Aquaponics - Sprouts

I found a device for making sprouts. Spouts for food. Bean sprouts etc. And I discovered I had to buy it.

It was $20 and consists of 5 layers of dish, each around two inches high, and they are stackable. The bottom container has no siphon, and is there just to catch water.

You sprinkle grain around in one of the trays and then pour water into the top.

The water flows through each chamber in turn, and they all get a rinse and a watering.

The water collects in the bottom and is emptied.

Pictured here is some lentils and beans that I found in the cupboard.

The water flows through a tiny bell siphon.

The siphon looks like this with the bell off.

So you put some seeds in, and a few days later, you get a nich little field of spouts. In this case alf alfa.











But I thought it might make a good way to raise seeds for aquaponics, so that they had a root long enough to get down to the water before being added to the system.

Planting seeds directly is a bit hit and miss in aquaponics. When ever I've done it, the results are a little patchy, I think because some seeds don't fall into the media enough, some too much, and some just right.

So I put some of my favourite variety of capsicum into the tray to see what would happen.

The variety is "Sweet Romano Pepper" and it's the only one worth growing in my opinion.

They are a zillion times sweeter than the more square variety that is the only one that seems to be available here.

I like this product so much I''d sell it to you if I could.

All that's left now is to wait for a bit and see if this seed raising method will work.



That 120 Things in 20 years - Aquaponics - Sprouts post took a while to get to the point.