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Two Easy Tricks to Prevent Mold in Home Grown Sprouts

January 29, 2020

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Growing sprouts at home is an easy way to provide nutritious greens for your family without fancy equipment, and a fun winter indoor gardening project. But many beginner sprout growers encounter one big problem that discourages them from trying sprouting again–mold.

Nobody wants to find mold in their home grown sprouts. Who wants to throw out precious food that you spent all that time growing?

Thankfully, there’s two really simple growing tricks that will stop mold in sprouts–with barely any extra work required on your part.

But first, let’s get to the root of the problem. . .

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Why are my sprouts molding?

Simply put, your sprouts are sitting in too much water. If the sprouts are too wet between rinses and there’s no air flow, this creates the perfect conditions for mold to grow.

No on to the two tweaks that will prevent fuzzy sprouts. . .

1. When it’s time to rinse, do it twice

Sprouts need to be rinsed twice a day, but once just isn’t enough. Put water in the jar, swirl the sprouts, and dump the water out. Do it again, but this time, very carefully let the water drain at a 45 degree angle, trying to keep the sprouts as spread out in the jar as possible. Then. . .

2. Rest the Jar in a bowl at a 45 degree angle to drain the remaining water

You know how when you set the jar back upright, there’s always that tiny little pool of water at the bottom? By setting the jar in a bowl, you prevent water from collecting at the bottom, thus preventing mold.

Finally, when it’s time to store the sprouts in the fridge, there’s one bonus trick to keeping them longer. . .

3. Place a paper towel at the bottom of a fridge smart container for the longest possible life

The towel at the bottom of the container will collect any remaining moisture, and help avoid surprises. You don’t have to use a Tupperware fridge smart container, a regular plastic container or knock off will work too.

Just in case you’re a beginner and sprouting for the first time or two, here’s how you do the whole process step by step. . .

How Do I Start Sprouting At Home?

To start your sprouting journey, you’ll need the following ingredients. . .

  • Seeds for sprouting
  • Mason Jar
  • Sprouting lid
  • Small bowl for tipping your sprouts
  1. Loosely fill the bottom of the jar with sprout seeds.
  2. Fill jar with water and soak for 4-8 hours, or overnight.
  3. You are now starting day one. Rinse the sprouts morning and night, 2 times each time. On the last rinse of each time, carefully follow the tricks above so you prevent mould.
  4. Set the jar in a bowl between rinse times. Your sprouts do not need a lot of light, keep them in a darker room.
  5. Repeat the process until your seeds are ready, anywhere from 2-7 days depending on the variety of seeds you purchased.
  6. When the seeds are ready, follow the bonus trick to store them so they keep longer.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy your sprout growing journey!

You might also like. . .

  • Seed Starting from your Window
  • 5 Tricks to growing the best peppers
  • How to start seeds when you don’t have decent light or space
Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

11 Comments
Filed Under: Indoor Gardening Tagged: DIY, indoor gardening, sprouting

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Maureen says

    January 30, 2020 at 9:50 am

    Thanks for the tips I have been afraid of salmonella with growing sprouts, I am assuming that two rinses two times a day and the tipping the jar will prevent this.
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      February 11, 2020 at 3:11 pm

      It should.
      Reply
  2. Sherry says

    June 25, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    I like your advice about preventing mold. I tried sprouting months ago & like you said, have been afraid to try again. After a few days the smell was horrible. They grew but only filled about 1/4 of the jar. How do you get them to grow enough to fill the jar in less time?
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      October 9, 2020 at 11:44 am

      You probably should put in more sprouts than I suggested. Try 3 times the amount next time.
      Reply
    • Jon Anderson says

      November 17, 2020 at 3:09 pm

      Be sure the jar is rested horizontally, and rotating the jar will cause beans and then sprouted beans to cling to the inside of the jar, getting much better aeration .. I think most here will agree that a jar full of sproats is not a good thing! Much less aeration thru the screen that caps the jar ... and too little aeration -> fungus risk !
      Reply
  3. Jessica Coblentz says

    July 24, 2020 at 12:56 pm

    Which setting do you use for the fridge smart? Open? Half open? Closed?
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      September 22, 2020 at 9:32 pm

      I use the open setting
      Reply
  4. Leslie says

    August 21, 2020 at 8:02 am

    Did your tricks and still have mold. Could I have put in too many seeds, creating too much crowding?
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      September 1, 2020 at 8:21 am

      Oh no! Then yes, I would try and put in less seeds next time. Also, it might have something to do with where you live. If you live somewhere near a large body of water, it's likely going to be more humid and it's going to be more challenging to prevent mold.
      Reply
  5. Jon Anderson, MEngr, MD says

    November 17, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    I've a theory: Pre-soak Tablespoon of Mung Beans in pure water (ya, filtered!) for an hour .. within your 'sprouting bottle with a 'screen lid' .. then dump the water , just tip the bottle .. Then: add a 3% (or even more dilute) hydrogen peroxide! ... Swirl for ? 5 mins, then dump the H2O2 .. Now, rinse those beans twice with pure water, then pour it out, then add your quantity of 'growing water' .. for a final rinse.. Set the jar/bottle on it's side in darkened room/closet/or even oven ... (set to 'OFF', of course!) NOW, see how your beans grow .. handling and watering them in your usual way, but do include the bottle at 45deg in a bowl ... to get good drainage .. Then let us know what happens, 'fungus-wise' ;) Just a thought, but a good one ?
    Reply
  6. Jon Anderson MEngr, MD says

    November 17, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    ya, 3% H2O2 is the 'standard concentration ' of 'drug store'/big-box-store' product, btw. It's fairly strong dose! The PRE-soaking should infiltrate the beans so that very little Peroxide will enter the beans .. so , pre-soaking is essential to this experimental process ...
    Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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