Growing Wheatgrass in cold weather

I am writing this article on growing wheatgrass in cold weather because I am dealing with this problem right now myself. It is winter here, and although it never snows, it does get down to around forty-five degrees sometimes. It is a tough time of year to grow wheatgrass, because one week can be 80 degrees, and the next week can be freezing cold.
Of course, if you live in a place that snows in the winter, you have no choice but to grow your grass indoors during the winter months. The problem is that wheatgrass grows VERY, VERY slowly in cold weather. This throws off my whole growing cycle and I end up missing out for a few days while I wait for my tray to grow long enough to harvest. There are a few solutions to this problem.
  1. Put an extra tray or two into rotation than you have for warm-weather growing. This will give you a buffer, since it is better to have too much than not enough. If you find yourself with too much grass ready to harvest and you can't drink it all, cut the extra and put it in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. It will last for up to a week, and if your next tray isn't ready on time, you can use the stuff in the bag.
  2. If your house is warmer than outside, grow the grass in a sunny place indoors. I can't do this, because houses where in this country never have heat, so it is almost as cold indoors as outdoors. I also live in a place that has more than its fare share of creepy-crawling critters, and I am afraid putting the wheatgrass inside the house will attract all kinds of bugs.
  3. After you have soaked your seeds for 12 hours, put them in a colander and let them sprout for 2 days. Remember to rinse them twice a day. Once the roots have grown out a little, plant them in the soil. This should give your grass a couple days of a head start.

4 comments:

'PeachBelle' said...

What about putting it under a grow bulb?

MrVegan said...

Good Question! Yes, putting it under a grow bulb works great in the dark winter months. I just wrote a post about this. Take a look for more information.

Glo said...

Is there any specific climate condition for the wheatgrass to grow? Is it possible to grow them in a hot climate like Indonesia?

MrVegan said...

It gets mighty tough growing wheatgrass outside in very hot climates like Indonesia(or inside without air conditioning). I will write a post covering this topic now.