Topic: Bean Sprouts

[Vez1]

Now these may sound like silly questions but here goes. I love the beansprouts you get in your meal at the chinese restaurant, what I want to know is what sort of bean do they come from and how do I grow them?

[agapanthus]

I think they are mung beans, but am sure there are a lot of other beans that will sprout.

[undercarriage plan]

Not much help I know, but have seen packets of these seeds in garden centres, specifically for bean sprouts!! Though the name escapes me!! Sorry! ::) ;D
Lottie

[redimp]

Mung beans.

[undercarriage plan]

Yes!! Whehay! That's it! erm ..sorry!
Lottie  :-\

[djbrenton]

The standard is mung beans. If you really like them I'd suggest Moles seeds as they sell them by the kilo. (£2.98/250g £4.70 500g £7.35 kilo ) I've just got a pack and looked them up and surprisingly just germinating them on blotting paper won't do. Apparently you need to stand a weight on them, and a 2lb weight on top of a 5 inch circle will get pushed up as they grow!

[cleo]

yep mung beans,and others sprout as well-and do check out Moles seeds-my `trade`  supplier for a few things

[Gail-M]

Hi Vez,

I tried growing these several times in the summer for the first time.

I bought Mung beans for health shop - much cheaper than garden centre seeds. They seemed just the same to me.

I put them in a large jar on its side & rinsed them twice a day til they were ready for use. Kept them in a dark cupboard.Took about 6 days.

I was pleased with the result - only drawback for me is you need to be around to rinse every day.

Good luck,

Gail

[moonbells]

... and if you don't rinse, they pong!

I grow them in takeaway boxes with kitchen paper in them. Dampen this, and off they go.  Have never managed to get them as large as the bought ones, though they're crispier.

moonbells

[supersprout]

I grow a lot of sprouts (hence the name)  ;D
Big jar with some plastic perforated drawer liner works best for me.
ALWAYS rinse through two or more times a day.
Final rinse, then tip into a plastic bag and put in the fridge (if you can resist munching straight away :P).

Home made sprouts are one of the best treats ever, the little ones (alfalfa, mustard, fenugreek, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, radish, fennel) come out lovely after 3-5 days, I think beans and grains are less rewarding. I harvest them when the sprouts are still tiddly, otherwise after a few days they will thin out and become stringy. Aduki and chickpea mostly, and I don't sprout grains (have tried several times and they seem to go off).

Try linseed if you want to grow a gloopy gelatinous mass in your jar :(.

You CAN try to grow the luscious Chinese restaurant version of the mung bean sprout, by rigging up a Wallace & Gromit contraption with weights, automatic drip feeds and seives. I don't. I go down to my local Chinese supermarket when I want some, they are cheap, plentiful and FAT!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
SSx

[Derekthefox]

A bit of winter indoor gardening for me I guess ....

Derekthefox :D

[growmore]

Alfalfa sprouts take no time at all to grow and taste just like fresh garden peas..
cheers jim

[Yuet_Lee]

Mung Bean is right.  You suppose to keep them in a dark room. For the commerical grow. They grow them in a  large big bucket with hold underneath. The bean have to washed it very very clean ;D  And put a piece Of clean cloth on top with the weight on.  Water them as often as you can. Once they spouts. The weight keep it down to grow the downside( I mean the roots) instead of spouting the topside with the leaves on. Make sure with no light :o :o  So that their root will be nice and thick instead of long and thin :'(  See that help.

[Rosyred]

I tried doing chick peas a while ago and it didn't work for me. I put the jam jar in the airing cupboard don't know if thats where I went wrong. I've seen the trays in the seed brochures and quite fancy buying some of those if they work instead of a jam jar.

[supersprout]

I've tried all sorts of bean growing gadgets, rosyred, and find the trays work OK for the little seeds. For the beans, give me a jar every time. Beans seem to get too dry in trays, and stay succulent in jars.

If you put your sprouts in the airing cupboard they will sulk :'( it's too hot :P). Sprouts are sociable, they like to be noticed! Once you've soaked them overnight, if you put the jar on the draining board where you won't forget it ;D, mouth of the jar downwards so the sprouts drain off, and rinse them at least twice a day, you should find they reward you with little shoots in 3-5 days ::)  ::)  ::).

The 'sprouts' of the little seeds (see message below) are shoots (which can grow leaves), those of the bigger beans & lentils are roots. I decant bean sprouts into a bag in the fridge, after rinsing, when the fat little white roots are .5 to 1cm long. Then the bean is sweet, and the sprout is a bonus! If you get a shoot from your beans, they will have been sprouting too long and the root will be skinny and fibrous.

Like Yuet_Lee says, the mung beans are long fat roots grown under conditions of dark and pressure. Beansprouts are roots, not shoots - some very refined Asian cooks even nip off the shoots!

Just put a couple of handsful of chickpeas into a wide mouthed jar, cover the mouth with a clean cloth secured with a rubber band (not a lid, too stuffy :P), and have another go! ;D Or try lentils first, they're a doddle and scrummy  ::)  ::)