Gaia Sprouter Nutritious Seed Sprouter / Germinator Green

I've had many, many sprouters in my day. Mason jars, ceramic dishes, plastic dishes, plastic cups, bags, fancy automatic mister, etc. Those all worked fine, but after using the Gaia Sprouter, I don't think I'll ever use another, this is IT! And this is why, jars, bags, glass dishes, plastic dishes, they all work "ok" but I always found it a constant chore to keep the seeds happily damp and rinsed. Jars dry out fast and are hard to drain since all the seeds clog the top of the strainer, bags are ok but they get a bit...'ew' since the bag material is also taking on water all the time. Glass dishes, again sure, great but often they don't have a dedicated cover and again, quick drying. Plastic cups and dishes, meh. The automatic 5 tray mister worked amazingly well but it was large, softly audible and water levels have to be monitored plus SO many sprouts, more than I (and the chickens) could handle (although you could rotate grow schedule). After donating all those to willing newbie sprouters, I again was buying sprouts in plastic bags, I thought ok, this just isn't cool. I did some research and found the Clay Like Gaia Sprouter and thought this makes a lot of sense plus it looks fantastic, small, stylish, efficient. And boy, does it work great! It truly is the fired clay that keeps the humidity perfect inside. Rinse once a day and forgot about it. I also found through the years sprouts really do prefer dark environments until you green them and again, this sprouter does just that. Small seeds will slip through the drain holes until they sprout tails however, round paper discs are included to prevent this. I found landscape cloth to work better than the paper discs. The cloth allows a quicker drain and it's reusable over and over (but it is synthetic so there is that). I've sprouted sunflower, microgreens, alfalfa, lentils, oat groats, chia, flax and buckwheat in this gem and highly recommend it. Yes, it is more $ than a mason jar or bag but, the results are worth it and you will have it for many years. It's a fantastic, high quality, carefully made item, shipped quickly in well protected, all recyclable cardboard packaging. Makes a great gift that keeps giving :)

Don't waste your money

First batches turned out great; stays moist and easy to keep on kitchen counter. Some extra steps required to sanitize the trays. Over all - small.

Like other reviewers of the Gaia sprouter, I have fallen in love with this product. I have never achieved such superb results with any other product.Here's what I do. I usually sprout broccoli or a broccoli seed mix in one try, and radish or a different mix in the second tray. To start, I take two mason jars with a stainless steel mesh lids and place 2 tbs seeds (such as broccoli or radish or mix) in about two cups of water plus about a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide in each and let the, soak for 30-60 minutes. Then I drain and rinse the seeds, add 2 cups more fresh water and let the seeds soak overnight. The next morning, I drain and set the jars on their sides (slightly tipped to help drain the rest of the water out) and if the seeds are small enough to fall through the holes in the Gaia sprouter, I keep rinsing and draining until the seeds have started to germinate and the radicles grow out a couple millimeters (which takes a couple days). Once the seedlings are large enough that they won't fall through the holes in the sprouter4, I add some water to the mason jars to suspend the seedlings and pour them into the sprouter trays (it may take two or three times of rinsing and swirling and pouring to get them all out of the mason jar and into the trays). I stack the trays on the base and cover with the lid. I rinse the seeds a couple times a day with a gentle shower from my faucet and recover the trays. Once the seedlings have reached the top of the trays, I remove the lid, separate the trays and expose them to light. I continue to rinse daily until they are ready to eat (or until the previous batch runs out and I need the sprouts). You will soon learn how often you need to start the next mason jars so that you can immediately refill the trays with seedlings. I can't stress enough how wonderful these spouters are. Just check out the photo of my current crop which is ready to harvest. Notice the sprouts I've gently pulled out of the tray showing the robust nature of the sprouts.

Love this sprouter. Gaia Sprouter is 100% better than using a jar, faster, fresher, better quality sprouts.