This is a mini flood and drain setup made from stuff around my house. See a video of it in action and/or make your own, referencing the photos below:
I made it because I didn’t like sprouting seeds in a paper towel – mainly because I had know idea when the seed actually sprouted, but I also encountered the following issues:
- I’d forget to add water to keep the towel moist. And if I remembered, I would add water because I didn’t want to forget (making them too wet :)
- The seeds would stick and/or roots would grow throughout the paper making them hard to separate.
- Requires paper which I’m trying to avoid using if I can.
With this seed sprouter, I just watch the progress of the seedlings and when they sprout, I nab them! Sometimes my little girl wants to plant seeds and I just say “drop it in the seed sprouter!”.
Maintenance:
When the water is low (every 2 or 3 days), I recycle the water from the bottom catch to the top. I refresh the water every few cycles or so and give couple good squirts of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is the key to maintenance free (or relatively so).
What else can I say? It’s great!
UPDATE: 2018
I learned that some seeds won’t sprout (not sure why). Some do some don’t. Also when trying re-growing onions, make sure water doesn’t get on the top of the onion or it will rot and don’t keep the onion in the sprouter for too long; it seems they might inhibit the growth of other seedlings. I’m moving to an aquaponics/hydroton ebb and flow setup for seed sprouting.