Wheatgrass - Hold the Frosting!

So what exactly is frosting?

You think I add some dark chocolate frosting as a topping for wheatgrass juice? Nah...hate to spoil that image. I call mold "frosting." I never, ever, ever liked frosting, so mold is frosting in my mind. LOL

So you want to grow a little wheatgrass?

All you need is some seeds, and some trays, and some soil, and some water and some sunshine and...

Not that simple.

If you want to grow beautiful, healthy, wheatgrass your climate will be THE biggest help and or hinderance of all your tools, IMHO.

I'm not saying this to dissuade you, but instead to pursuade you to "grow" for it! Go for the growing of this grass but remember that you need all the tools and that DEFINITELY includes the knowledge of the humidity, heat, air circulation (or lack there of.)

And practice a little patience with yourself AND the seeds! LOL

Now you don't have to become a weatherperson. But you DO need to remember that mold WILL grow, happily and out of control, if the following occurs:

soil remains too soggy and gets warm, clammy
you don't monitor and ensure some light (indirect usually is the best)
there exists poor or no air circulation
Your environment is very humid

I grew wheatgrass in Philadelphia on a balcony. Outside. I only watered it (just sprayed the water on top of the grass like I did my flowers) and the morning sun hit it for about 2 hours and it grew like crazy. My problem in Philly was the birds! I had zero mold issues except in the sprouting phase.

Now that I live in Florida I've been "inspired/had to" try lots of adjustments. So what about the adjustments! I'm learning and Getting Greener Than The Day Before!

I find that where the humidity is higher, I have mold and slow-growth challenges.

Here is what I've learned about growing wheatgrass in Florida:

I sprout in a Sproutman hemp bag.

I rinse those sprouts everytime I use the sink. It's takes seconds to do so, so not a big chore. Because of the climate, even though inside and in the air conditioning, mold is always a threat.

I sprout for about 2 or 3 days. Mostly what i want is for the root to be at least 2 times as long as the hull. I don't know if that is the "correct" length but it seems to work for me.

Remember though, I'm rinsing this bag probably 6 or more times s day. Maybe if you did less rinses, you'd plant with a shorter root because longer roots offer more possibility of mold, at least in my experience!

Before I put the sprouted seeds on the soil, I will first water the soil only (before I sprinkle the sprouts seeds) and make the soil very moist, close to but not soupy. Then I lay the seeds on top and put a loose cover on top. I have a small fan that I point at the grass and I run the fan on the new trays (is this necessary? - not sure but I do it.) Then after two days I remove the cover and I let some direct sun onto the small seeds (just a few minutes up to 30 minutes.) Be careful because I've fried a few pans. LOL

There is a balance between getting them some sun and making crispy sprouts that won't grow. I don't want them dried out of course, but I want them to lean towards the sun a bit. I want to kind of spur their growth, get them excited to grow!

When I plant my seeds into my trays I leave a little open trough or creek around the soil. This was Cindy's idea and is a great one! This leaves a little "creek" or "trough" for me to pour the water into and water the seeds for the first few days after planting. I start by filling that surrounding trough/creek with water and let the soil absorb the water, and I do this several times over the course of about 15 minutes. I make sure the soil is very hydrated so I only water once a day because I'm busy or lazy or whatever.

Here are several "trough/creek" pictures. Obviously the grass has grown but you can see that the trough remains throughout the entire growth of each tray. (Ignore the bike helmets LOL the shelf doubles as bike central)

I will also allow some direct sunlight onto the grass about 30 minutes a day for the first few days. Then it's indirect sunlight afterwards. If my soil gets over watered, I will either move the trays closer to the indirect sun, open the shades for a bit to allow for direct sunlight and/or move the fan closer.

Once the roots from the grass grow into the soil something that I call a "root mat" develops. A root mat is the interwining of the roots of the wheatgrass into the thin layer of soil. Once the roots start growing into the soil, you can lift the soil, roots and all, aka; my root mat!

I actually will stop watering in the trough/creek and start to lift the root mat up like a blanket and pour the water under the soil and then rest the soil gently, back onto the water-filled tray. I do both ends of the tray. This is SOOOOO important! This allows the roots to soak up the water and I am able to avoid pouring water onto the grass and the top of the soil itself where the mold threatens to grow. In my experience growing wheatgrass in Florida, ALL my mold has grown on the TOP of the soil at the base of the grass. Since I have started this practice of watering around the soil at the start (in the trough/creek) and then just a few days later (once the root mat has developed) lifting the soil and watering underneath - I have have reduced my mold by 99%!
Every day afterwards, I water, always under the root mat and never on the top of the soil. Everyday I turn the trays 180 degrees because I'm using disposable painter's pans and the height on one end is higher than on the other end and I want to make sure the fan gets to aerate the grass.

I also like to give the wheatgrass the workout to reach for the sun, so everyday, it leans a different direction.

If the soil seems too moist, I will either add more fan, or more light.
Never, ever, ever do I water the seeds and/or the grass directly from the top, no matter how thirsty they look. They've seduced me to do so a couple of times, looking all thirsty, and EVERY time - mold!!!
Also, very important: I keep a little fan blowing on the grass during the day. I keep the fan close enough to gently blow the grass. Again, I believe this keeps the top of the soil a little drier and mold free. It's a delicate practice down here in Florida but definitely very, very possible to grow wheatgrass. I'm sure I have a lot to learn and each "crop" teaches me something and I read as I come across new things. I'd love to win the lottery and go to Hippocrates and learn from them. But until them, I am my teacher and so are others who help me along and provide their encouragement and suggestions and experience. I have found growing outside is not dependable because our daily climate changes so radically plus bugs and birds galore, AND they spray for mosquitos and I don't want that poison settling on the grass.

I also grow inside with the air conditioning which seems to help. I am fairly certain that as the level of humidity changes I will have to adjust watering (probably less) sunshine (probably more) fan (maybe less.) The nice thing is that the grass is easy to read and I understand it much better now.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I'd be happy to help if I can. If I can't I have resources to point you to.

Happy Day!