How to grow bean sprouts and what types are there? Growing green, pollution-free vegetables at home
Bean sprouts refer to edible sprouts formed by the germination of plant seeds or other storage organs under dark or low-light conditions. Theirgrowth cycle is short and they require no fertilizer or pesticide, so they are classified as green, pollution-free food. So how do you grow bean sprouts? What types are there? Here is a good method for growing them at home!
Bean sprouts taste good, are rich in various amino acids and trace elements, and have high nutritional value. As living standards improve, people's requirements for food safety and nutritional value are also getting higher and higher, and green, pollution-free bean sprouts exactly meet people's needs.
However, most bean sprouts on the market today are forced to sprout by soaking in rootless agents, gibberellin or urea. Bean sprouts produced by these methods grow fast and look strong, but the products are not safe enough and do not meet the production standards for green, pollution-free vegetables.
I. What types of bean sprouts are there?
There are many varieties for producing bean sprouts. This article tested 12 varieties in total: perilla, chicken-feather greens, small lentils, herbs, pine willow, red-stem radish, white-stem radish, white peas, wheat, mung beans, black beans and small golden beans. Bean sprouts made from these varieties all grow well and can be used as a reference.
II. How do you grow bean sprouts?
1. Seed treatment methods
1.1 Seed selection
It is best to choose seeds harvested in the current year, plump, with a germination rate above 95%. Such seeds have strong vigor, sprout quickly, sprout evenly, and give high yield and good quality. When selecting seeds, remove damaged, shriveled and moldy seeds.
1.2 Seed treatment
Steps for seed treatment: seed selection — soaking in 55°C warm water — soaking in cold water.
In summer and autumn, when temperatures are higher, soak in warm water no hotter than 55°C for 5 min, then soak in cold water; in winter, when temperatures are low, soak in 55°C warm water for 30 min, then soak in cold water for 8-12 h, adjusting the time according to the variety and seed size.
The amount of 55°C warm water for soaking seeds is generally 2-3 times the volume of the seeds; for cold water soaking, the water just needs to submerge the seeds. The seeds should be spread flat to prevent some seeds from being exposed above the water surface after swelling from water absorption.
The functions of soaking seeds in 55°C warm water: first, it can kill bacteria on the seed surface; second, it breaks seed dormancy, improves seed vigor, and increases the germination rate and germination uniformity. Seeds that have completed soaking fully absorb water and swell 2-3 times, with the seed coat stretched tight and unwrinkled.
2. Forcing bean sprouts to sprout
After the seeds have finished soaking, spread them evenly in a container of suitable size, spray them thoroughly with water, and finally cover them with moist gauze or a towel. The gauze and towel need to stay moist and should not be too thick. The container chosen can be a leaking plastic basket, a plastic tray, a flower pot, or a specially made bean sprout tray.
At the same time, depending on seed size and the container, you can lay gauze, a towel, or relatively absorbent toilet paper or A4 paper on the bottom of the container. This can both prevent seeds from falling through and provide moisture for seed germination.
3. Daily management of bean sprouts
Bean sprouts do not have high requirements for the growing environment. For home production of bean sprouts, you can choose a balcony, a kitchen cabinet or other ventilated, cool places. Daily management should pay attention to the following aspects.
3.1 Temperature management
The temperature required for bean sprout growth should be controlled at 16-25°C. Low temperatures will prolong the bean sprout growth cycle, cause fibrosis, and reduce taste; high temperatures will cause bean sprouts to grow leggy, with thin stems, reducing quality, and high temperatures also easily lead to mold.
3.2 Humidity management
The optimum humidity for bean sprout growth is about 80%. Too low humidity will accelerate fibrosis of bean sprouts, reduce taste, and in severe cases cause root burn, leading to death of the bean sprout seedlings. Too high humidity easily causes disease and makes bean sprouts moldy. When making bean sprouts at home, choose a cool place with stable humidity. When humidity is too low, spray more water and increase spraying frequency; when humidity is too high, strengthen ventilation to reduce humidity.
3.3 Light management
Different varieties of bean sprouts have different light needs during production. Some varieties need light for greening, while some varieties need to avoid light throughout. Through experiments it was determined that white peas, wheat, red-stem radish, white-stem radish, pine willow, climbing beans, chicken-feather greens, perilla, sweet buckwheat and water spinach need light for greening, and during greening the light should be neither too strong nor too weak, with scattered light being sufficient. Small golden beans, small lentils, black beans, herbs and mung beans need to grow in darkness; exposure to light makes them turn red or green.
3.4 Careful management
When rotten seeds, rotten sprouts and similar problems are found, remove them promptly to avoid large-scale contamination.
4. Cleaning the growing tray
After a batch of bean sprouts has been harvested, if the container used is disposable, it does not need to be washed; if it can be reused, it needs to be cleaned and disinfected, then dried for later use. Commonly used disinfectants include 84 disinfectant, lime water, 75% alcohol, etc.
You can also choose to use an ultraviolet disinfection lamp to sterilize with ultraviolet light, but the simplest method is to place the washed container in sunlight for a period of time when the light is strong. Once disinfected, the container can then be used to produce the next batch of bean sprouts.