FINCHforum

Whats the best way to soak seed??? I bought 1kg of Germinating seed today, and I was told to soak it for two days, is there anything that anyone can add to this or explain a bit better?

Thanks

I soak my seeds the way Mike Fidler explains in these videos, only I just use my seed of choice. You can also replace the virkonS for bleach or another product if you'd like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xdo4XkExes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqzo0T3V ... er&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gyidk_1 ... er&list=UL

I am sprouting seed according to the Mike Fidler method too. I do have Virkon-S, and once the seed has chitted, I put it in the freezer. When ready to use it, I mix it with my eggfood. I just love not having jars of soaked seeds on my windowsill every day and having to remember to rinse. I would have three days worth of jars going, and I got so tired of it that I quit using soaked seeds. My birds seem to love the change.

I want to start making up soaked seed for my birds and have looked at the videos. The virkon-s only seems to come in very large quantities so I am interested in what you use in terms of bleach. If it can be taken out of freeezer directly without defrost as he says then it probably doesnt matter much but am still interested in what concentration of bleach or other method you use to disinfect the seed.
thanks
Lori

I use a product called F10 for soaking. Brilliant stuff which is like miracle in a bottle. I use it for soaking seed, cleaning water (but only like to use it in daily drinking water if I suspect disease) and sterilizing cages / wounds etc. It breaks down quickly and does not leave residue. I get it from my vet - they all use it for their practice/hospitals.

When I use bleach I use 1 tablespoon into 1 gallon of water.
I put the chitted seed in the dishes right out of the freezer.

I use the method that was explained on the ABBA website, I use ABBA soaking seed:
1. I use a glass bottle with a wide opening (Snapple). Fill it about 1/3 - 1/2 with soaking seeds.
2. Pour 1 cup of filtered water with a few drops of Sparkle in the bottle, and top it off with a little more water if it's not quite full, and close with the lid.
3. Shake it well and let it sit on the kitchen counter for about 8-12 hours.
4. Drain the water out, holding a small sieve against the opening so the seeds stay inside the bottle.
5. Let it sit on the kitchen counter for another 18-24 hours.
6. Rinse the seeds in a sieve and drain well.
7. Store the soaked seeds in a plastic container with lid (tupperware) in the fridge until use. Before use, rinse and drain once more.
I give my birds a couple of spoon fulls on their veggie food tray every day and they love it. I Leave the veggies and soaked seeds in the aviary during the day and discard what they didn't eat at the end of the day. My seed bottle makes soaked seed for about a week and I never had any problem with it being spoiled.

Thanks guys, Will get cracking on that now in the morning

There is the bucket of VirkonS and also the 50 tablet size which is considerably less expensive.

I have tried literally every other "disinfectant" for sprouting and will never use anything other than Virkon ever again.

Regardless of what I used before there was always a brown film that would develop on the sprouting jar after just a couple days.

I agree with Tiffany, I really like the Virkon-S. In Australia, they did considerable testing on the Virkon-S, purposely leaving sprouts out way longer than they should sit out, and still no problem. My sprout mix smells so clean and fresh the whole time it is sitting out waiting to chit. If there are several forum members in one area, you could pool to buy the large size and then just split it out--otherwise, the tablets would work. Tiffany, does the Virkon make you think of Tang?

I was considering buying the Virkon-S tablets. Do you just grind them up or is there some dilution you use per tablet?
thanks,
Lori

Do you just grind them up or is there some dilution you use per tablet?

From the VirkonS label:
Each "Easy to Use Tablet" makes a 1% Use Solution when mixed with 1 Pint (16 fl oz) of water. Solutions are stable for 7 days.

I also use the Vikron and would never use anythng else.
Where do all of you purchase your's for the best price? I like the powdered, not the tablets.....
Also what ratio do you all use. I usually just "pinch a bit" and put it in, but not sure that I am using enough.

The powder is 1/4 teaspoon per quart of water for a ~1% dilution, which is the dilution rate that's supposed to be used for sprouting.

For disinfecting, I believe it is a 2% dilution, so twice that.

nixity wrote:The powder is 1/4 teaspoon per quart of water for a ~1% dilution, which is the dilution rate that's supposed to be used for sprouting.

For disinfecting, I believe it is a 2% dilution, so twice that.

Thanks! Well in that case I am using enough. Do you all rinse it off before feeding?