Quick Seed sprout tea question

[NemoClones]

first time making SST. Im using yellow corn but i see a lot of mold on top. Is this ok?

 

[macsnax]

No not at all, where do you think that mold is gonna grow when you add seeds and media? I don't understand the need for a lot of these seed popping methods. Good seed stock should pop just fine. If it's old stock, there's other methods. A lil southern ag or hydrogaurd to prevent damping off if you need, but seeds will pop and grow just fine if your using simple proven methods.

 

[FresnoFarmer]

Why the corn? I use a moistened paper towel everytime with 99.9% success.

 

[Dudogrow]

SST isn't for seeds its an organic tea made from freshly sprouted seeds used in veg. I wouldn't use anything with black mold in my garden but I'm no expert in organics this is my first year using it myself.

 

[Rainbow Warrior]

I go with Fresno-old school, sure to work, check daily, no mould and no money spent apart from a couple of Kitchen roll sheets

 

[FresnoFarmer]

Oh, I get whats going on here. In that case no I would not use any moldy tea on my plants. Better off doing it with maybe some alfalfa seed? Idk never tried it.

 

[Dudogrow]

Yeah alfalfa, barley or rye would make a better SST. The seeds need to sprout quickly so they won't mold, I've never heard of using corn for it before. Thinking maybe your corn took too long to sprout in the water and molded over. If it was just white mold I'd probably use it but black is dangerous.

 

[FresnoFarmer]

Alfalfa also is known to be high in Triacontanol. Never used the seeds but I use pellets in conjunction with kelp in my compost tea.

 

[NemoClones]

Thanks everyone

 

[Harry Bonanza]

I’m late to the party but also started using corn SST this year. I am no expert but I let mine soak in water for 24-36 hours then just gave it a fresh rinse every day for 5 days. By then most seeds had about a 1/4” tail on them. 2 mins in the blender, strained and bubbles overnight. Delicious!! You can buy 50lbs of corn at a feed store for $15. Maybe more for organic. Corn was my mainstay while I added alfalfa during veg and switched to mung beans during flower. Those were 24 hour soaks and then usually ready by day 3. I also used the waste as a top dress. This is where you might think you see mold eventually but it’s actually beneficial fungi. Fungal teas are also fun.

 

[nakachongkiako]

I’m late to the party but also started using corn SST this year. I am no expert but I let mine soak in water for 24-36 hours then just gave it a fresh rinse every day for 5 days. By then most seeds had about a 1/4” tail on them. 2 mins in the blender, strained and bubbles overnight. Delicious!! You can buy 50lbs of corn at a feed store for $15. Maybe more for organic. Corn was my mainstay while I added alfalfa during veg and switched to mung beans during flower. Those were 24 hour soaks and then usually ready by day 3. I also used the waste as a top dress. This is where you might think you see mold eventually but it’s actually beneficial fungi. Fungal teas are also fun.

I know that alfalfa were use for veg on organic farming due to it content to fix nitrogen deficiency but I never heard of mung beans in flowering? What does it give to the plants and also how do you apply it do you let them sprout and then?

 

[Harry Bonanza]

@nakachongkiako Mung beans are supposed to provide potassium during flower along with calcium, magnesium and iron. I just bought them at the grocery store and they had surprising germination rates. They likely tripled in volume so make sure you have room in your jar for them to expand. Once the sprouts were 1/4” in long I put them in the blender and added water until it was smoothy texture and then strained into 5 gallons of dechlorinated tap water or rain water with a good air stone overnight.(the leftover ground up seeds make a great top dress) There should be lots of bubbles. At times so many I would dilute it to 8 gallons. Once that was done I’d add about 1/4 cup of organic molasses to be food for all the enzymes. I’d have to check my journals for the exact recipe but it was basically half cup of mung beans along with 1 cup of corn for 5 gallons of tea. I would make this tea every second week, and on alternate weeks I would do a compost tea and even a fungal tea halfway through flower. That could be wrong but my plants showed no ill affects. I’d say if anything I might have been on the weaker side but better to start weak and go from there. Hope this is helpful. I’m still learning myself.

 

[foreverflyhi]

Look into malted barley, or anything malted, better to use directly in soil according to coontz. He even once mentioned in a podcast he no longer does sst for some good reason.

 

[Harry Bonanza]

Look into malted barley, or anything malted, better to use directly in soil according to coontz. He even once mentioned in a podcast he no longer does sst for some good reason.

I’ve actually been doing quite a bit of research lately and it does seem the SST’s are being used less frequently. They are great just not necessary if you’re already doing compost teas or your soil is already alive. It’s all really about your soil food web. Baby oatmeal is apparently great for getting fungal activity going. I’m going to grow a bin here shortly to be used in a fungal dominated compost tea