching but should not be
piled up on each other.
This applies to baby greens, wheatgrass, sunflower and buckwheat greens (unhulled buckwheat). For bean sprouts
and buckwheat cereal (hulled buckwheat), you can pile them up, as they get harvested so quickly – mung beans
actually love weight, the ones at the bottom grow thicker and faster.
Kick-start the seeds by spraying them lightly with the hand sprayer. Then place this tray in the growing
container.
17.2. Leave the Lid Slightly Open
Place the lid on the container, LEAVING IT SLIGHTLY OPEN BY ONE INCH TO LET AIR IN, and natural
or full-spectrum light – not too open because sprouts like a little humidity (you’re simulating soil being rained on). The hotter it is, the more open the lid should be.
The next day place the second tray of seeds in the container. Start each new tray closest to the drain hole, where
the incline is smallest. On the higher raised side, where the sprouter slopes down more, the mist would wash the
seeds into the drain holes in the plant tray, blocking them. By the second day, the seeds have positioned themselves,
sprouted little rootlets and can’t be budged by the mist.
It’s good to mix larger seeds (like fenugreek or broccoli) with smaller seeds (like alfalfa or clover). When they’re
all small, they run more easily into the drain holes. If I don't want a mixture (e.g. teeny teff I like to eat alone,
because it's a grass) then I place large seeds, like French blue lentils, at each end of the tray, so the teff runs into the
lentils, not into the drain holes. So, looking at the photo above, I'd have drain holes on the left, white space, 1/4inch blue lentils, teff in most of the tray, then 1/4-inch lentils, white space, drain holes on the right.
The mist does wash a few seeds down on day one. I use my little brush to sweep them back to rejoin the other
seeds.
After five days, when you have five trays of greens growing, harvest the first tray you planted, scrub out the
harvested tray, and re-fill it with fresh seeds. Place it back in the sprouter. In the hot summer, baby greens are
ready for harvesting after four days, mung beans after one. After a while, you'll get a natural feel for when to
harvest.
The greens should always have white roots – if they're a soggy brown, you've left them in too long. When I do this,
I simply cut off the matted roots before rinsing the green tops in my bowl of water. Most greens develop teeny hairlike cilia roots. This is NOT mold! It's a living growing plant with roots. You can easily tell mold, because it goes
black.
Sunflower are amazing! You can leave them in 'till they're six inches high! I've never seen anything like this,
outside of using trays of soil.
17.3. Rinse off Hulls from Greens
Rinse the baby greens before eating, to remove the hulls and unsprouted seeds. Fill a big bowl with filtered water,
pour the greens in, and swish vigorously with your hand. The hulls fall to the bottom and side. Scoop the greens
out with a sieve.
I don’t bother rinsing the bean hulls. Grains don’t have hulls. Some nutritionists eat alfalfa etc. hulls for their
fiber. I prefer to get my fiber from raw fruits and vegetables, not from seed hulls nor from powdered fiber in a can.
Unsprouted seeds have inhibitors in them (low-level toxins) such as phytic and oxalic acids and trypsin inhibitors. As the seed grows, some inhibitors go through chemical and enzymatic changes, while others are water-soluble so
they wash away in the daily mistings. For this reason, never use waste water to water your sprouts, as the factorymade FreshLife sprouter does – it recycles its own dirty water.
There are no inhibitors, other than in trace amounts, in a 5-day-old green leaf.
17.4. The False Alfalfa Scare
As for alfalfa causing lupus, this is nonsense. The experimenters (a society that needs to experiment on animals to
stay alive is a society not worth keeping alive) fed the trapped monkeys raw alfalfa seeds, ground into biscuits. They never used mature sprouts that have shed their hulls and evolved into a tiny green plant. No one in their
right mind would eat raw legume seeds of any kind, including alfalfa. Other legumes are all the dried beans and
peas. Fresh growing legumes, like mung bean sprouts, are delicious!
The natural inhibitors in legumes stop them from growing until environmental conditions are ideal (moisture,
warmth, etc). Once you soak the bean and grow it into a plant, there’s a mere trace of these inhibitors, if any –
naturally, as there’s nothing for them to inhibit any more, the seed is growing!
A full report on the lupus study, and how there are no toxins in 5-day-old baby greens like alfalfa – which includes
an interview with the actual experimenters – is in the book, Sprouts The Miracle Food - The Complete Guide to
Sprouting by Steve Meyerowitz, ISBN #1-878736-04-3.
Alfalfa sprouts are a rich source of canavanine, an amino acid analog that helps prevent the growth of many
cancers. As Sproutman Steve writes in Power Juices Super Drinks (ISBN # 1-57566-528-X) – "Those muscular
2,000 pound cows and horses don't need a lab report to tell them how nutritious alfalfa is. They determine the
nutritive value with their instinct."
17.5. Refrigerate in Air-tight Containers
Store all your freshly-picked sprouts (greens, beans, grains) in the refrigerator in air-tight containers, if you don't eat
them right away. This way you can keep, say, sprouted garbanzo for days, then make hummus when you’ve time. They last longer if you don’t wash them before refrigerating.
For the greens, lift them straight out of their plant tray (with two hands – they stick together) and place upright in the
air-tight container. Only rinse them before eating. I keep mine in a 5-inch high Tupperware-like bread bin, so they
don't get squashed.
Remember, the ultimate living food is to have the sprouts still growing on your plate when you eat them –
straight from sprouter to mouth, no refrigeration. Both macrobiotics and raw foodists say refrigeration is unnatural. Certainly enzymes and vitamin C die quickly after harvesting.
Ann Wigmore's simple key to healing is – high-enzyme (living) easy-to-digest (blended) nourishment. I've yet to
see anyone anywhere on earth come up with a better formula than that!
We're talking the food of our Creator here, the miracle of life, blended because many of us – when we finally decide
to heal ourselves – are in too much pain to digest it whole.
"Blending does not remove any element from the food. People have made the statement that
blenders do not exist in Nature. My answer to this is that never before have there existed in
Nature digestive problems as severe as we are now experiencing." ( Ann Wigmore, Rebuild Your
Health, Ann Wigmore Foundation, San Fidel, NM, 1991)
Contents
Disclaimer
18. Solutions to Mold – The Best
The cause of mold is dead seed trapped in moisture, especially in moist air (humidity). Or living seed
unable to grow because it’s far too hot or too cold, and trapped in moisture.
Trapped moisture will attract mold even without any seed! Have you noticed if you leave your shower
curtains closed, they dry out and stay free of mold for a long time? But if you leave them open after
showering, water droplets are trapped in the folds and black mold rapidly develops.
If you live in the dry south-west (NM, AZ) you may never see mold. If you live in the humid east (NY
to FL) with no air-conditioning, beware of wheatgrass – the mold maverick!
Wheatgrass is more subject to mold because the growing period is double that of greens (except
sunflower) so there's more time for bad seeds to go moldy. If there is mold, it begins to emerge after
about seven days.
Rather than drink wheatgrass juice, I prefer to eat a variety of fresh living greens every day. I wish I
could persuade everyone to do the same, and put wheatgrass second!
A few times a week in my first year of healing, I drank green juices – lots of fresh greens juiced with
wheatgrass. Nowadays I grow an occasional tray of wheatgrass to chew on. Even this I do only in the
city. In the country there’s so many wild weeds to chew daily, and they’re far more nutritious than
hybrid wheatgrass. Welcome dandelions into your garden!
If you ever get mold, here's a few solutions to try – the first 4 are the best.
18.1. Buy Best Quality Seed
If your seeds aren’t germinating and you’re seeing mold, step one is to CHANGE YOUR SEED. It’s a
myth that seeds hidden in the pyramids for thousands of years, will sprout when planted. Truth is the
longer a seed is stored, the more it loses its vital force. Like any other living being, a seed slowly dies.
If your seeds were in a supplier’s warehouse or store for months or years, especially un-refrigerated,
they’ll have a low germination rate. They won’t grow, they’ll go moldy when watered.
When you buy seed in quantity, try to refrigerate as many bags as you can, especially the smaller seeds
like alfalfa. Of course you must always keep the fatty seeds – flax, pumpkin, sesame and hulled
sunflower – in the refrigerator.
Jim Mumm, who supplies high-quality organic wheatgrass seeds at sprouting.com, writes:
"The best defense against mold is to use good seed, with as few dead seeds as possible. At
sprouting.com, we aim for as high a germination count as possible, but even if you have 99% there will
still be one dead seed in a hundred. We can't guarantee zero mold, but then no one can. Even wheatgrass
grown outside will have some contamination from mold.
If there is dead material and moisture, there will be mold unless you are dealing with a special germ-free
environment."
Jim continues: "Wheatgrass can usually be cut above the mold, or moldy sections removed. I don't think
carefully grown wheatgrass will be a problem unless the person has a super extreme mold allergy."
18.2. Keep Temperatures Comfortable
Seeds love a climate in the 70's F (21-26° C). These are babies – they don’t thrive under any conditions.
They need mothering.
The rule is, temperature should not go below 65°F (18.3°C) in winter, or above 80°F (26.6°C) in
summer.
If it’s freezing cold or boiling hot, the smaller seeds in particular, like alfalfa, won’t grow. In freezing
cold, they grow so slowly, the roots turn brown. In boiling hot and humid, they stick together in a soggy
mess.
When I lived in a non-air conditioned apartment in Brooklyn, I never used my sprouter in July-August
when perspiration was pouring off us in New York. There were so many fresh soil-grown greens at the
farmer’s market then, in mid-summer, I never needed my hydroponics.
Dean reports the same experience in Philadelphia: “I was using the same batch of seeds before, during
and after my bout with mold. My seeds come from a reputable vendor (Mumm's) and the temperature of
my sprouter is never above 75 deg, even in summer. I suspect it was the higher humidity during the
summer.”
18.3. Change Watering Frequency
There’s no “right way” to water. It’s best to adjust watering frequency and duration as the seasons
change.
Extra misting may eliminate mold problems. The fine mist moves stale air out and brings fresh
oxygenated air in – much better than rinsing with big droplets of water (as one does with jars).
First try my sprouter instructions for misting, especially in summer, eight mistings in 24 hrs, 5+ mins
each time.
Heat isn’t the problem in the summer, it’s humidity – damp air or “wet heat.” In New York I got mold in
the humid summer, but in New Mexico I never saw any mold in the dry heat.
Dean tried watering less time, 3 minutes instead of 8, on the principle that if you mist less, there's less
moisture and therefore less mold.
I believe it may work better to mist more (for the additional oxygen) then to dry the seeds a little with
mini-fans, which also keep the air (oxygen) circulating.
The most extreme solution is to water so little that only wheatgrass can grow and no other seed. Pam
uses this in her multi-level wheatgrass grower.
18.4. Use Hydrogen Peroxide (HP)
Hydrogen peroxide or H2 O2 (HP) is an ideal microbe-killer because it’s so high in oxygen.
HP comes in two forms – the 3% dilution laced with pollutants that’s easy to find at household stores
(used for cuts, wounds) and food-grade HP in 12% and 35% dilution sold at pharmacists. Considering
the low concentration we use, the expensive food-grade may not be essential.
HP’s benefit is that you can apply it automatically, through the in-line fertilizer unit. Or soak the seeds
in it (5 hours small seeds, 10 hours large) and then hand-spray them in the sprouter once or twice a day
with HP in the sprayer.
rawhealth.net/h2o2.htm recommends one ounce of 3% (or 16 drops 35%) HP to one pint of water, and
soak the seeds overnight. Add the same amount of HP each time you hand-spray your seeds. For house
and garden plants, they recommend an ounce or 16 drops per quart of water.
A 3% solution is made by adding one ounce of 35% HP to eleven ounces of purified or distilled water.
One member, David in Los Angeles, uses an expensive in-line fertilizer unit – the Dosmatic at $200 –
with 35% HP in it. He writes:
“My dosmatic HP approach has proven itself to eliminate 100% of the white fluffy mold. It hasn't
eliminated some of the black mold that occurs around dead seeds, but at least that is always below the
line at which I cut the grass, so it doesn't get in the way. I think they're different types of mold. It
appears to me that black mold grows more on dead seeds, whereas white mold grows on the living and
sprouting.
Dosmatic is precise. With my unit, the Advantage A20, you can set it from 0 to 2.5%. I'm using 2.5%, or
40:1 dilution on HP35. I mist it once a day for 30 seconds with the HP solution. That costs me about
$2/week in HP. With this approach, I never need to clean the sprouter. The HP does it automatically in
its once-a-day mistings. It's a brute force approach, but it works. Now it's automatic!”
So with David’s approach, the sprouts are kept moist and growing, while the hydrogen peroxide kills the
mold.
First David tried the cheaper EzGro unit ($55) but he found it imprecise for setting the HP dilution ratio.
He writes: “I don't think it's designed to work with misters or drip systems, even though it says it is. My
EZ Gro had a catastrophic failure. One of the plastic parts broke while in use, resulting in a spray of
water everywhere. I had to junk it.”
The cheapest $5 Miracle-Gro leaks – you need a bucket under it, as in Dean’s photo in Automatic
Fertilizer Unit. It too has no way of controlling the dilution ratio.
The Dosmatic is expensive but it’s more resistant to failure than the Miracle-Gro and EZ Gro.
Above is David's double mist-line – one for misting and one for
spraying HP solution once a day. He's using Ocean Breeze nozzles at
gallon per hour, not the recommended AzMist at 1/2 gph.
On the left you see the Dosmatic automatic fertilizer unit which
David uses for spraying the HP.
Contents
Disclaimer
© Copyright 2000-to-date Valerie K. Archer - Get more Free Delights at
GreenSmoothie.com
18.5. Use Ozone
Another way is to ozonate your water. A link for ozonators is sotainstruments.com/ozone and for pumps
it’s flojet.com. Also search google.com (best search engine) for more sites.
First you ozonate a container of water and then use an electric pump connected to the mist-tubing to
shoot the water into the mist-nozzles, in the same way a Flojet pump will shoot filtered water into the
hose of an icemaker. Remember the nozzles need water pressure of 50-60 psi (60 pounds per square
inch, or 4.2kg per sq.cm) whereas the Flojet icemaker pump is 30 psi.
Is anyone using ozone yet? There seems to be a fear that too much ozone in the room will irritate and
inflame our lungs, see lungusa.org/air/envozone.html.
Nelson Doucet writes in our conference rooms: “An acrid smell and irritation to the throat is an
indication of too much ozone and would be noticeable to humans long before over-exposure. Ozone in
water has a short life and when it encounters ANY impurities it becomes active and then turns into
oxygen.”
A tight lid on the bucket of ozone water, and good ventilation or a fan, will reduce ozone concentration
in the air. Plus ozone is a volatile short-lived molecule. As soon as its free oxygen atom has coupled
with an electron in the outer skin of the mold (thus killing it), it’s no longer damaging to you.
Ed McCabe’s book Oxygen Therapies swears by the health benefits of ozone. In Europe, it’s used to
successfully heal terminally ill patients, such as AIDS and cancer. Over time, ozone turns the dark black
color of diseased blood (like cancer) into a bright oxygen-rich red. If I took seriously ill, I’d drink
ozonated water daily.
Our most experienced wheatgrass member, Mary Lou, uses ozone. She writes:
“Regarding mold – since ozone quickly kills mold and neutralizes toxins, I believe that using ozone
water to soak my seed overnight, ozonating the barely sprouted wheat for about 1/2 hour just before
spreading the seed out on my growing tray, spraying the growing wheat with ozonated water, and then
blending my wheatgrass in ozonated water, takes care of any mold that might be present and neutralizes
toxins from any dead mold that might be there.
When I neglect to ozonate my barely sprouted wheat before spreading it out in a tray to finish growing,
I do have some mold problems. Obviously your Automatic Sprouter – set up so it mists fresh Ozone
water – would be the ULTIMATE.”
Mary Lou is using hand-sprayed hydroponic (soil-less) growing above, not our sprouter. She blends her
wheatgrass with water and squeezes it through material (blouse cloth) instead of juicing it.
Nelson’s thought is to “use a container with tight lid, say 30 gallons, to ozonate the water. I was
thinking of using siphon action allowing maybe 1 part ozone to 6 parts water. It would have to be last in
line just before the misters and could also contain the kelp for fertilizing.”
Nelson continues: “On the subject of using ozone for mold control, the best approach may be with units
from the spa industry. A good site is spadepot.com – see after-market installations.
18.6. Use Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)
There’s regular GSE and the stronger Citricidal. That’s Grapefruit Seed Extract, NOT grape seed
extract.
Gene, who built several large sprouters in Texas, e-mailed me:
"Living in Humid Houston, I've had some mold show up once in a while. I've completely eliminated it
by very lightly misting a GSE mixture directly on my growing babies.
I put eight drops in a cup of water in my hand mister and give them a very light spray when starting the
seeds, and every day or two just a light spray as they are growing. NO MOLD! You can also put 15
drops in the soak water for wheatgrass seed if you soak them.
I wash all my raw foods in GSE to kill any bad stuff that is lurking round to get me! Some people use a
little bleach diluted in water for a veggie wash. The GSE is more effective and less toxic. A bottle is
somewhat expensive but using drops, it lasts a long time. A $20 bottle lasts me about two months and I
use it almost every day.
I have a graphical chart showing specific lab comparisons of GSE to iodine, chlorine, bleach and many
others. It compared in effectiveness in parts per million and also toxicity. GSE was just as or more
effective in killing pathogens as any other and toxicity was WAY less than them all. In diluted amounts,
it was almost completely safe. In fact, it is used as treatment in third world countries for Candida,
Giardia infections, etc. They put some drops in water and drink it.
When I've eaten something bad and your guts are letting you know, even have diarrhea from something
bad, I just take a dose or two and it totally takes care of it. Incredible results. I follow it up with some
good stuff like Acidophilus to replace what got cleaned out."
David writes in our conference rooms: “I might consider applying grapefruit seed extract as a fungicide
manually, but I don't see an easy way to apply it automatically. The dilution ratio is about 3:1, and all
the automatic fertilizer injectors I've seen (dosmatic, dositron, ez gro) have minimum ratio's of 100:1,
which would create too dilute a solution.”
It’s possible that GSE is not killing the mold, but rather its preservatives are doing the job. Dean emailed me a study ("Aspects of the antimicrobial efficacy of grapefruit seed extract and its relation to
preservative substances contained," Pharmazie, 54(6):452-6 1999 Jun.) where anti-microbial activity
was found ONLY in GSE with preservatives like benzethonium chloride and methyl parabene. The GSE
that had no preservatives and self-made GSE did not work at all.
The study ends: “it is concluded that the potent antimicrobial activity being attributed to grapefruit seed
extract is merely due to the synthetic preservative agents contained within.”
Not only are you spraying heavy preservatives onto your sprouts, but maybe these are killing the mold,
and not the GSE!
I doubt every “scientific” study until I know who’s financing it. The way to test this one is to use only
certified organic, preservative-free GSE and see if it works for killing mold.
Chemistry informs us that acid is a reductant (has atoms with extra electrons), hence it’s a mold-killer
just like oxygen (oxides are typically acidic). Grapefruit (and I assume its seed) has strong acids. So
common sense tells me the anti-GSE study is questionable.
I always wash my store-bought veggies in apple cider or grape vinegar to kill microbes, one tablespoon
of vinegar to a bowl of water. Picked up this tip from Paul Pitchford’s Healing With Whole Foods.
18.7. Use a Sprouter Mini-Fan and a Room Fan
Jim Mumm e-mailed me: “Growers who have the facilities (large rooms to grow in) sometimes use fans
to move lots of air, and this seems to help.” Likewise, some members are using mini-fans to reduce heat
and humidity in the summer months.
Dean Pomerleau fitted a small 12V fan from Radio Shack inside each sprouter, to constantly circulate
air through it. He also installed a large room fan to circulate air from the ceiling to the floor, to prevent
his top sprouters from being hotter than the bottom ones.
Dean writes in our conference rooms: “It’s really quite simple. The mini-fan is approximately 1.5"
square. I've cut a hole about the same size in my Wrap-n-Crafts, on the small side just below the upper
lip, next to where the drip tube enters the Wrap-n-Craft. I then drilled two holes in the lip, and hung the
fan from these holes using wire-ties. The fan sits right in front of this hole, with about 1/2 inch between
the fan and the side of the Wrap-n-Craft. I face the fan inward, so air blows into the Wrap-n-Craft and
escapes through the crack at the lid. I leave the fan on 24h per day.”
David tried mounting the fan in the lid directly above the center of the tray, where his mold was
concentrated – unlike Dean’s, who wrote: “when I get mold, it usually starts near the low side of the tray
where the water drains out.”
If you use fans, you need to keep a balance between drying the seeds and keeping them moist. Dean’s
stay moist between mistings. David tried completely drying them out between mistings and found “the
result is basically almost nothing sprouts.”
Here's David's two mini-fans in the sprouter lid. He also tried drilling ventilation holes
down the center, after he got mold, but these made no difference.
18.8. Water the Roots Only
I discuss this in Unique Tips for Produce Greens. Mold grows around the stems, so if you can keep
them dry, and water the roots only, you reduce mold.
David tried the extreme method of growing his wheatgrass on mesh in each plant tray, then once the
roots began to grow through the mesh, he transferred it to another tray filled with water outside the
sprouter. The roots soaked in the water, while the grass grew above the mesh!
But this is extra labor – you must repeatedly change the water so the pool of water the roots are in stays
fresh, unless you use a drip system. In the end, David switched to automatic hydrogen peroxide spraying
with the expensive Dosmatic fertilizer unit.
18.9. Reduce Seeds per Tray and Use a Grow Mat
Because we must lower the residual moisture inside the plant trays in humid weather, reducing how
closely the seeds are packed together will also cut down on stickiness between them. This is particularly
true of garbanzo (chick peas) and the larger beans, which love their space.
Also, you can drain moisture away from the seeds by growing them on a strip of material, instead of on
the plastic. You cut the material into lengths to fit the bottom of your trays, e.g. use sack cloth (from the
farmer’s market or health store) or the Baby Blanket at sprouting.com which is organic felted jute (a
grass).
18.10. Eliminate Mold Spores from Air
I found a neat unit at a local hardware store in South Africa that stops mold spores in their tracks in the
air, before they ever reach the sprouts. I'm sure a similar unit must be in US stores for $20 or less.
I can’t test it for sprouting because I never get mold. Here’s its description:
The HumiDri de-humidifier is a small 6-inch high container that you place next to [your sprouter]. It
prevents unwanted mold and mildew where it starts – in the air – by absorbing moisture into non-toxic
flakes in the container.
HumiDri is ideal where humidity is a problem. Tests show that if a HumiDri is placed in a closed
chamber, it takes three hours to reduce the relative humidity from 90% to 50%.
To use it, you remove the grid-lid, open the bag of flakes and empty them into the lower plastic basket.
Replace lid, and HumiDri is now ready for use. The lower basket (initially dry) slowly fills with water
as the flakes capture moisture from the air. A packet of flakes lasts for several weeks. When the basket
has filled with water, you empty it, and refill with fresh flakes. HumiDri neither uses energy nor pollutes
the atmosphere.
Contents
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© Copyright 2000-to-date Valerie K. Archer - Get more Free Delights at
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18B. No Call for Bugs
If you've ever eaten organic, you know that bugs love our food as much as we do! When you see no
bug or mold in your food for months on end – like that old pasta tucked away in the back of your
cupboard – you know you've got one wrong food there. If bugs aren't attracted, don't you be!
Remember, bugs are less harmful to people than insecticides. Bugs are a synergistic balanced raw food! Actually I never have a problem with bugs and you need not see them either, unless you live in a
swampy land like Florida where bugs are a way of life.
18B.1. Bugs in Your Seeds
Grains are the worst for bugs. Buy your seeds from a good sprout seed supplier. Bugs can be in bulk
bins and in air-tight packages, so buying packaged-only isn't a variable. More critical is the supplier.
Jim Mumm at sprouting.com told me their grains are kept in ultra-cold storage in winter, and they've
never had a problem with bugs. He writes: “If our seeds have bugs, let us know. We always stand
behind our products. If you are suspicious of any lot bought from a source where there may be bugs,
freeze it for as long as you can. It varies with the bug, but most adults are killed by any freezing and
most eggs are killed by home freezer temperature for a week or more.”
For the same reason, if you feed your carnivore cats raw fish and bird (organic chicken and turkey) – not
cow, cows are not a natural food for cats – then do as I do, divide the meat into meal-size portions and
freeze it, taking it out the freezer the night before feeding. That way parasites and other microbes are
killed.
Freezing kills bugs and their eggs. Enzymes (and hence life) die at very high temperatures (cooking)
and very low. We saw how the Antarctic and Mt. Everest explorers suffered from frost-bite, and even
death from freezing. Of course freezing doesn't help if the seeds are already so infested, they're
unusable.
Store as many seeds in the refrigerator as you can, as eggs can't hatch at fridge temperatures. When I
was first healing and eating a huge variety of home-grown greens, I bought a second refrigerator for my
seeds alone.
Use air-tight jars. Seeds need to breathe, but very little, so storing them in air-tight jars is fine. But airtight doesn't help if eggs are already in the seeds – they'll still hatch. Air-tight simply keeps your seeds
fresher for longer. Open the jar once a month to allow a little air in for your living breathing seeds.
18B.2. Flies and Other Fauna in Sprouts
There are two ways to control the tiny vinegar flies, fruit flies, roaches, and other fauna attracted to your
sprouts. One is to enclose your sprouter in window screening. The other is to vacuum the little flies
away!
These flies love fruit and sprouts. The secret is to keep new generations from hatching in some rotting
fruit, until all the adults die (refrigerate ripe fruit). Or simply knock off the adults yourself.
Years ago when I had a terrible problem with tiny flies around my soil-growing wheatgrass, I
vacuumed them up into the long chute of my vacuum cleaner (doesn’t work with an upright vacuum!). They never had a chance to reproduce and quickly died out. However, I felt bad about their slow
suffocating death.
More humane is to use window screen to keep them away. Harold Breyde writes in our conference
rooms:
“Since my sprouter is outside, and noticing the one-inch open top was allowing our local fauna (tiny
fruit flies, mosquitos and those dear roaches!) access, I decided on a new modification to the lid. I cut
five neat 3-inch round holes in it and covered each hole inside with window screen held in place with
aluminum duct tape. They let air in, but no bugs. They will have to get their free showers elsewhere!”
Contents
Disclaimer
19. Seeds That Will Sprout
When buying seeds, remember variety, freshly-picked, and organic are the three ground rules for health and
healing. Try to buy non-hybridized varieties.
Buy seeds from different suppliers because different soils have different nutrients. Also, germination rates vary,
even from the same supplier – one time their soya may be great, the next time it won’t sprout. Very old seeds
hardly sprout at all (the myth about sprouting the seeds from a pharoah's tomb is not true, I've read).
Don’t mix seeds of different types in the same plant tray – as they have different growing times. So don’t mix
baby greens with grains or beans (except lentil grows nicely with greens).
Seeds of the same type grow well together. So different grains can be grown together, as can different beans and
different greens. Be careful with mixing beans – some like mung and lentil grow very quickly, and others like soya
and chick pea take longer. Experiment!
I prefer to mix 3-4 greens per tray (e.g. fenugreek, alfalfa and radish, or broccoli, garlic and clover) so as to get a
variety of tastes and nutrients. But I always grow grains and beans alone, one at a time, a different one each day. Except French (blue) lentil and kamut – I grow them together in one tray. They grow at the same rate and taste
delicious. This grain and bean combo gives you all essential amino acids in one meal.
Grains and beans are ready in 2-3 days (one day for mung in summer, one day for quinoa and hulled buckwheat). Baby greens are ready in 4-5 days, bigger greens like sunflower and unhulled buckwheat take 8-10 days. After time,
you’ll learn how long to leave each type of seed growing, so it tastes best to you.
19.1. Baby Greens
These are the seeds that are typically sold for growing baby greens in your automatic sprouter – alfalfa, broccoli,
cabbage, canola, cauliflower, celery, clover, daikon, dill, fenugreek, garlic, kale, lettuce, mesculin, mizuna, mustard,
onion, radish, tatsoi, turnip – and everything that you know which has a green leaf!
Canola is mild with a slight cabbagey taste. Broccoli raab is similar but slightly sharper. Both are much milder
than mustard and radish.
It’s so lovely, isn’t it, that today we can buy low-cost sprout seeds for every plant we normally eat as a tired old
mature vegetable. I’m eating fresh 5-day-old baby lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, the works! All with the energy
typical of babies.
To grow carrot greens, cut off the bottom ends of fresh organic carrots (about an inch from the stalk) and place the
ends flat in a tray, with the green stalk facing up. I read this in a sprout book but haven't tried it yet!
Always mix a variety of baby greens in the same cartridge. One day I’ll grow a sulfur green like cabbage,
broccoli or kale, mixed with a softer-tasting green like fenugreek, clover or alfalfa, and a spicy green like radish,
garlic or onion.
The next day I’ll use one of the store mixes – e.g. from Wild Oats or sproutpeople.com (their Oriental, French,
Russian, Italian or Long Life mix). Mixes have unusual seeds like fennel, dill and lentil in them, but they often
don’t sprout well in mid-summer when it’s humid.
Alfalfa is rich in minerals and trace elements – its roots grow more than 100 feet deep – and it has all essential
amino acids and all known vitamins. It’s especially good for our kidney-bladder, writes Paul Pitchford in Healing
With Whole Foods. But don’t eat too much alfalfa – we should never have any food, drink, herb or supplement
seven days a week – always take 1-2 days break.
Try to eat sulfur greens often – all the cruciferous vegetables are sulfur-rich. That’s any plant of the Mustard
family – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese celery, collard, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi,
mustard, radish, rutabaga, turnip, and watercress. Also garlic and onion (both Lily family) and nasturtium are high
in sulfur.
The cruciferous vegetable sprouts are the highest known source of the phytochemical, sulforaphane, which
stimulates the production of cancer-killing enzymes. The sprouts contain 20-50 times more sulforaphane than the
mature vegetables – in fact some mature broccoli has no sulforaphane at all, so much for the "I don't like brocolli"
remark!
Sulfur is in only three amino acids (all the rest have nitrogen) so we don’t get enough sulfur – needed especially for
hair, skin, nails (because it’s the element in their keratin protein) and for joints.
If you’re suffering from joint pain (arthritis), then MSM – a sulfur supplement – reduces inflammation and pain,
along with Glucosamine Sulfate and Chondroitin Sulfate.
19.2. Bean Sprouts
Beans you grow in your sprouter, or in hemp bags, or in wide-mouth one-quart glass Mason jars (make sure the box
states Wide Mouth). Don’t forget – it’s beans and greens every day, ideally blended into Energy Soup.
These are the “watery” beans, easy to eat raw – adzuki, unhulled lentil (green, blue/French, black, and red lentil –
make sure the red is unhulled), mung, pea (whole green, red, and speckled pea – don’t use split pea).
These are the “starchy” beans – garbanzo (beige, black, and brown), pinto, soya, black turtle, and try all varieties
of beans you like. Most of the bigger ones, like black beans, have a low germination rate. Garbanzo (chick peas)
love plenty of space – if you crowd them, they go sticky from the bad ones (those not germinating). Good
germinating soya is often hard to find locally.
Never grow greens and beans in the same tray – except for lentil, which itself grows into a green leaf. This is
because greens grow thick and luxuriant in your sprouter. Mixing beans with greens is like stones in grass. They
push the greens over.
Try not to mix beans in the same tray, as you do baby greens. They differ in germination rates – when it’s warm,
mung will grow in a day, but garbanzo will take a few days.
Before planting beans, sprinkle them in batches into your hand or onto a plate, and pick out the stones and very
broken ones. Don’t be too picky! The broken ones will soften, but not sprout. Main thing is to get the few stones
out, if any.
To harvest the tiny legumes – mung, adzuki, red pea – pour them onto a white plate from a height so you can hear
the click of the ones that never sprouted, and remove them. They’re like stones to your teeth.
The bigger starchy beans taste better steamed for three minutes (10 mins. for soya). But steaming kills all enzymes
so if you’re blending them, it’s best to eat them raw.
Don’t steam for longer than three minutes (except soya) or you change the protein structure – biochemist Martha
Oliver writes in Add A Few Sprouts (1975, out of print).
19.3. Grain Sprouts
These are the sprouting grains – amaranth, kamut, quinoa, rye, teff, triticale, wheat, and buckwheat (hulled, raw, not
the roasted kasha).
Kamut is an heirloom grain (not hybridized like wheat) with a nutrient profile similar to our body, so it’s an ideal
food for growth (children, muscle development). It’s rich in essential fatty acids and protein (our body structure is
50-50 fat-protein). Kamut is not as allergenic as wheat – the majority of gluten-sensitive people can eat it. But of
course if you’re celiac, gluten-intolerant or allergic to wheat, test a little kamut first for reactions.
Buckwheat is ready after 36 hours for blending into cereal. Or leave it in your sprouter for a week or so, to get
buckwheat greens for salad.
Teff grows into a lovely soft green in a few days. I like to grow teff in the center of a tray, and French blue lentil
on each side. The lentils stop the tiny teff seeds from flowing into the drain holes – instead they flow into the
lentils! After a day or two, once they sprout roots, the little teffs stay in their place!
Grains are tough to chew, except for kamut, quinoa and teff. After two days sprouting, I blend them into porridge,
e.g. with apple or banana, or I make grain milk (blend with water, strain out pulp, drink liquid).
Grain milks helped tremendously to heal my tooth pain. Ann Wigmore recommended a cup of grain sprouts a day,
plus six cups of bean and green sprouts, 3-8 ounces of seed yogurt, and 1-3 ounces of wheatgrass juice.
I believe the grains helped so much with my teeth because they’re high in methionine (a sulfur amino acid) whereas
bean sprouts are low in methionine but high in lysine (low in grains). The two – grains and beans together – thus
provide all essential amino acids, as Francis Moore Lappe pointed out in Diet For A Small Planet.
The error Lappe made in her first book (which she corrected in a later edition) is that we must eat the grains and
beans at the same meal. In fact, our blood stream carries an amino acid pool from which our cells draw their needs. So long as you get both sprouted grains and beans daily, you’re doing A-okay.
A delicious combo is French lentils (blue in color) and kamut. They both grow to a lovely green and are ready for
harvesting at the same time, so you can sprinkle them together in a tray – I plant the lentils on one one side, the
kamut on the other, I don't intermingle them as I do the baby greens. French lentils are lovely sprouters and they
don't have the stones in them that brown and red lentils have. No need to "clean" them at all before sprouting.
This bean-grain combo gives you the complete range of essential amino acids. It's a nice combo of crunchy (lentils)
and soft (kamut). I eat it for dinner sometimes while working on my computer. I find the other sprouted grains –
wheat and rye – too tough to chew on raw. I blend and dehydrate them into crackers.
Spelt and sweet rice are poor sprouters – blend them into grain milk after two days sprouting. Other rices (like
short- and long-grain) don’t sprout at all.
Unhulled barley will sprout, but the hulls are too tough to eat. Either blend and strain it into barley milk, or leave it
for a week to grow into barley grass.
Hulled barley and oats do not sprout. Although sprouting.com has a new variety of oats, grown without hulls, that
has an 80% germination rate. It’s best to buy a grain flaker (at miracleexclusives.com) and flake fresh at home the
oat groats or hulled barley (not pearl barley), then soak for cereal or blend and strain for milk. Hulled barley is
brown, pearl barley is whitish. Never eat pearl. Most oat groats look like raw food, but they're not – the oats are
steamed to prevent rancidity.
Never buy oat flakes or any grain flakes – they go rancid quickly because flaking exposes their oils to oxygen in
the air.
For the same reason, never buy bread made with flour, unless the bakery guarantees that it grinds the whole
organic grain on-site immediately before baking. Eat sprouted grain breads only – usually in the freezer of health
stores – or use Sproutman's lovely sprout bread recipes in Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook.
Oats are the richest source of silica, needed for bones. I make oat milk with my oat flaker once a week. My healer
friend, Tracy, believes women over 35 should drink freshly-made oat milk a few days a week.
Rejuvelac is a nutritious colon-building drink made with sprouted wheatberries. See recipe in our Conference
Rooms.
19.4. Wheat and Other Grasses
Chewing on green grass is the best for teeth and gums – it stopped forever my bleeding gums, enamel pains, and
root canal infections.
For wheatgrass, buy the red winter wheatberries, not the soft gold pastry wheat (the gold is for rejuvelac and for
making sprout breads, cookies and crackers). Quality of seed is critical for all sprouts, but especially for
wheatgrass. Grass should be a rich green and taste sweet. If yours is yellowish and tough, then you’re using poor
seed.
Besides wheat – barley, oats, rye (all unhulled) and kamut will grow into grass. Sprinkle the seeds in a plant
tray as you do for baby greens (one layer). Grass takes 8-10 days. When green, chew on it and spit the pulp out
(same as for wheatgrass). Or juice it!
Use the Rubbermaid Wrap ‘n Craft box to grow big trays of all grasses for juicing, or one tray a week for chewing
on, along with smaller trays of greens and beans. Ann Wigmore found wheat and barley to be the highest in
nutrients, though I prefer a less hybridized seed like kamut.
19.5. Sunflower and Buckwheat
Our home-made automatic sprouter grows taller sweeter sunflower greens, with less work, than any other method
I've ever tried since 1972. When it comes to sunflower, the high-price factory-made sprouter can't touch ours!
Sunflower greens are a mainstay of Ann Wigmore's living foods healing program. They're a top source of protein
(4% protein – more than spinach!), vitamin A (as beta-carotene), the B-vitamins, Vitamin E, the minerals calcium
and phosphorus (for bone-building), iron (for healthy blood), potassium and magnesium (for nerves and muscles)
and many trace minerals (extracted by its extensive roots) especially iodine (the sea-weed mineral). Historically,
herbalists used the leaves for kidney diseases.
For sunflower, I buy the black unhulled seeds – they germinate beautifully. In South Africa, I use the grey-white
striped seeds. The big greens take as long as wheatgrass to grow (8-10 days). So the Wrap ‘n Craft box is good for
them too. Sprinkle a single layer down in a tray, same as for baby greens and wheatgrass. Of course, no soil is
needed!
I always have one tray of sunflower growing in my small Sterilite – I love sunflower! Even the name I love.
Other bigger greens for growing in your sprouter are green pea shoots and buckwheat lettuce.
Hulled buckwheat – for cereal – is incredibly sensitive to good seed. I couldn't sprout it at all in New Mexico
because the seed there is so bad. In New York, Shiloh Farms' seed worked great – they sold it in all the health food
stores. Their address is Shiloh Farms, Inc., P.O. Box 97, Sulphur Springs, AR 72768, Tel. 501-298-3297 – they
also have an 800-number. But you have to buy their seed in boxes of 12 one-pound packs if you buy direct from
them.
For baby greens from hulled buckwheat, they're very fragile and you have to eat them all on the day you harvest
them – they're the only baby green you can't refrigerate at all.
For unhulled buckwheat, I never have the patience to remove all those hulls – so I never tried it in our sprouter. I'm not sure if it'll work as beautifully as sunflower, because sunflower's roots are a lot stronger. I use hulled
buckwheat to avoid the hassle of taking those black hulls off. The first time you buy unhulled buckwheat, never get
more than a pound of it – most people can't stand removing all those hulls!
One way to grow inhulled buckwheat hydroponically (without soil) is outside the sprouter on Baby Blanket material,
sold at sprouting.com. Jim Mumm writes: “It works really well for buckwheat seeds that we find tend to get too
much water in your sprouter. We just put the blanket on a counter and water daily.”
19.6. Wild Weeds
David Wolfe in The Sunfoof Diet Success System recommends the following book to identify your local wild weeds:
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias & Dykeman. It’s one of the best, with color photos.
Wild plants like amaranth, lambsquarters and wild sunflower seeds can be harvested when they're seeding, to use the
seeds for sprouting.
Wild weeds are by far the most nutritious food on earth. Seeds of Change in New Mexico, which saves endangered
plant seeds by giving them to gardeners to cultivate, reports on tests they've done which show huge nutrient
differences in plants that are heirloom and non-hybrid.
19.7. Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO Seeds
As you’re now a (kitchen) gardener, it’s good to understand the difference between heirloom, hybrid, plant breeding,
and GMO (genetically modified organisms).
Heirloom is wild seed or seeds handed down through generations. All heirloom seeds are open-pollinated and selfreproducing, they're LIVING. They’re untouched by human engineering, and are highest in all nutrients, especially
minerals. Seeds of Change (seedsofchange.com) sell heirloom seeds, but they’re expensive for kitchen gardeners
because we use so many!
Traditional plant breeding selects the best offspring and discards the poorer ones. It produces big attractive fruit
without the nutritional bang of older smaller types.
Hybrid is a way of controlling the crossing of plants so that all seeds produced have the exact same parents. The
offspring usually have very uniform characteristics. I try buy organic non-hybrid seeds.
Jim Mumm writes: “I don't think simple hybridization is harmful, you just get a bunch of plants with the same
genetics exactly. But the problem is it can require the use of questionable chemicals or hormones to sterilize one
parent. And farmers can't save their seed, they have to go back to the seed company every year.”
“GMO's are another matter, one that I think can be harmful or even dangerous.”
Genetic modification is inserting a gene from one species into the DNA string of another. Even fish and tomato
genes are being crossed this way in the laboratory.
Contents
Disclaimer
20. Unique Tips for GREENS
How would you love to grow greens for 2-4 weeks to full leaf, and even to grow a full tray of gelatinous seeds,
instead of making them 5% of a seed mix? Let's go beyond the 5-day baby greens like alfalfa and broccoli, and the
ten-day greens of sunflower and wheatgrass!
20.1. How to Grow Greens to Full Leaf
Mark Braunstein in his book The Sprout Garden describes how he discovered a way to grow both domesticated
greens (lettuce, cabbage, kale, broccoli, mustard) and wild weeds (dandelion, lamb’s quarters) to full leaf stage.
Mark writes:
“These one to two week greens truly are heaven on earth. You will never again settle for such leafy green sprouts
in their jar stage of 3-6 days nor their fully matured produce stage of 2-3 months.”
Big green leaves are far more nourishing, with more chlorophyll, fiber, and minerals, especially when you add an
automatic fertilizer unit to spray liquid kelp onto your greens.
20.2. Drip System to Water the Roots Only
In The Sprout Garden, Mark writes: “if densely packed and drenched, the stems will rot.” So we mustn’t drench the
stems of the greens (water the roots only) and we mustn’t densely pack them. And it saves thinning out later if we
start with them thinned – sprinkle fewer seeds in a tray.
To solve this problem of the STEMS rotting, Mark waters the roots only. He slants the tray down at 45 degrees, then
pours water into the top end of the tray where there’s no seeds. The water trickles down the tray so only the roots
get wet. He grows these greens in a jar first till the roots peek out, then transfers them to a tray, either with soil or
without.
One way to use this concept in our automatic sprouter is to replace the nozzles in one sprouter with a drip system
where you have drippers dropping down into the top end of each downward-slanted tray. That way the plants won't
get wet, just the roots. You'd need to research drip systems in the drip irrigation department of a big hardware store.
If you try this, please will you send me photos?
Thank you to David of Los Angeles for being the first to experiment with drip systems. David grows the seeds on
wire mesh. When their roots begin to show through, he transfers the mesh to a container of water, outside the
sprouter. This way the roots grow in the water, the plants are elevated above the mesh, and the stems never get wet.
Would anyone like to test this method for growing greens to full leaf?
First David grew wheatgrass in a wire mesh colander in the
sprouter until the roots dropped through.
Then he placed the mesh in a container outside the sprouter.
He drilled a hole in the plastic container at the level of the mesh, so the
water (coming in through the dripper) drained out this hole as soon as it
reached mesh level or the top of the roots.
He fed water into the container via this 1/2 gal. per hour dripper,
to keep only the roots wet. You could have multiple drippers
leading off a mistline connected to a valve.
In this way the grass (or green leaves) never themselves get wet, only
the roots.
With David's wire mesh method, fertilizing the greens is easy with liquid kelp in the water.
Another method to grow leafy greens is to kick-start the seeds on top of wire mesh, fitted halfway up the inside of
each tray, in the sprouter. When the roots grow through the mesh, transfer the trays to outside the sprouter, and fill
them with water to the level of the mesh. But with no automatic drip, the water may go stagnant and smelly, so
you’d need to renew it often. This is still much less work than tilling soil, planting crops, thinning them, weeding,
hoeing, protecting from insects and elements, and finally harvesting. Plus apartment dwellers can now grow their
own leafy greens indoors.
This tray-outside method saves you from building two sprouters – one for the misters and one for the drippers.
Watering the roots only is Mark Braunstein's personal brainwave. In The Sprout Garden, he writes: “Water the soil
[roots], not the sprouts. Observe these precautions, and after one or two weeks the results will be amazing.” It’s
damp stems that’ll ruin the crop, not damp roots. Mark continues: “If you have never before heard of these tender
leafy greens, it is because until now no one figured it out. You read it here first folks!”
Mark's book is one of the best on sprouting, and has delicious raw food recipes like hamlessburger and buckwheat
(no-fry) falafel balls. It's well worth buying.
20.3. How to Sprout Gelatinous Seeds
See Dean's unique way of growing gelatinous seeds in "Double Your Sprouter Space" below.
These mucilaginous seeds form a gel and don't normally sprout in jars or plastic manual sprouters. They are arugula
(rocket in UK), chia, cress, flax and psyllium. They glue together when wet and stop the water flow. Usually
they're grown as 5%-15% of a mix where the non-gelatinous seeds provide a bed for the gelatinous.
Chia and cress are hot in flavor, flax is bitter and psyllium is mild. Flax and chia sprout the easiest. Cress (garden
cress, curly cress, peppergrass) is a tiny green normally grown in punnets of soil and sold in U.K. produce stores.
It’s similar in flavor to watercress (which is hard to get and expensive). Cress is a very mucilaginous seed.
A quick way to grow a full tray of these seeds, is to use a strip of growing material, cut to fit the size of your plant
tray. Our seed supply member, Jim Mumm at sprouting.com, sells a special material called Baby Blanket made of
organic jute felt. Jute is a kind of grass, and felting means that heat and pressure are used to make the fibers
intermesh and hold together. It's easy to grow cress, flax and other gelatinous seeds in this jute.
Jim writes: “The Baby blanket looks like a perfect soil substitute in your sprouter, and in large commercial misting
machines.
It seems good for any mucilaginous seed. Also for commercial suppliers who want to have trays of soil-less finished
shoots that they can sell as-is – without the work of cutting, picking over, etc.
Baby Blanket seems to be reusable at least for home sprouters who have the time to remove most of the roots. It
stands up to at least one bleaching, and boiling water just seems to shrink it a little.”
20.4. Double Your Sprouter Space
I start my greens in a 6-inch high box on a cupboard shelf, from which I removed the door. Then move the tray to a
12-inch high box on the cupboard top. When the greens have a nice height and root mat, I carry on growing them
outside my sprouter on a countertop, watering with a jug twice a day. This way I double my sprouter space – new
trays of both grass and greens are starting every day, with only three small sprouters.
.
Peter's sunflower from sprouter to window-ledge –
definitely the best photo I've ever seen of sunflower grown
hydroponically without soil.
Peter in Berlin, Germany, carries on growing his sunflower and
wheatgrass outside on a window ledge. He screwed two plastic-coated
1.5-inch screw hooks upside-down into the window-frame, two inches
above the window-ledge, two per tray, one foot apart, to hold his 14x15inch Wrap 'n Craft trays on the ledge. This tray hooks under the hook, and
Peter writes: "Once the Sunflower seeds shed their shells or
the wheatgrass is getting above 4", I place the trays on a
window sill and water them 2 a day with a normal watering
can. Boy are they happy to get out into the country! With
kelp added to the watering can and all that fresh air and
sunshine they
rests on the ledge.
go absolutely nuts."
Peter reports: With half of my crops now inside and the rest of them on the window sills, I never had such a glut
of high chlorophyll quality produce !!!
Dean Pomerleau of deanpomerleau.tripod.com/sprouter/index.html invented a brilliant way to grow gelatinous seeds
where you can have 12 trays growing in a 6-tray sprouter! The gelatinous seeds grow in a bottom tray, while greens
or sprouts grow in a tray sitting right on top of the bottom one.
Dean writes: “I now harvest one tray a day of a combination of arugula, cress, flax and chia. Arugula is delicious.
The sprouts taste exactly like the mature plant. Flax and chia are well known for their health benefits.”
Here’s Dean’s guidelines:
(1) First you make a terra cotta ("t.c.") insert of 2.5 x 11-inch for a 3x12 tray, to act as a mini-planter fitting neatly
inside the tray. Each insert is 0.75 inches high in the 2-inch high tray. You need three to four t.c. inserts to harvest a
tray a day of the gelatinous greens.
Dean bought the wet t.c. clay at a store where you paint your own pottery. It’s a red clay when wet. When fired it
looks like the terra cotta pots you buy at garden centers. Because you’re molding your own inserts, you need wet
clay that’s not pre-fired. The clay is $5 for 15 lbs, then firing is $3 for each insert.
The pottery place told Dean they used Cone 03 to fire his clay inserts – I believe that’s the baking temperature.
(2) Next you drill the drain holes in the t.c. tray (3x12) one-quarter inch up from the bottom of the tray, on the 3"
side – not in the usual spot along the bottom edge. Then place the 11-inch t.c. insert centered lengthwise in the 12inch tray, so there’s about half-inch free on each end.
(3) Here comes the neat trick! You sprinkle the gelatinous seeds onto the t.c. Then you place a normal sprouting tray
ON TOP OF the t.c. tray, right side up, growing its own sprouts or greens.
Water from the drain holes in the top tray drips down into the half-inch space on each end of the t.c. tray. This water
pools and soaks the t.c. mini-planter, so the 3/4-inch high t.c. sits in a 1/4-inch of water and stays moist (tray holes
are 1/4-inch up the side). Capillary action ensures that the entire t.c. planter gets moist, even though only part of it is
sitting in water.
The seeds are never directly sprayed so they never get soaked. They’re protected by the tray stacked on top. Hence
they never turn into gelatin!
The moist terra cotta allows the seeds to germinate, while the interior of the t.c. tray remains relatively dry.
Dean writes: “The capillary action of the t.c. keeps the gelatinous seeds moist, but not wet – which is the condition
they need to germinate.”
(4) After four days, you remove the top tray, transfer the seeds from the t.c. insert into a normal tray (with holes
drilled in usual location) and sprout them for a few more days until they’re baby greens. Dean uses a small spatula
to scrape underneath the seedlings (now 1/4 to 1/2" high). Because the seeds are relatively sticky, they come out in a
neat strip, which he transfers to a normal tray for greening.
(5) Then you sprinkle more seeds in the terra cotta planter and are ready to start over.
“The coolest thing about this setup,” Dean writes, “is that you harvest one tray a day of these 6-7 day beauties using
only 3-4 trays worth of "real estate" in your sprouter. This is because you are stacking the trays, and greening the
more mature gelatinous seeds in the top trays, while the young seeds germinate below.”
Contents
Disclaimer
21. Large-Scale or Commercial Sprouting
Gene wrote: "I took some of my first sprouts to work and they were a hit. I may have to build another sprouter or
two and sell sprouts to people I know that want some."
Yes! What a lovely idea, to sell sprouts to your friends, work-mates or customers. They'll be fresher and greener
than the store ones. Also sell to your local produce stores, health stores and supermarkets (see container sources
below).
Here's Peter Brinkmann's multiple sprouter set-up:
Note the spare wheatgrass tray at the top – the Wrap 'n Craft
comes with two trays, so as soon as one has reached the green
grass stage, you take it out and water it twice a day by hand,
while beginning the next tray in your sprouter.
Notice the full-spectrum grow light too – easy to put in if you
don't get much light in your growing area. You can connect
the light to a timer. Do you see how high his sunflower are?
This is labor-free because he's draining the top sprouters into
the sink and the bottom into a floor drain. All Peter does is
sprinkle seeds in the trays – for fresh living greens every
day.
SET A DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR by which time your
sprouter will be up and running.
21.1. How to Link Multiple Sprouters
Once you’ve set up one sprouter, then it’s easy to link more to the same hose. You connect all sprouters to the same
valve and timer – so the cost of hose, valve-timer, and connectors, is a one-time investment. The sprouters can be
set up in a row (on a long table), or on top of each other, e.g. one on each shelf.
It's NOT a good idea to daisy-chain the sprouters, by running mist-tubing between the last nozzle of one sprouter to
the first mist nozzle of the next. This is a serial configuration. You will lose water pressure. If you're using big
Wrap 'n Crafts, then by the third or fourth sprouter, the nozzles will no longer spray. It's okay to have two sprouters
in serial, but no more.
The longer your water-line – high-pressure hose plus mist-tubing combined – the more water pressure you lose, to
friction inside the hoses. Plus, the more nozzles in the mist-tubing, the more pressure you lose, as each nozzle
draws out water. It's water pressure that keeps the nozzles spraying! No pressure, no spray.
Of course, your household water pressure plays a part too. Dean writes: "my house has very good water pressure,
better than most I think."
Parallel is the best configuration for multiple sprouters – split the mist-lines off separately at the end of the hose. There are two ways to do this:
hose, then valve, then attach Y's to valve (or our 3-port manifold), then mist-tubing to each Y-branch – so you
have one timer, one valve, all sprouters spraying simultaneously, it will work for up to 40 nozzles (4 large
sprouters) on one faucet; or
hose, then attach Y's to end-hose, then valve to each Y-branch, then mist-tubing to each valve – so you have
one timer, up to six valves, all sprouters spraying at different times – you program the timer differently for
each of the six stations (i.e. valves); this should work for up to 240 nozzles (24 large sprouters) on one faucet.
Here's Dean's early photo with three mist-tubing split-offs (labeled "Sprouter
Hoses") at the end of his washer-hose (labeled "Sprayer-Water filter"). The
soak/wash hose at the front also leads to sprouters (for cleaning) and could be
replaced by another mist-tubing to a fourth sprouter.
Here's Dean's first set-up with four sprouters.
Later he increased it to five without losing water
pressure – 45 nozzles are spraying at full mist,
all running off the same water-line.
Dean's setup today (no photo) with 5 sprouters plus the soak/wash hose (total 6
lines to sprouters), has two main branches as this photo shows. The left branch
is identical to the one below, but the right branch now has two sprouter hoses
and the soak/wash hose, all splitting off using Y-connectors (with switches).
The hose from his washing machine spigot to the Orbit valve is 6ft long. His
mist-tubing to each sprouter is another 6ft.
(a) Use One or More Y's – for sprouters in parallel, as in photo above left.
(b) OR use a Quick-Connect Manifold – photos below, available under Optional Extras – can easily and
safely connect three sprouters to one valve. The benefit of manifold over Y is that it's quick-connect, so it's
easy to disconnect each sprouter – simply unclick it from the manifold.
Our Manifold Kit
1 x 3-Port Quick-Connect ("q-c") Manifold – with one male q-c
inlet and 3 female q-c outlet ports, then
(on left) 1 x male q-c Plug – to seal off an unused port, and
(on right) 1 x 1/4" female q-c Fitting – to connect short tube to
manifold, and
1 x male q-c Fitting – to connect short tube to q-c adapter on
valve,
2 x compression rings – to secure fittings in tubing,
6 inches tubing.
Our Manifold Kit fitted together. Dan (my sprouter builder) was
unable to connect the manifold directly to the blue (or white) q-c
adapter for the valve (see 8.2. Quick-Connect Fittings) because the
male port of the manifold does not have the plastic cams inside of
it to operate the valve inside the blue auto-shutoff adapter. So Dan
decided to use a short piece of tubing with a male fitting on one
end and a female on the other. The female clicks into the male port
of the manifold, while the male end clicks into the blue q-c adapter
(female). This male fitting does have the plastic cams inside to
operate the auto-shutoff valve inside the blue adapter.
Dan could not find these parts in a local store. He orders them in
bulk via mail order. They're all under Optional Extras.
21.2. Controlling Water Flow to Multiple Sprouters
(a) Use Y Connectors after Valve – you control each sprouter individually, turning its water supply on or off at the
Y (see Dean's Y photo above). Buy the brass model (not plastic) with a switch on each branch of the Y.
(b) Use a Manifold after Valve – you switch two sprouters on, and one off, with AzMist's 3-port manifold (see
manifold photo above) which has a plug for the unused port.
(c) Use Shutoff Valve between Sprouters – with two sprouters connected serially (daisy-chained), you can switch
off the second with a valve in the mist-tubing between sprouters (see photo below). Valve should fit mist tubing of
1/4-inch OD (outer diameter) and 1/8-inch ID (inner diameter).
This shutoff valve fits into the mist-tubing between two sprouters in
serial, to switch the second sprouter off.
High-pressure Clamp for shutoff valve, not necessary but will
hold valve more securely in mist-tubing.
21.3. Run 24 Large Sprouters off One Faucet
Dan calculates that we can link up to 24 large sprouters, with 240 nozzles, to one faucet using connectors from
Orbit's line of micro irrigation products. First, using the 6-capacity manifold at
orbitonline.com/catalogs/Watermaster, you could connect six valves to our Timer Model 57161. You'd have one
faucet, leading to Orbit's 6-m, with a valve connected to each manifold port, and then to each terminal on the 6station timer.
Then connect the mist-line from each valve to a 4-manifold also at Orbit's site. The 6- and 4-manifold connectors
together handle up to 24 sprouters.
The 4-manifold works like a Y-connector by splitting into many lines. Each line can be manually turned on or off.
So even though you have 24 sprouters, you could use only one if you choose. This means you can easily put
sprouters into and out of operation according to your customer base each week.
Dan writes: "I know this will work because we can stagger the start times so each valve is operating separately from
the others. With maximum usage of this configuration there would be 240 nozzles in use. With proper scheduling
only 40 of these nozzles would be misting at any time."
We know from Dean's 45 nozzles in Pennsylvania and Delayne's 44 in Canada, that one faucet works fine for 40
nozzles spraying simultaneously.
These 4- and 6-port manifolds with switches are suitable ONLY for large-scale commercial sprouting, not for your
kitchen. They're designed for drip irrigation, and they leak. Our 3-port quick-connect manifold does not leak.
21.4. Filtering Water to Multiple Sprouters
Delayne Ann Groen in Canada found that the GE filter reduced water pressure to multiple sprouters. She writes: "We have four big sprouters with 11 nozzles each. All nozzles were working in the first two containers just fine. But
when we added the next two, we lost pressure and the nozzles would not spray. Someone told us the filter was the
reason we had no pressure to the second lot of containers. I solved the problem by adding a Y after the valve, then
adding a filter to each end of the Y, and then the mist tubing goes to two separate sets of two containers. It works
like a charm."
The extra filters may not be needed. It might be that Delayne switching from serial to parallel config did the trick,
and the GE had nothing to do with it. So with multiple sprouters, test parallel config first, and only add extra filters
later if they seem necessary.
Dan, my sprouter builder, writes: "I have my own well here at home. My water pressure is fairly low, it's an old
system. I use a filter mainly to remove particles that could plug the nozzles. I have been using the GE GXILQ filter
for about 6 months now. Its flow rate listed on the box is 0.5 gallons per minute (1.9 LPM) with a pressure range of
25-125 PSI (172-862 k Pa). The brass and stainless nozzles have a flow rate of 0.5 gallons per HOUR. So, the GE
should be able to handle up to 60 nozzles. My water pressure is about 28 PSI. I have not noticed any problem with
pressure due to my filter. I have tried it with and without the filter. I didn't notice any difference in the mist pattern
from the nozzles. As long as water pressure is within the 25-125 PSI range it should work fine. If pressure is lower
than 25 (which I doubt) then you may not get a good mist from the nozzles anyway."
With multiple sprouters, I'd fit the GE filter before the valve, between washer hose and valve, instead of after in the
mist tubing. It's easier to change only one filter every six months. The hassle here is you'd need to get 3/4-inch
adapters for the filter (to fit it into the hose) because it comes only with 1/4-inch (that fit it into the mist-tubing). You might need to use a different filter.
21.5. Drainage for Multiple Sprouters
There's multiple ways to drain all the water. Simplest is to have drain tubes hanging down from each sprouter,
leading into a floor drain. Or, if they're stacked on shelves, run half-inch PVC pipe up the side as your drain gutter,
and lead the drain tube from each sprouter into the pipe.
Connie Benten wrote: "Our biggest problem was the amount of drain water that comes out of four Sterilites – 20
mist-nozzles – a little less than two Wrap 'n Crafts. It's a surprising amount of water and I am in a wheelchair from
a foot injury, so I couldn't deal with emptying those heavy buckets a couple times a day. We have them draining
into a large container and put a Wayne submersible pump in it – the kind used to empty pools or spas. That
pumps the water through a hose and into the laundry sink. It's great! All I have to do is plug in the pump and it
pumps out all the water in a minute."
George Adams wrote: "My wife and I have built three large sprouters mounted on a 2 by 8 shelf. The seeds are in
plastic shoe boxes with the lids removed. We mounted a length of rain gutter on the front of the shelf and put the
edge of the large boxes over it."
Rod Edington plans to: "have a sump box and automatic sump pump at the bottom of the cabinet to make it
completely automatic. That is to have not only automatic misting on a timer, but also automatic return of misting
runoff water to my kitchen sink. I will implement a small float operated shutoff switch at the sink on the outside
chance I would ever get backup at the kitchen drain. This small float switch if activated would cut power off at the
Orbit timer [which in turn cuts off the valve].
Rod summarizes his view for multiple sprouters: "You either have to have grow boxes on a kitchen countertop for
gravity drainage into the sink, be located near a floor drain, or have a sump and automatic sump pump. A back-up
float operated switch would be good in the event of sump pump failure."
21.6. Automatic Misting while You're Away
You're free to go away for a week while your sprouts continue to grow, so long as you drain into a floor drain, sink,
or the garden. You can't use a bucket for the drain water! However, I'd play safe and have someone check on my
house daily.
Dean leads his drain tube into a floor drain. He actually leaves home most weeks and returns at weekends to harvest
his greens which he takes with him when traveling. He writes:
"The automatic misting eliminates the need for manual rinsing, which I found a real chore when trying
to grow a lot of sprouts. Literally, all I have to do is sprinkle seeds in, and 7 to 14 days later (depending
on type of seed) I’m ready to harvest another crop of luscious sprouts."
To read more about Dean Pomerleau's "Sprout Farm" visit deanpomerleau.tripod.com/sprouter/index.html.
Dean has done a wonderful job of advertizing my sprouter, and giving Tips & Tricks for using it, without revealing
any secrets as to how it's built. One good tip is how to dry the sprouts before refrigerating them. As I want you to
eat them alive and growing, I don't give this tip here. Please print it from his site! When you eat sprouts as soon as
they're harvested or refrigerate them for no longer than 24 hours, you don't need to dry them.
If you'd like to put sprouter photos up on your web site, PLEASE WRITE FIRST TO
ME, Val, at [email protected]. This sprouter guide is private for you, my
customers. This is my main source of income to let people in pain know they can heal
with living foods. Thank you for your understanding and help!
21.7. Automatic Water Shutoff when You're Away
Thank you to member Rod Edington for this suggestion:
The ultra-tech way to avoid water damage while you’re out is to use Graingers Leak Detection and Automatic
Shutoff Valve ($360).
The Shutoff Valve (S.valve) is part of the plumbing. It is located at your household water source, so it shuts off
water before the Orbit valve.
Three sensors come with the S.valve, but it can handle any number of sensors within a 200 foot radius. You could
place one sensor at the sink or floor drain, another on the floor, and a third under your tier of multiple sprouters.
The sensors are powered by two AA batteries. Each has a small antenna and a six foot cord leading to a water
sensor. If a sensor detects water, it sends a radio signal to the receiver on the S.valve. The S.valve is AC powered.
It’s normally open. Once it receives a signal the valve closes.
Thus you have automatic shutoff of household water at the source by placing sensors under appliances that could
leak. The purpose of this equipment is to avoid damage from a water-using appliance when people go on vacation.
If you're doing large-scale commercial sprouting, this kind of protection is well worth it.
21.8. Sources for Containers to Sell Sprouts & Wheatgrass
The two-piece vented plastic containers used for live sprouts easily fit into our 9-inch high growing containers. The
bottom part has holes for drainage, so you don't use the plant trays at all.
Thank you to our member, Jay Louie, president of the ISGA (International Sprout Growers Association, isgasprouts.org) for recommending the following for containers: Detroit Farming, Bob Pinello, 714-731-8001;
International Specialty Supply, 820 East 20th Street, Cookville, TN 38501, 931-526-1106;
As a last resort, there's Caudill, but they support genetically engineered seeds: Caudill Seed Company, 1402
W. Main St., Louisville, KY 40203, 502-583-4402.
Here's Dean's harvest for one week from his early Sprout Farm of four sprouters (three big, one small). Because he
travels a lot, he plants and harvests on one day only, for about two hours. He writes: "For $5 a week, I’m able to
grow 8 lbs of sprouts for an average cost of 60 cents per pound, plus enough grass to yield 1.5oz of grass juice per
day."
Amazing, eh? All this for $5 (May, 2001). What does one small container of broccoli cost these days?
.
LIVING FOODS FOR YOUR LIVING BODY
Contents
Disclaimer
22. Building a Multi-Level Wheatgrass Grower
One member, Pam Free, decided to do away with growing containers completely, and simply build a frame for a
multi-level system.
1. First Pam tried a wooden frame with no shelving...
2. ... and six-inch deep plant trays (22"x14"), with a fogger on
each level, instead of mist-nozzles.
3. Pam uses dark plastic for the bottom starter trays, then moves
each tray up one level daily so it slowly enters the light, for
greening.
5. Pam tried this Rain-bird fogger first, with individual switchoff valve, but found that it was not the right one to avoid mold.
The fogger is fitted to the pipe with a small piece of 1/2 drip
tubing.
Foggers are in the drip irrigation department of hardware stores,
while mist nozzles are in the gardening dept.
4. At the back, PVC pipe is the channel for water to each fogger,
and it holds the foggers in place.
6. Here's a DIG timer-valve connected in-line to the PVC pipe,
which in turn connects to the water source, a faucet.
22.1. Foggers and Mold
Pam was getting mold with the foggers. Is there a connection between fogger and mold? Is one central overhead
mister (fogger) the cause because the spray doesn’t reach all growing areas equally? Or because the fogger sprays so
much water (6 gallons per hour instead of the half-gallon per hour of mist nozzles) that it can only be switched on
for seconds rather than minutes? Or because the light-spraying mist nozzles (1/2 gallon) carry more oxygen in their
spray? I don’t know. At the start, Pam was watering for 15 seconds every 6 hours, then later she reduced this even
more, to once a day.
Today Pam uses her system exclusively for wheatgrass, not for growing any other sprouts or greens. She avoids
mold by absolute minimal watering – once or twice a day for seconds rather than minutes (I believe). In this way,
the dead wheatgrass seeds (the ones that don't germinate and are the primary cause of mold) are dried out so
completely, mold has no chance to develop. But no other seed can grow under such low watering.
You can test this yourself in glass jars. Wheatgrass, left unwatered, will carry on growing for days, whereas all other
seeds will either dry out (alfalfa, lentil) or go sticky and smelly (garbanzo).
If you’d like a multi-level system for sprouts, baby greens and wheatgrass, then it may be best to use mist-nozzles
instead of foggers. You’d need to do the testing. Another problem with foggers (one sprayer in the center of each
tray) is that the height of the wheatgrass affects the distribution of water. To get the fogger high enough above the
grass could waste shelf space.
I personally prefer our light-spraying nozzles, interspersed front and back, to give lots of mist swirling around
equally over all seeds in a tray. Seeds closest to the mist source always grow the fastest, so I'm hesitant about using
foggers.
22.2. Improvements to the Multi-Level System
I would advise making the following changes . The most critical are to have a drain tray on each level with its own
drain tube, plant trays no higher than 2-inches and in a variety of sizes, and no moving of trays from one level to the
next. Design for minimal labor! Be able to go away for a week and come back to everything ready.
For the frame, use PVC pipe, instead of wood. PVC is trickier to build, but in the long run it’s much easier to work
with, e.g. to hang a shower curtain round the frame and easily remove it for cleaning. Remember to slope each level
down toward the drain tube exit. The problem with PVC pipe is that it rotates. For the downward slope of each
shelf, you may need to use brackets attached to straight pieces of pipe in the frame, rather than PVC T- and Elbowpieces.
For the covering, use a shower curtain on rings or a fabric that's easily removable. Leave it open by one inch at the
back so natural light and air will reach the greens. Plants don’t like all their light to be filtered through plastic! You
can also try a double cover – first a fine mesh screen to keep out flies, then the shower curtain to catch the water
spray.
For each level, fit a Drain Tray (one-inch high) between the left and right sides of the frame, with each tray
having its own 1/4-inch plastic drain tube. When you fit the plant trays directly into the frame (as in the photos)
each level drips down onto the next so you get cross-contamination and slimy trays.
Or use plexiglass for the shelf on each level, place the single drain tray on the plexiglass, then sit your plant trays
on the drain tray. Or it’s possible you could drill a hole in the plexiglass, and fit a drain tube directly into the glass,
thus doing away with the drain tray. Or mount rain gutter along the front of each shelf.
Drain tubes or rain gutter from each level can lead into a closed PVC gutter, which runs vertically down the
length of the frame into a floor drain. Each drain tube will enter the drain-pipe at one level below it (or half a level,
say 5-10 inches below) not at its own level because gravity is needed for drainage.
For plant trays, place any size trays on each drain tray or plexiglass shelf, depending on the needs of your family or
local market.
Use plant trays that are no higher than two inches. The six-inch deep trays in the photos will cause aeration problems
in humid weather. You need maximum air flow (oxygen) to avoid mold.
A good system would be five levels that fit two large wheatgrass trays each, or whatever size trays you or your
local juice bars prefer. If you use the plastic trays at restaurant wholesalers that Ann Wigmore used – two on each
level – then this will give you one fresh tray of wheatgrass daily (6-10 ounces of juice daily) as grass takes ten days
to grow. Decide on your plant trays before you build the frame!
For watering, string mist nozzles at the back and front of each level (interspersed) and switch each level on/off
individually with Y-connectors, OR perhaps have a fogger over each tray (2 foggers per level). I don’t know how
many foggers you can have in the mist-line before you lose water pressure.
For minimal labor, use clear removable plastic throughout (e.g. a shower curtain) no black plastic. Tests have
shown that it makes no difference to the wheatgrass whether it grows in the dark or light in the first few days, but
when you have black plastic at the bottom, you have to be around every day to move the tray up one level daily.
With all-clear plastic, you can go away for a week and return to grass ready for juicing.
For other sprouts too, darkness makes no difference to the plants' growth, other than a little more vitamin C in bean
sprouts. What truly increases nutrient levels is an in-line hose end sprayer with liquid kelp described in Automatic
Fertilizer Unit.
Build each shelf an equal distance apart, at least nine inches. In the photos, the bottom shelves in the dark are
closer together, but if you’d like to avoid the hassle of moving trays daily, then build each shelf equi-distant.
Someone asked me whether Pam's way is the best for growing wheatgrass commercially. My own
experience with commercial growers, e.g. Harley of Perfect Foods in New York who supplies all
NYC juice bars with wheatgrass, is that their set-up is very simple. Trays of soil automatically
misted, no need for growing containers or plastic coverings. For instance, here's an email I received
from one reader:
"I'm a commercial grower of wheat grass. Every evening I soak a container of berries, in
the morning I plant them in garden flats, stacked for three days then I place under
flourescent lights for another seven days, spraying them with a hose daily. Then we load
them up and deliver the flats to shops. The apogee of simplicity."
This reader never mentioned whether he uses soil or not. If you don't use soil, I imagine it's easy to
sit the wheatgrass trays on troughs containing a nutrient base, e.g. see hydroponic sites like
www.growingedge.com/basics/easyplans/plans.html
Contents
Disclaimer
23. Sprouts for Health
It’s critical we eat both home-grown baby greens and sprouted beans every day to get the full range of nutrients –
every nutrient our body-mind needs, as Ann Wigmore discovered and as you will personally experience.
Fresh baby greens are high in chlorophyll, oxygen and distilled water – the Top Cleansers and Detoxifiers (along
with the vibrant living enzymes in all home-grown food). We eat greens too for beta-carotene (converts into
vitamin A in our body), B vitamins especially folic acid (named after green foliage), vitamin D (dandelion,
sunflower) vitamin K, Coenzyme Q10 (spinach) and minerals like boron, chlorine, iodine and silicon.
Bean sprouts are high in proteins (broken down into their amino acids), essential carbohydrates (broken down into
simpler sugars), fatty acids, tons of vitamin C, fat-soluble vitamin E, and minerals like organic iron, zinc,
phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, and copper.
Both greens and beans are good calcium, potassium, and magnesium sources – needed for our bones and muscles,
nerve transmissions, and electrolyte balance.
The fatty seeds – sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, flax, and almond – soaked for one to three hours depending on the
type of seed – we need at least 4-5 days a week, especially for the essential fatty acids LNA and LA. These seeds
don’t sprout well – sesame is too bitter, flax too mucilaginous, and hulled sunflower too rancid. Get the recipes for
these from the Conference Rooms – seed milk, yogurt, cereal, etc.
Ann Wigmore taught we should eat sprouted grains every day for minerals like chromium, vanadium, selenium
and manganese, for vitamins like B1 (thiamine) and proteins such as the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine to
balance the lysine in beans (both methionine and lysine are essential amino acids – they must be in our diet). Americans are chromium-deficient from eating so much white bread! In New York, lily-white rolls or bread are
standard fare for lunch.
Today many raw foodists argue against starchy grains, even sprouted ones, saying that humans walked the earth for
six or so million years without ever eating grain. Farming of grains began about ten thousand years ago. Even
birds, the only true graminivores (grain-eaters) who thrive on the grains of all grasses, feed their young insects
because grains are nutritionally incomplete and so hard to digest. When we eat starch three times a day and for
snacking (as most Americans do) then clearly we're substance abusing. We're starchaholics.
23.1. Energy Soup
Remember it’s critical for healing that you blend the home-grown baby greens and bean sprouts, and you have two
large 16-ounce cups after blending. Once healed, smaller quantities are okay. Recipe is at
greensmoothie.com/blend/energy.php.
Quantity is as important as quality – organic, home-grown, NO DISTRIBUTION PROCESS, is the quality.
The blend helps more nutrients to be assimilated more quickly by your cells. A blender is the ultimate set of perfect
teeth!
If you find the blend too constipating or binding, use a food processor instead. It’s crunchier, so you chew more.
Fill up the blender with organic greens – freshly picked or bought – to complement the tray of baby greens from
your sprouter, and your bean sprouts. Variety is important – use different greens every day.
When healing, I made my two big cups of Energy Soup 4-5 days a week for a year, in a big food processor. Today
(seven years later) I still blend a little Energy Soup most days of the week, in a mini-food processor. It's the only
way I can get greens into my cats! Ann Wigmore ate it every day for the last ten years of her life.
I mentioned earlier not to have any food, drink or supplement every day of the week. But Energy Soup daily is
alright because you're using different greens, beans and sea-weeds every day, so it's not really the same food!
For those of you who chose the smaller Sterilite box for your sprouter, you must grow beans in jars or hemp bags
every day. I soak one-third to one-half a cup of beans every night (my sprouters are for greens and wheatgrass). If
you think jars or bags are too much trouble, then be sure to buy the bigger Wrap 'n Craft box.
For my beans, I alternate between the various lentils (unhulled red, brown, green and French), mung beans, and
green and red pea. Plus garbanzo for hummus, and soya for steaming.
24. Sauce Recipes
With sauces, we can enjoy our greens! You can begin with bottled sauces from the health food store, but in time it's
best to make your own – no machine food is one of the rules of fantastic health. If it comes in a bottle, it's been
through a machine.
A mini-food processor and a coffee-nut grinder are essential for sproutarians, and for mothers! They’re ideal for
quick sauces and cereals with no clean-up hassle.
Instant Sauce – most days I use a 3"-high mini-food processor to make a quick sauce for my big plate of baby
greens straight from my sprouter. I blend avocado and garlic with tomato (or cucumber), a squirt each of apple
juice and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (from health store), and perhaps a sprinkle of salad herbs – or jalapeno or cayenne
powder (hot pepper) for a guacamole-type sauce.
I find you can throw any raw foods into the processor, and the sauce will taste good. Try this one – avocado, apple,
garlic, mung sprouts, fresh sorrel and a little beet (with the two squirts). Wow! It twists the edges of my tongue off
(with delight)!
Hummus – a delicious Middle Eastern dressing for greens – this one keeps in the refrigerator for a few days
(avocado ones don’t). Steam one cup of garbanzo (chickpea) sprouts for 3 minutes; blend with half-cup water, half
a lemon, 1t soya sauce, garlic clove, 2T ground sesame seeds (t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon).
Instant Dress-up for baby greens – mash with a fork, half to one avocado, dulse flakes, nutritional yeast, garlic if
it’s okay for your breath to smell, and raw organic sauerkraut (if it’s fresh at store). Pile your greens on top. Sometimes I’ll add chopped cucumber, and slow-cooked millet if I’m ‘specially hungry.
Tahini & Miso Sauce – I love this one for its salty taste. Make your own tahini fresh (never buy nut and seed
butters in the store, because of oxidation). Grind raw sesame seeds in a nut grinder, pour into a bowl and moisten
with cold-pressed raw sesame oil. Mix in unpasteurized miso to taste. Keep in refrigerator for up to a week. Makes
a quick meal with leafy greens and baby greens. Take a large sweet leaf, e.g. lettuce, smear tahini-miso sauce in it,
add baby greens of the day, roll up and enjoy.
Sweet Almond Butter – another sauce always in my refrigerator, ready for roll-ups. Make almond butter fresh
once a week. Grind almonds in a nut grinder, pour into bowl and mix in cold-pressed raw almond oil with a fork,
then brown rice syrup to taste (in South Africa I use raw honey although as a vegan I'd rather not). Keeps
refrigerated for up to a week, and is instantly ready for quick roll-ups – take a lettuce leaf, smear almond butter
inside, sprinkle in sprouter greens of the day, roll up and enjoy!
Fat & Acid Fruit – Susie Miller and Karen Knowler in Feel-Good Food (2000) point out the quickest way to turn a
salad or sprouter greens into a tangy taste sensation, is to blend a fat with an acid fruit, e.g. avocado and orange
juice, raw tahini and orange juice, tomato and herb, olive oil with lemon and garlic, sunflower seed and raspberry
(soak the seeds first before blending, or grind dry seeds in nut-grinder), cashew and cucumber, pine nut and orange
juice. For a savory taste, add any vegetables, spices or herbs.
25. Rejuvelac Recipe
I made rejuvelac every day for five years, then grew tired of it. This is natural – David Wolfe, author of The
Sunfood Diet Success System, wrote in an issue of the raw-food magazine, Just Eat An Apple, that fermented foods
for him too were a transitional thing but aren’t part of his diet today.
Because of its high Vitamin E content, Rejuvelac is particularly good for blending the poly-unsaturated seed drinks
and sauces, and for making seed yogurt and cheese.
Here’s a simple way to get a fresh jar of rejuvelac every day – it’s a schedule I developed so no rejuvelac is ever
refrigerated more than 12 hours. Enzymes and micro-organisms are at their highest when it’s still fermenting,
refrigeration slows down their activity.
Buy three wide-mouthed one-quart mason jars and Sprout-Ease lids, or, instead of lids, buy a foot of wire mesh –
push out gold disk in mason jar lids and replace it with cut-out circle of wire mesh.
1. In Jar One, soak one-third of a measuring cup of wheatberries on Saturday night. Use organic soft pastry wheat,
gold in color, not red winter wheat – the red is for wheatgrass, the gold for rejuvelac and baking crackers and breads
(raw or cooked).
Drain on Sunday morning, rinse and drain Sunday evening, Monday morning, then
2. Fill Jar One with water Monday night. At same time, start Jar Two by soaking seeds overnight Monday to
Tuesday morning, and rinse/drain these every 12 hours, morning and evening.
3. On Wednesday night, pour off rejuvelac (fermented water) from Jar One and refrigerate for next day Thursday,
refill Jar One with water, leaving in the old sprouts (you use each batch of sprouts to make two jars of rejuvelac).
Also fill Jar Two with water (the one with new sprouts – give sprouts a final rinse before filling jar, to wash away
mold). Begin Jar Three, soaking seeds overnight.
On Thursday morning take rejuvelac out of refrigerator so you always drink it at room temperature.
4. On Friday morning pour off second batch of rejuvelac from Jar One and throw away the wheatberries, rinse out
jar. Use rejuvelac that same day so no need to refrigerate.
5. [repeat of Step 3] On Friday evening pour off rejuvelac from Jar Two and leave in refrigerator for Saturday, refill
Jar Two. Fill Jar Three with water. Begin Jar One again, soaking one-third cup of wheatberries in it overnight.
This way you use each jar of wheatberries twice for two lots of rejuvelac (not three as in Ann Wigmore’s method –
it gets too weak) and you have a fresh jar every day – for use in blending Energy Soup, seed milks and yogurts, etc.
Notice that the first batch goes for 48 hours (2 days) and the second for 36 hours (1.5 days).
I used to line my jars in a row, and the one on the right was the one at final stage with its second batch of rejuvelac.
I began each new one on the left.
Good rejuvelac smells fresh and tastes sour or lemony, tinged with a yeasty flavor. You can smell when it’s off. It’s
natural for a layer of white foam to form on top, which you can drink or skim off.
In very hot humid mid-summer New York, I left each batch standing only for one day, not 2 or 1.5, because it went
off so quickly in that heat.
Rejuvelac can also be made with unsprouted grain but sprouting it brings more vitamins and enzymes to the water.
Sproutman recommends to stir the water twice daily to mix up the enzymes and develop live organisms. I never did
because I like to spend least time possible in the kitchen.
This is what Ann Wigmore wrote about rejuvelac (from her book Survival with Natural Living Foods, out of print):
– rejuvelac is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, dextrines, phosphates, saccharines, lactobacilli, saccharomyces, and
aspergillus oryzae. Amylases are derived from aspergillus oryzae and they have the ability to break down large
molecules of glucose, starch and glycogens. This is the reason rejuvelac is an aid to digestion.
– rejuvelac is predigested – proteins broken down into amino acids, carbohydrates into the simple sugars of dextrines
and saccharines.
– protein is a very concentrated food – by predigesting it, you get required amino acids in easy assimilated form.
– enzymes in fermented foods help friendly bacteria like lactobacillus bifidus to grow. Lactobacilli give off lactic
acid, a natural astringent, which helps large intestine maintain healthy, vitamin-producing environment where
disease-producing bacteria are unable to grow.
[Here’s my reminder – a healthy clean colon full of live friendly micro-organisms is our best source of Vitamin
B12. Rejuvelac and Solgar’s Multibillion Dophilus with Fos are a must when you’re doing colon cleansing. I know
Solgar’s have live organisms because I use their capsules to make vegan soya yogurt.]
In Rebuild Your Health, Ann Wigmore wrote:
“Rejuvelac is one of the most important items in the Living Foods lifestyle. ... It contains a very high level of
enzymes that help you properly digest food. ... Rejuvelac contains all the nutritional nourishment of wheat ... It
contains the friendly bacteria that is necessary for a healthy colon which helps to remove toxins ... It is also filled
with vitamins B, C and E ...”
She continues: “Many people have concern that Rejuvelac and other fermented foods will cause their yeast or
Candida problem to get worse ... Candida is caused by toxicity, deficiency and digestive problems ... Rejuvelac helps
to correct these problems.”
Further: “I have used Rejuvelac for 35 years and I am convinced of its remarkable capacities. ... Rejuvelac is
actually so nutritious, it could be classified as a food by itself. ... Its high vitamin E content acts as a natural antioxidant to prevent the loss of vitamins in the blending process.”
Contents
Disclaimer
26. Resources and Web Sites
You may be able to buy all parts at local stores, or enjoy quick delivery and easy shopping at the Order Page.
26.1. Sprouter Parts
azmist.com – Arizona Mist, for Redi-Mist kits.
homedepot.com – Home Depot, for AzMist Redi-Mist kit, Orbit valve and timer, connectors, drain tube, gas-line
tape, garden hose-pipe or washer hose, optional pump sprayer.
lowes.com – Lowes, same as Home Depot.
orbitonline.com – Orbit, for Orbit WaterMaster valve and timer.
rubbermaid.com / Kitchen / Drawer Organizers – to see the plant trays – also see Rubbermaid storage boxes, e.g.
Wrap ‘n Craft. They wrote to me: "Rubbermaid does not offer direct order of a finished product. If you experience
problems finding the item you want, you may order direct by calling the Wooster Everything Rubbermaid Store at
330-264-7592 or 330-264-7645 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday."
Many of our US members have bought from Wooster. I believe containerstore.com also has the Rubbermaid boxes
and drawer organizers (plant trays).
In mid-2005 Rubbermaid stopped manufacturing the Wrap 'n Craft. As a result, Dan now makes his own large
container of food-grade plastic.
sprayer.com – 800-748-0098 – for RL-Flo-Master pump sprayer.
sterilite.com – for storage boxes (growing container) – the Sterilite 40-quart I used for the first sprouter you often
see in this Guide, is exclusive to Wal-Mart.
wal-mart.com – for storage boxes, drawer organizers, hand spray, and perhaps Flo-Master pump sprayer, but when
I built my sprouter, they didn’t have much on-line – I had to buy it all at a local Wal-Mart store.
26.2. Organic Seeds
Use only certified organic seeds. I buy all my seeds locally in the bulk bean, grain and herb sections of my local
health stores, e.g. radish, fenugreek and fennel are in bulk herbs, mung and lentil are in bulk beans, teff, barley,
wheat, rye and oat groats in bulk grains. Green pea is hard to get locally.
Wild Oats and Alfalfa’s have special bins for sprouting seeds. My local Alfalfa’s sells Sproutpeople’s mixes
(French, Italian, etc.). Ask at your store if they sell seeds for sprouting – often they’re hidden away!
On the web, I like:
sprouting.com – Mumm's Sprouting Seed – an organic farm in Canada with a huge variety of seeds (especially
greens) they've been growing since 1982. They use my sprouter to test seeds for sprouting quality. Also one of the
few who test for salmonella and e.coli. I like their hulled sprouting oats (very hard to get elsewhere). Jim, the
owner, wrote to me: "most of your customers would probably want to see our bulk seed price list, much cheaper
than the web prices for those that can use 11 lbs and more of one kind of seed."
sproutpeople.com – good seed varieties and good stuff on refuting the sprout nay-sayers like the FDA and
Andrew Weil;
Sprout Master – Canadian distributors of certified organic sprouting seeds, beans, grains and other healthful
products.
27. Loving the Living Foods Lifestyle
Would you love your entire salad to be all fresh living foods? If you have 1.5 feet spare on a patio or inside a sunny
room (or grow lights will work in a dark room) then you can grow the big green leaves – lettuce, collard greens,
cabbage, etc. – and the vegetable fruits – tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant – right at home! No weeding, fully
automatic watering. Here it is:
greensmoothie.com/hydro/indoor.php – our GoGreen vertical towers give you a completely new and simple way
to garden, with higher yields, minimum maintenance, and gardening that is friendly to the environment – a
gardening system so simple and carefree that anyone, no matter where they live, can enjoy healthy home grown
vegetables – without the guesswork or labor.
If you have a garden or any land, please go to google.com and do a search on permaculture. Permaculture works
with nature to transform land into a living world. I've seen the most amazing video showing the transformation of
dry hard land in India and Africa, into gardens of wonder – in two years! Farmers who were marginalized and
starved, sometimes forced to sell their children as indented laborers, as a result of their land being turned over to
cash-crops (like tobacco, coffee, rubber) are now once again able to stand proud as they transform the smallest plot
into a wonderland.
Chemicals – biocides and fertilizers – and mono-crops (huge fields of a single crop) are destroying our top soil. Once the soil is gone, there will be no more food. The only effective boycott of pesticides is to grow your food at
home, using organic seeds and organic fertilizer, and buy the rest in an organic food buying co-operative with
your friends and family.
www.cooperative.org – National Cooperative Business Association – ask them for their leaflet on Food
Cooperatives (includes U.S. addresses of organic food cooperative distributors) and for their book and video on
how to organize a Co-op Food Buying Club.
notmilk.com – an eye-opener if you or your children are drinking milk, or eating icecream or cheese. Our Free
Recipe eBook shows you easy delicious alternatives.
ravediet.com – an eye-opening DVD to lend to friends and family – doctors support the plant-centered diet, and
powerful photos show the effect on our health and planet of eating animals, birds and fish.
thefutureoffood.com – another powerful DVD showing how Monsanto is genetically engineering foods, the affect
on our health and land, and alternative paths you can take.
earthsave.org – EarthSave Foundation – ask them for for their healthy school lunch program (vegan) and their
Healthy Children, Healthy Planet Curriculum. Especially for parents, grandparents and teachers. Please look at
EarthSave's materials before you use those given to schools by the Dairy and Meat Boards!
If you are a non-dairy vegetarian (vegan, that's what I am and what I teach on my web sites) or would like to know
more about it, or want a simple brochure to let others know of the terrible suffering and pain of the animals and
birds in factory prisons (falsely called factory "farms"), please visit:
veganoutreach.org – and order copies of their Why Vegan? brochure, to hand out to friends and family. Free if
you're penniless.
We will restore our earth to the blue-and-green jewel it once was! It takes the tiny effort of each one of us, then,
when we've learned how to do it, teaching the next person.
farmsanctuary.org – inspiring stories of animals and birds rescued from factory prisons and slaughter-houses. Well
worth a visit.
gentleworld.org – click on "Publications" – they publish Dr. Michael Klaper's Vegan Nutrition tapes and books, e.g.
Pregnancy, Children and the Vegan Diet (a must-read for all parents and parents-to-be) and two delightful vegan
cookbooks, one with a chapter on raw food recipes. 28. Best Books & On-line Reading
Rhio at rawfoodinfo.com gives a sampling of recipes on-line, from her book of 350 gourmet live food recipes,
Hooked On Raw. Print them out for free right now! Rhio is my favorite raw-food writer, I love her free enewsletter Raw Energy Hotline. To join, email [email protected] with the words "Join Elist" in the header.
Living On Live Food by Alissa Cohen (Cohen Publishing, Deerfield Beach, FL, 2004, ISBN #0-9748963-0-6) has
the biggest variety of delicious raw recipes I've ever seen, and inspiring testimonials. I recommend this book as the
first one to buy – alissacohen.com.
My favorite sprout recipe book is Sproutman’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Steve Meyerowitz (The Sprout
House, Great Barrington, MA, 1994, ISBN #1-878736-84-1) – has both cooked whole food and living raw food
recipes (delicious recipes for sprouted-grain breads and cookies). I think I have every single one of Steve's books –
see them at sproutman.com.
If you’re healing, then The Blending Book by Ann Wigmore (Avery Publishing, Garden City Park, NY, 1997,
ISBN #0-89529-761-2) has delicious recipes – blending maximizes Nature’s nutrients.
Ann Wigmore's The Wheatgrass Book (Avery Publishing, 1985, ISBN #0-89529-234-3) will motivate you to eat
more green, especially juiced.
The best book for raw sprouted-grain cracker recipes is Vibrant Living by James Levin and Natalie Cederquist
(recently back in print).
hacres.com – Hallelujah Acres, where Rev. George Malkmus runs health ministry trainings. Subscribe to his
weekly e-mail newsletter filled with inspiring testimonials from people who've healed themselves with raw and
living foods.
The books I love most on how to sprout using every possible method, and with sprout recipes, are:
The Sprout Garden by Mark M. Braunstein (Book Publishing Company, Summertown, TN, 1993, ISBN #0-
913990-99-5) – includes the 2-week soil method for greens like lettuce and spinach; and
The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore (Avery Publishing Group, Wayne, NJ, 1986, ISBN #0-89529-246-7) – a
great book to motivate you to:
EAT MORE SPROUTS !
This is Buddy, saying, "So this is where
my Energy Soup comes from, mom? What a Miracle!"
Notice how clean and neat the sprouter is! This simple storage box is much easier to
keep clean than the factory-made
sprouters.
This is me, Val (short for Valerie) your author,
saying, Eat Green! in a hotel room, Long
Beach, CA, December 1997
Will you build this sprouter right now, and turn your life
around with fresh organic greens every day? Will you let
your friends know about Mother Nature's true healing?
The address is – GreenSmoothie.com! Thank you
for your support!
Passport photo taken in January 2001
(age 52) in South Africa. Here Gene
is playing with it, adding make-up
(which I never wear) and whitening
my teeth.
P.S. My sad news – I had to give up Buddy (and his sister, Holly) for adoption by friends when I left
USA for South Africa in October, 2000. I miss his love and morning hugs. Actually if I'd known I was
leaving them, I'd never have left. I thought I'd be back in the US by May 2001, then ran out of money. It's so cheap to live in South Africa, while the ocean and climate are divine!
Contents
Disclaimer
|
| Product List | Product Photos | Parts List | Sprouter Contents |
Detailed List of Parts
Also take a quick look at the Check Lists before ordering.
Nozzles – are designed for municipal water pressure of 50-60 psi (4 bar if you're metric, divide 60 by
14.71). But members are using them at pressures as low as 30 psi with no problem.
Quick-Connect Fittings – this is the only part of our Sprouter that's not in local stores. Quick-connect
is an optional luxury, not a necessity. It allows you to easily unclick your Sprouter from the water-line,
to move it or clean it, then click it back on again. If you're buying all parts locally (not buying Sprouter
or Mist Kit from Dan) you can order these fittings under Optional Extras on Dan's site.
Basic Mist Kit
Small Mist Kit
Large Mist Kit
Small Sprouter
Large Sprouter
To build two Small
Sprouters or one Large,
with spare nozzles and
fittings (T's and compr.
rings)
To build one Small
Sprouter with five
nozzles
To build two Small
Sprouters or one Large,
with spare nozzles and
fittings (T's and compr.
rings)
6-tray Sprouter,
20"x14"x9", with all
parts fully installed,
tested, and ready-to-go
(20" wide, 14" deep into
shelf, 9" high)
8-tray Sprouter,
38"x16"x9" (incl. 2 big
14x15" grass trays),
with all parts installed,
tested, ready-to-go
30-ft AzMist flexible
1/4-inch Tubing for
mist-line, UV-resistant
and algae-resistant, with
20-ft AzMist 1/4-inch
Tubing, UV- and algaeresistant, with
Tubing, UV- and algaeresistant, with
Tubing (9-ft spare),
UV/algae-resistant,
fitted in Box with
nozzles interspersed
both sides, with
Tubing (9-ft spare),
UV/algae-resistant,
fitted in Box with
nozzles interspersed
both sides, with
1 x pair quick-connect
fittings (open-flow) for
AzMist tubing
AzMist tubing
AzMist tubing
fittings (auto-shutoff)
for AzMist tubing
fittings (auto-shutoff)
for AzMist tubing
24 x AzMist brass &
stainless steel Nozzles
at 1/2 gallon per hour –
10-12 in use and 10-12
spare for use when first
are soaking in nozzle
cleaner
10 x AzMist brass &
at 1/2 gph – 5 in use
and 5 spare
24 x AzMist brass &
at 1/2 gph – 10 in use
and 10 spare
10 x AzMist brass &
at 1/2 gph – 5 screwed
into T-fittings and 5
spare
20 x AzMist brass &
at 1/2 gph – 10 screwed
into T-fittings and 10
spare
12 x AzMist rotatable
nozzle T-fittings, into
which nozzles screw
5 x AzMist nozzle Tfittings
24 x compression rings,
and 2 x end-caps, for
nozzle T-fittings
and one end-cap
and 2 x end-caps
and one end-cap
and one end-cap
No tubing hangers, buy
cable ties or picture
wire locally
5 x plastic tubing
hangers (that is, 5 each
nuts, screws, clamps) to
tie mist-tubing into box
12 x tubing hangers
(i.e., 12 each nuts,
screws, clamps)
5 x tubing hangers fitted
into box holding the
mist-tubing in place
10 x tubing hangers
fitted into box holding
the mist-tubing in place
2 x screw-in drain
spouts (each with nylon
thread-to-barb adapter,
washer and nut)
1 x screw-in drain
spout, with
2 x screw-in drain
spouts, with
1 x screw-in drain
spout, with
1 x screw-in drain
spout, with
No drain tube, buy at
hardware store
3-ft x 1/4" clear vinyl
tubing for drain tube
No valve – buy locally a
lawn sprinkler valve,
must have a manual
over-ride switch
1 x Orbit WaterMaster
Valve # 57100 (or Orbit
internatonal metric
Valve # 94082)
Valve # 57100 (or
metric Valve # 94082)
Valve # 57100 (or
Valve # 57100 (or
No valve connectors –
take our quick-connect
fittings and your hose to
store, to connect valve
between mist-tubing on
one side, hose on the
other
one 3/4"x1/4" pvc
bushing, to click openflow fitting (from misttube) into valve, and
one 3/4-inch brass
male-pipe to male-hose
adapter to connect valve
to hose (leading to
faucet)
one 3/4"x1/4" pvc
bushing, and one 3/4inch brass male-pipe to
male-hose adapter
one 3/4"x1/4" pvc
male-hose adapter
one 3/4"x1/4" pvc
male-hose adapter
Buy teflon tape at
hardware store
Teflon tape, to wind
round thread of adapters
Teflon tape
Teflon tape pre-wound
on adapters to correct
width
Teflon tape pre-wound
on adapters to correct
width
Buy timer – must
connect easily to valve,
and be programmable to
switch on 8 times in 24
hours, from 3-10
minutes each time
Timer # 57161, with
Timer # 57161, with
Timer # 57161, with
Timer # 57161, with
Buy transformer with
timer, for valve to
operate, unless you get
battery valve-timer
1 x 110v (US)
Transformer for timer
and valve; or select an
alternative 220v or
battery transformer in
order form
1 x 110v Transformer,
or select an alternative
220v or battery
transformer in order
form
220v or battery
form
220v or battery
form
Buy similar small or
large storage boxes
locally, should be no
less than 9-inches (23
cm) high inside, or
build one
Buy similar size small
storage box locally
(#2223)
Buy similar 2 small or
one large storage box
locally (2 x #2223 or 1
x #2141)
1 x growing container
with all holes drilled
(Rubbermaid Storage
Box # 2223)
1 x growing container
with all holes drilled
(Rubbermaid Storage
Box # 2141)
Buy similar small and
large plant trays locally,
or use hydroponic
channel; trays should be
2-inches (5 cm) high,
not lower than one-inch
Buy similar 3x12 and
6x9 trays locally
Buy similar 3x12 and
6x9 trays locally
6 x plant trays with all
holes drilled, each
3x12" (Rubbermaid
Drawer Organizers #
2912)
6 x plant trays, each
3x12" plus 2 x 14x15"
trays used for
wheatgrass, and buy
extra 3x12 or 6x9 trays
if you like small trays in
addition to the 14x15
trays
Buy hose (for water
supply), either washing
machine hose or high
pressure hose,
preferably not a garden
hose
Buy hose locally, or order one under Optional Extras in order form. See Buying the Hose below at end of this
page.
$89
$129
$159
$199
$299
Basic Mist Kit
Small Mist Kit
Large Mist Kit
Small Sprouter
Large Sprouter
Prices are for guidance only - they may differ today. Email Dan at [email protected] for Help.
.
Not paying with US $ ? Use this quick currency converter – see
Personal Currency Assistant
Buying the Hose
When deciding on a water source, ask two questions:
(1) Will I connect my sprouter to a faucet or to a cold water pipe? The faucet must have threads.
(2) How far away from faucet or cold water pipe will my sprouter be? That will decide the length of
your hose.
If you use a faucet, then you need (a) a Y-connecter if the sprouter will share faucet with another
device, AND (b) a Washing Machine Hose, OR (c) a High Pressure Hose with Faucet Kit. The benefit
of the washer hose is a built-in faucet connecter (you don't need the faucet kit). The benefit of the
high-pressure hose is length.
If you connect to a cold water pipe, then you need a High Pressure Hose with Saddle Valve.
Hoses with connection kits for both faucet and cold water pipe are under Optional Extras on order form.
CHECK LISTS
Also see photos of Sprouters and photos of Kits
1. Order Guide for Automatic Sprouters
Required – buy locally, or Order it with Sprouter. Email Dan at [email protected].
Washing machine hose, or high pressure hose
Hose-to-faucet adapter if it's not pre-fitted into hose; or Saddle valve to connect hose to cold
water pipe
Optional – buy locally, or Order it with Sprouter. Email Dan at [email protected].
Y-connector (with on-off switch on each Y) – for sprouter to share faucet, e.g. with washing
machine
Manifold Kit or Y-connector – to split off two or more Sprouters after the valve; this Manifold is
not in local stores
Water filter – GXRLQ–GE Refrigerator/Icemaker In-Line Water Filter with 1/4-inch fittings
Arizona Mist Liquid Nozzle Cleaner part #10103 – AzMist advises not to use white vinegar to
soak nozzles
Extra plant trays – especially for the Large Sprouter; I think it's a good idea to get six 3x12" trays
and four 6x9" trays in addition to the trays that come with Sprouter; these trays are cheapest in
local US stores ($2)
Hand sprayer
Paint brush, half-inch
Optional – buy locally – not available on Dan's site:
Automatic fertilizer unit – also can supply hydrogen peroxide to sprouts, e.g. Miracle Gro ($5),
Dosmatic ($200)
AzMist Maintenance Kit – we no longer sell it because the drain valve didn't always work (too
dependant on water pressure)
Pump sprayer – to use as pressurized water tank, only if you're not connecting to a faucet or
water-pipe, e.g. 3-gallon RL Flo-Master Pump Sprayer, Model PGX 1003, with pressure relief
valve
2. Order Guide for Mist Kits
Required – buy locally, or build:
Growing container in USA or Canada, OR
Growing container outside USA or Canada
Required – buy locally, or Order it under Optional Extras:
Timer and Valve with connectors – only if you get the Basic Mist-kit, e.g. the Mist-kit with
Juicer or Dehydrator; Small and Large Mist-kits include timer and valve
Plant trays
Washing machine hose, or high pressure hose
Hose-to-faucet adapter if it's not pre-fitted into hose; or Saddle valve to connect hose to cold
water pipe
Optional – buy locally, or Order it under Optional Extras from Dan:
Y-connector (with on-off switch on each Y) – for sprouter to share faucet, e.g. with washing
machine
Manifold Kit or Y-connector – to split off two or more Sprouters after the valve; this Manifoldis
not in local stores
Water filter – GXRLQ–GE Refrigerator/Icemaker In-Line Water Filter with 1/4-inch fittings
Arizona Mist Liquid Nozzle Cleaner part #10103 – AzMist advises not to use white vinegar to
soak nozzles
Hand sprayer
Paint brush, half-inch
Optional – buy locally – not available on Dan's site:
Automatic fertilizer unit – also can supply hydrogen peroxide to sprouts, e.g. Miracle Gro ($5),
Dosmatic ($200)
AzMist Maintenance Kit – we no longer sell it because the drain valve didn't always work (too
dependant on water pressure)
Pump sprayer – to use as pressurized water tank, only if you're not connecting to a faucet or
water-pipe, e.g. 3-gallon RL Flo-Master Pump Sprayer, Model PGX 1003, with pressure relief
valve
3. International and Off-The-Grid
You can now get the Orbit international valve and transformer if you live overseas, or a battery valvetransformer if you're off the grid. If you're 220v and/or metric, or don't have access to power, please be
sure to check those boxes in the order form. The international valve has a flow control so you can
reduce water flow to the mist nozzles if your water pressure is higher than 60 psi (approx. 4 bar). I'm
experiencing it works fine with South Africa's 5 bar.
Prices are the same as US models, so in each case it's shipped to you as a free swap.
INTERNATIONAL Orbit Transformer
230v Model # 94047 – for UK, Europe, SA,
Australia, etc. Order this model if the
electricity in your country is 220v or 230v.
Notice the two prongs – in South Africa, local
stores sell a standard cheap plug into which
this 2-prong transformer will fit.
Orbit also has an International Valve with
British pipe threads (metric). Order this valve
if your country is metric (centimeters not
inches). Valve is not pictured here because
externally it looks the same as the US valve.
OFF-THE-GRID Orbit Battery Timer-Valve Model #
62015 – ONLY for those living off the grid. Uses two 9volt alkaline batteries, which can be rechargeable Ni-Mh
type (Nickel Metalhydride) that last for 1.5 months.
The Timer allows watering durations of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30,
60, 90, or 120 minutes. Watering interval options are
every 2, 4, 8, or 12 hours. You water six times a day every
four hours for 5 or 10 minutes – not the eight times every
three hours as with the electrical. It also allows intervals of
every 1, 2, 3, 4, or 7 days.
This battery Timer-Valve also comes in an international
metric version Model # 94066 – valve has British pipe
threads (metric).
If you have power, don't get the battery timer-valve. Orbit's electrical timer with separate valve is more
durable. And the electrical timer is more flexible on start times and duration.
The battery timer has a "Battery Low" indicator, so you can replace batteries as soon as they get low.
When they're removed, the settings remain for half an hour, and then everything goes away. The clock
keeps running for that half hour. This gives you enough time to switch batteries, without losing your
misting program.
The valve in the battery unit does not shut off properly so water seeps through, which in turn affects the
nozzles, they leak all the time. Teus in Zimbabwe, fixed it himself: "I have opened it, replaced the valve
part with a small switch, and am now switching a second, good quality valve, that is not leaking."
The electrical valve in our sprouters and kits never leaks. Dan shipped the Large Mist Kit with 220v
timer and metric valve, to me in South Africa. The 3/4-inch quick-connect adapters in the Kit fit
perfectly into the 19mm pipes of the valve, with a little extra teflon. I'm the envy of my new rawfood
support group! One has ordered the Basic Kit, and I'm hoping one-by-one they will follow suit and
experience the healing power of living greens.
| Order Sprouter or Mist Kit | Product List | Product Photos | Parts List | Sprouter Contents |
1. Sprouter Customers – Quick Links to Connect Your Sprouter
Connect the valve between hose and mist-tubing
Connect the timer to valve, and program the timer
Position Sprouter in good location, at an angle for drainage
Assemble PVC pipe stand
Push the drain tube onto screw-in Drain Spout
Connect hose to faucet or to water pipe, see also For Apt Dwellers if you live in apt
Turn on water and test connections
Fill a tray with seeds, place in container, and leave container lid slightly open
Switch on Sprouter
2. Mist Kit Customers – Quick Links to Assemble Your Sprouter
Drill holes in plant trays and container, which you buy locally (or build the container)
Fit mist nozzles into container
Connect the valve between hose and mist-tubing, if you have Basic Mist-kit, you buy timer and valve locally,
and connectors for valve
Connect the timer to valve, and program the timer
Position Sprouter in good location, at an angle for drainage
Push the drain tube onto screw-in Drain Spout, if you have Basic Mist-kit, you buy this tube locally
Connect hose to faucet or to water pipe, see also For Apt Dwellers if you live in apt
Turn on water and test connections
Fill a tray with seeds, place in container, and leave container lid slightly open
Switch on Sprouter
3. Optional Extra Connections
PVC pipe stand
Water filter
Fertilizer unit, also used for hydrogen peroxide
Multiple Sprouters
4. Also Read
How to Keep Sprouter Clean
Seeds that Will Sprout
5. Resources for All
Order variety of seeds from reputable supplier (tests germination rate and for salmonella, e.coli) e.g. seed
farmer member Jim Mumm's sprouting.com
Recipes to spice up sprouts and greens
Sources for seeds, munchies, books, appliances, free vegetarian starter kit
CONDITIONS OF USE OF THIS WEB SITE
PLEASE READ THE DISCLAIMERS BELOW BEFORE USING THIS SITE.
By using this site, you signify your assent to the Water Damage Disclaimer and
the Medical Disclaimer below. If you do not agree to both disclaimers, please
do not use the site. Thank you!
WATER PRECAUTIONS
First, let me say that hundreds if not thousands of Sprouters, built according to
my instructions since May 2000, have been put into operation and to my
knowledge not one water-line has leaked, once properly installed.
I did receive three reports of the AzMist faucet adapter cracking, and we do
NOT use it in our Sprouters and Kits. Please see WARNING – BEWARE the
AzMIST Faucet Adapter.
The Sprouter works beautifully, better than any other sprouter on earth. But DO
take all precautions possible.
When water is trapped under pressure, as with our Sprouter, there is a
possibility that anything in the water-line can burst or break at any time, causing
property damage and/or personal injury. The biggest risk is a leak developing at
a connector in the water line, or the valve failing to switch off, when you are
away, causing a flood and property damage to your home (or office) and to any
apartments or offices below you.
Our experience of the valve is that when it gets old, it starts to switch on
intermittently. So it fails to switch on, it has never failed to switch off. When it
gets irregular like this, you know it's time for a new valve.
Graingers Leak Detection and Automatic Shutoff Valve ($360) is a system
which offers automatic shutoff of household water at the source by placing
sensors under appliances that could leak. See Avoiding Water Damage when
You're Away.
But far cheaper is simply to take reasonable precautions. I'm probably being too
paranoid with all the precautions below. Pastor Dan (my sprouter builder)
writes: “It seems to me you’re going into too much detail about how to avoid
leaks. You make it sound like our setup is prone to leaks and trouble, which it
definitely is not. Connecting a sprouter is the same as connecting a washing
machine. Couldn't you just advise everyone to take the usual precautions?”
So here goes! When installing the Sprouter, please take the following
precautions to minimize the risk of water damages.
1. When connecting to a faucet, use a washing machine hose or other high
pressure hose, not a garden hose, as the latter is not designed to be left under
pressure for an extended period.
2. Use only the best high-pressure adapters on the water-pressure side, for all
connections between water source and valve – use brass rather than plastic or
resin-compound adapters, with the best quality washers or O-rings.
3. Double check and tighten all connections regularly and OFTEN. Ensure that
nothing is working its way loose (as a hose starts to leak from an outside faucet
when it hasn't been tightened in a long time).
4. Try to place all in-line connections – water filter, AzMist filter, valve – in
positions where, if an adapter leaks while you're out, it won't cause major
damage. For instance, connect them to each other, one leading into the next, and
place them on a sink or bucket.
5. Change the Orbit valve annually as per the Sprouter instructions.
6. Try to drain into a floor drain, a sink, the bath or the garden, rather than into
a bucket, so if the Orbit valve does fail to switch off, no water will overflow
from a bucket. This will also make your Sprouter labor-free for you, so you can
go away for a few days and your greens will continue to gow.
7. Read all manufacturer's instructions that come with the parts used in the
Sprouter, and follow all their warnings and safety precautions.
8. If you live outside the USA, before you buy any parts, check with a local
plumber first as to how best to adapt the instructions for your country. For
instance, in South Africa the water pressure is so high that they use pipes only,
never a hose, with their in-line sprinkler valves. I personally use the AzMist
international valve with garden hose in S.A. and have had no problem since
2001.
9. Take out renter's or homeowner's insurance against water damages.
10. Remember, not one water-line has leaked to date after proper installation.
The plumbing connections we use are designed to handle a continual flow of
water under pressure. A plumbing leak is the exception. It usually occurs only
with old pipes, hoses and adapters.
Dan writes that the 1/4-inch plastic tubing in his icemaker kit (of lower quality
than our high pressure hose) is "made to be left in place under normal
household water pressure indefinitely. The water is turned off and on in the icemaker, so the tubing is under pressure all the time. I have had mine in operation
supplying water to my refrigerator for about nine years with no trouble."
1. Water Damage Disclaimer
There is always some risk involved when working with water under pressure.
Regarding the sprouter described on this web site (hereafter, the "Sprouter"), the
domain name owner, website owner, webhost, webmaster, sponsors (if any) and
author of this web site, AND the manufacturers and suppliers of parts for the
Sprouter, AND the builders of the Sprouter we supply, AND New Life
Solutions LLC (hereafter, jointly and severally referred to as the "Suppliers")
AND any employees or agents acting on behalf of the Suppliers, are not
responsible for any adverse effects or consequences that might result from use
of the Sprouter information. Please do not apply such information if you are not
willing to assume the risk.
If you do use the information contained on this web site, you do so at your own
risk and the Suppliers assume no responsibility.
THE SUPPLIERS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR
DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE USE OF INFORMATION AND/OR
PRODUCT PROVIDED BY THE SUPPLIERS, OR RESULTING FROM
ANY DEFECTS OR FAILURE OF THIS INFORMATION AND/OR
PRODUCT.
2. Medical Disclaimer
I do NOT say, living foods are a cure-all. I DO say, make living foods an
essential step in all healing for both body and mind.
If you are ill or overweight, have a medical condition or are on medication,
please consult a holistic physician with experience in dietary changes before
attempting any natural healing program. It is advisable to remain under the
doctor's supervision throughout any major shift in diet. Individual responses to
any health plan may vary greatly.
There is always some risk involved when changing diet. Regarding the
information on this or any of my web sites ("Web-sites") or in any material
distributed by myself, Valerie Archer ("Archer"), or by any employee or agent
acting on behalf of Archer, in electronic (including e-mails), print or any other
form (herein, the "Information"), Archer, the Web-sites, website owners, webhosts and webmasters of the Web-sites, sponsors, publishers, printers and
authors of the Information (herein, jointly and severally referred to as the
"Suppliers") are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences that
might result from use of the Information. Please do not apply such Information
if you are not willing to assume the risk.
If you do use the Information without the approval of a health professional, you
are prescribing for yourself which is your constitutional right, but the Suppliers
assume no responsibility.
THE SUPPLIERS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR
DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE USE OF THE INFORMATION, OR
RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECTS OR FAILURE OF THIS
INFORMATION.
The Information is NOT to be construed as the practice of medicine, nor is it
intended as a replacement for any treatment prescribed by a licensed health
professional. The Information is not medical advice and is not given as medical
advice. The Information is a simple report of the author's personal experience
and research, and is presented for educational purposes only.
People who post messages on any bulletin boards of the Web-sites are not
considered authors of the Web-sites nor Suppliers, and are considered private
individuals representing their views.
The Web-sites may contain links to other Internet sites. These links do not
signify the Suppliers' endorsement or approval of any information, products or
services in such sites, unless the author of the Web-site page containing such
link specifically states so.

Guide to Home Sprouting

Transcription

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