Home sprouting. One of life’s simple joys.

Yes! Sprouts and microgreens have been labelled as ‘superfoods’ by numerous nutritional studies and it’s easy to see why. Not only are they easy to grow, but they can be added to nearly any food for an added nutritional boost. To learn more about their amazing nutritional properties, click here to read our blog post on the topic.

Every new sprout-growing process should start with a good rinse in clean water.

To agitate your seeds, cover them with clean water and ‘swoosh’ them around for several seconds. Then tip the water out to clean your seeds.

Once your seeds are clean, they need to be soaked for 4-6 hours to kick-start the sprouting process. After this, simply drain out the water and follow the normal watering/draining process until it’s time to harvest your sprouts!

Remember, for the best results your Sydney Sprouts sprouting jar should always be kept upside down (or if you’re using a home-made jar strainer, keep it tilted at an angle) to encourage effective drainage.

While both are very high in nutrients, sprouts come out on top with an even higher concentration of nutrients than microgreens. Both are a long way ahead of fully-grown, mature vegetables.

If you carefully watched our How to Sprout Seeds video and followed our growing instructions but your seeds did not sprout, you can return them for a full refund. This does not apply if you skipped a step – reread the instructions!

Nothing to worry about! Your seeds are trying to develop their root system. The fuzziness you’re seeing is the fine cellular root hairs - which is a healthy sign. Give them an extra watering and they’ll be very happy. One thing to remember is sprouts tend to grow much quicker in warmer weather, so extra watering may be needed.

If you soaked your seeds for too long, the water can turn murky, bubble and even start to foam. You may also notice a slight odour. Rinse your sprouts a few times, until the water becomes clear and odourless again. To balance out the extra watering, we recommended you skip the next round of watering, before continuing as normal.

Yes, they’ll stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to a week. Give them a good wash and then transfer them into a plastic bag, a special produce bag or simply use a glass or plastic container. But a word of warning: there’s no quicker way to ruin fresh produce than to refrigerate it wet! Make sure your sprouts are reasonably dry before you refrigerate them.

Yes. In fact, sprouts can grow up to 1-2 days quicker during the warmer summer months compared to wintertime. It’s important to adjust your watering frequency to allow for these different growing periods, depending on the season or any major changes in temperature.

Look closely at the sprouts. If you notice they’re jumbled up, that’s because they have been mass-produced and will wilt in no time. At Sydney Sprouts, all the green leafy parts of our sprouts face upwards while the white parts face down –exactly how a plant would grow naturally.

The green tips is a result of growing on kitchen bench top vs a dark cupboard. So if you’ve grown them on your kitchen bench top, then yes green tips are normal.

Yes, but only if the water becomes clear and odourless after you’ve rinsed them a few times. If you’re not sure, it’s probably best to throw them out and use it as a learning experience. Practice makes perfect!

Remember: Monitor your sprouts closely right up until harvest. The rinse water should always be clean, clear and odourless. That’s a good sign your sprouts are okay and growing normally.

Shop-purchased sprouts should always be thoroughly washed, unless they’re labelled ‘ready to eat’. Sydney Sprouts home-grown sprouts can be eaten raw. However, we always recommend a good rinse first. The sprout growing process creates energy and heat and, just like humans, plants can sweat.

Give the sprouts a good rinse and then store them in the fridge. 

There is no right or wrong. It comes down to personal preference. The longer you grow, the longer the tails. And, some people like longer tails.

There’s no science to suggest sprouts need to be grown in a dark area. That said, an advantage of growing sprouts in the dark is it’s generally cooler and the temperature doesn’t fluctuate as much. This can make things easier to manage, especially in summer. The big disadvantage is when your sprouts are out of sight, they can also be out of mind and you easily can forget them. Watching your sprouts grow every day on the kitchen bench is amazing! It’s also worth remembering that if your sprouts are grown in a well-lit area, they can quickly turn ‘green’. This isn’t an issue when growing varieties like alfalfa and broccoli as they need to be ‘greened up’ before eating.  But if you prefer your beans and legumes to have nice white tails, keep them in a darker corner of the kitchen.

In hot and/or humid climates the recommended watering time for sprouts is 3-4 times a day. In winter, you can get away with 2-3 water times a day. As your sprouts and microgreens grow, an extra 1-2 watering times a day may help to keep them nourished and growing strong. 

Not all types of microgreens will regrow after harvesting. But many do, such as pea shoots. Some can even be cut several times. To increase your chances of regrowing new shoots after your microgreens have been harvested, be sure to cut them just above the lowest leaf.