Help with sprouting seeds for the budgies

[Marianne Marlow]

Following on from Billy's vet visit today at the RVC I am thinking of sprouting seeds for the budgies.

When I tried in the past they went all mouldy.

Can anyone help me with some tips?

I preferably need a kit from amazon that I can order and just sprout their Haith's tip top seed in.

Thanks for any help, I am useless at these things!!

[ffiscool]

Me too. I’d love to try

[ladybird]

Me too please 👍🏻

[tweetiepiesmom]

Marianne Marlow can I help you with the sprouting (and anyone else interested)? I'm sure mona will have other helpful suggestions. I recommend you use a container that you can by for sprouting rather than make one of your own. I've posted this video before but it is the container I use which I bought on Amazon.


I sprout only about 2 TBL seeds at a time. I found more than that and they didn't sprout as well because they need to be damp and have good air flow without drying them out. I add a good amount of water during the sprout, almost to the top of the container. I use only organic seeds because they won't have any pesticides and are less likely to have mold/bacteria spores. I add 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) to the soaking water to kill any nasties that might be there-picture below of the one I used.


I soak overnight, typically 12 hours. I then drain, use that water to water your plants because its full of nutrients and the GSE won't harm your plants. Rinse the seeds 2-3 times (I have a Brita filter because water in the US has so many added chemicals). Shake them well as demonstrated in the video. I do the rinse and shake every 12 hours. Mine take 3 days to grow to the stage that my guys like them. I store them in the frig. Here's what they look like after 3 days:


My guys love their sprouts! I put them in a dish beside their playgym just before I et them out at noon. They make a beeline to the sprouts before they do anything else! Honestly, using the method above, I have never had mold (knock on wood). My guys nutritionist developed a sprouting blend that she says is as good or better than any pellet. The ingredients listed on the bag are: mung beans, wheat, brown rice, buckwheat, lentils. The amount that I make for my two lasts 3-4 days. You can play around with making more at a time, just keep an eye on how well they grow.

I hope you'll give it another try. When I first started sprouting, I thought it was a lot of trouble but now that I've gotten the hang of it and incorporated into my daily routing, its no trouble at all. Ask me anything at all. mona sprouts regularly and I think Morgan(I think I got the user name right, but maybe not!).

[jellybean]

I haven't sprouted seeds for my two for quite a while, they were a bit of a hit or miss with Sam.
Might try again.

Buy a good sprouting jar.
I always steralise the jar and lid in boiling water first.

I haven't sprouted their seed, I usually buy Alfalfa, or Red Clover seeds, the instructions are on the label as to how long to steep.

I usually rinse mine thoroughly 2/3 times a day for about 3/4 days making sure every time, that all excess water is removed, by spinning and shaking the jar.

Then each time I leave it on the windowsill.

When they have sprouted to your liking, I again rinse, and before the final rinse I put a tablespoon of ACV in the water and leave them to steep for 20 minutes, then rinse for final time.

They keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days, I tend to discard any left over after that.

There are some good videos on YouTube too.

[tweetiepiesmom]

I was thinking that Morgan also sprouts routinely and might have some good tips.

[jellybean]

What make is your sprouting jar TPM, it looks really good.
I don't see it on Amazon.

The one I have is glass which I bought from A.Vogel, they also do good sprouts, all organic.

[tweetiepiesmom]

www.amazon.com/Frontier-Products-Sproutamo-Easy-Sprout/dp/B00AO3QD2C/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=easy+sprout&qid=1630872844&sr=8-5

When I got mine, it came as two in a package. Maybe its not available in the UK now?

[jellybean]

Thanks TPM, here it is in GBP....

[Marianne Marlow]

Oh thanks all, I'll take a better look at this tomorrow

[Morgan]

I haven’t had any trouble with my seeds going moldy except on exceptionally warm days. I just needed to rinse them extra, and that fixed it.

I don’t use anything fancy, just a plain glass mason jar and the flat part of the lid. I don’t like the sprouting jars with holes in the top or a cloth covering because those do let in mold spores and my kombucha used to go moldy a lot until I just started topping it with the mason jar lid…

Anyhow, I soak three days worth of seeds in a full jar of purified water for about four to six hours. Then I rinse them four times a day in cool weather and six to eight times a day in warm weather. I leave my jar out on the counter so I don’t forget about them. If the bottom of the jar starts getting a milky white substance, they need rinsing. Draining them completely after each rinse is also key.

After three or four days of sprouting I add about a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to the last rinse, drain them well, and store them in the fridge in the same jar. I start a new 3-day batch the same day, so I feed and sprout in three day intervals.

Note: The seeds swell and get larger as they grow, so a tsp worth of dry seed equals approximately a tablespoon of sprouts. So leave enough room in the jar for growth. About a third of the jar full of dry seeds is plenty for that jar. After three days the jar will be nearly full.

[Marianne Marlow]

I bought this one, hope it's okay.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002CD58V4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Marianne Marlow]

jellybean tweetiepiesmom is this ACV okay?

www.amazon.co.uk/Raw-Health-Organic-Vinegar-Mother/dp/B0796WBNQG/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=apple+cider+vinegar&qid=1630943885&refinements=p_76%3A419158031&rnid=419157031&rps=1&sr=8-9

[tweetiepiesmom]

Marianne Marlow I've seen that sprouter type before and I think it is good. The parrot nutritionist recommends the one I use as well as one like what you've bought. Just make sure as you are sprouting that you don't get a puddle of water at the lid where it is tilted. The ACV looks good also, seems very similar to the Braggs which I use. Personally I think the keys to successful sprout growing is to rinse the seeds several times before the soak, adding the GSE or ACV to the soak water to kill anything at the start, making sure the growing sprout aren't too wet, rinsing every 8-12 hours 2-3 times and giving the sprouts several rinses and shaking them dry before storing them in the frig. Good luck! I will confess that initially I made and threw away 3 batches before I got the hang of it.

[ffiscool]

Sept 6, 2021 15:59:42 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

jellybean tweetiepiesmom is this ACV okay?

www.amazon.co.uk/Raw-Health-Organic-Vinegar-Mother/dp/B0796WBNQG/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=apple+cider+vinegar&qid=1630943885&refinements=p_76%3A419158031&rnid=419157031&rps=1&sr=8-9

I think that’s the one I bought