Top Sprouting Tips

How much seed should I start with?

It depends on the seed:

• Broccoli, salad mix, radish, clover, alfalfa: ¼ cup
• Protein mix, lentils, peas, chickpea, mung: 1 cup

How long should I soak my seeds?

About 8 hours. Anywhere from 7–10 hours is fine.

I see mold on my sprouts!

Probably not. Does it look like white hair or fuzz? Those are normal root hairs, and they mean your sprouts are thirsty. Give them a rinse.

How do I rinse and drain my sprouts?

1. Fill the sprouter with enough water to wet all the seeds/sprouts.
2. Drain the water. No really — drain alllll the water. Hold the sprouter upside down at a few different angles and you'll see more water drain out as you move it around.
3. Turn the jar mouth-side up and coat the inner wall with the seeds.
4. Make sure no seeds are stuck to the metal filter. Slap the side of the sprouter with your palm to knock them off.
5. Put the sprouter back in the stand.

My sprouts aren't growing well — few filling the jar, lots of unsprouted seeds. Are my seeds bad?

Probably not. A few things to check:

• Germination isn't 100%, even in a fresh bag. As the most popular organic sprouting seed vendor, our inventory moves quickly, so our seed is among the freshest in the industry. That said, no bag of seed will have a 100% germination rate. We stop shipping seed once quarterly testing shows it drop below 80–85% germination (this varies by seed). That means that for every 100 seeds, about 20 won't germinate — even in a fresh bag — and that number keeps dropping over time. Store your seed in the fridge to make it last longer.
• Drain thoroughly during the first few days. After each rinse, really get all the water out (it takes about 30 seconds). Hold the jar upside down at a few angles and you'll see more water drain. Then hold the sprouter mouth-side up and rotate it to coat the inner wall with the seeds. Be sure to knock the side of the sprouter so any seed falls off the metal filter. (Coating the inner wall won't be possible once the sprouts start growing tails.)
• Start with a full measure of seed. That's a full ¼ cup (1 cup for legumes/protein mix). Seeds generate warmth as they grow, and that warmth is needed for optimal growth. Less seed = less warmth = less growth. If your kitchen runs cool, this gets worse.
• The first 2–3 days matter most. If your seeds get too dry in those first few days, they won't grow well no matter how long you wait. You can tell they're too dry if you take the sprouter out of the stand, hear the seeds moving around in the jar, and they sound like dry sand. Depending on your environment, a third daily rinse may be needed at certain times of year.
• Broccoli is temperature-sensitive. Our most popular seed, broccoli, doesn't like the cold. Below 71°F it may not grow well.

Do my sprouts need sunlight?

Nope! In fact, keep them out of direct sun.

• At the end of a crop, you can move them to a brighter area for an hour or two to "green" them up. Be careful not to let them get too hot.
• Don't keep them in the dark (a cabinet, a closet, etc.). It's both unnecessary and unsafe — sprouts need fresh airflow.

Do I need to use sanitizer?

Skip it.

How do I harvest my sprouts?

1. Don't just put the sprouter in the fridge — it's dirty after a grow.
2. Remove the sprouts from the sprouter and put them in a salad spinner (the OXO Herb Spinner is our favorite).
3. Rinse and drain a couple of times.
4. Don't worry about the hulls. Optionally, pour them off when the spinner is full of water.
5. Spin dry and discard the water. Spin again, and again.
6. Put the entire salad spinner in the fridge. The OXO Herb Spinner isn't too large — your sprouts deserve the space it takes up.