7 Tips to grow Sunflower Sprouts

Sunflower sprouts is a big and nutritious sprout suitable for juicing a.o.
Here are 7 tips to succes with your homegrown Sunflower Sprouts.

7 Tips to Sunflower Sprouts and Microgreens

Here are 7 great tips for your succesful Sunflower sprout cultivation:

  1. Mouldy sunflower sprouts
  2. Soaking airfilled seeds
  3. Why do the Sprouts grow bitter?
  4. Pink stems on sunflower
  5. Hulled or unhulled seeds
  6. Sunflower sprouts in recipes
  7. Bird seeds for sprouting
organic sunflower sprouts
Organic Sunflower sprouts from organic sprouting seeds

1 Is mould on Sunflower sprouts dangerous or harmless?

You will quickly notice that sunflower sprouts form root hairs – extra small roots on the main root. When these roots are small, they look much similar to mold.

As the sprouts grow, the roots will also grow stronger and longer untill they look like the familiar roots on any other plant.

You can eat the whole sprout including the white roots. Only the thick black shells can not be eaten, but should be disposed as green bio waste, as the hulls are to thick to chew and digest.

 

2 How do you soak Sunflower seeds before sprouting?

Soaking your sunflower sprouting seeds require a little more than soaking other seeds. This us due to the seeds being full of air.

So to soak sunflower seeds optimally, you need to force the seeds under water for all 8 hours of soaking.

One useful way is to place a bowl on top of the seeds and make sure the seeds are all submersed in water. Only this way will they absorb the nessecary water to sprout optimally.

 

Organic sunflower seeds for Microgreens
Solution to bitter sunflower sprouts

3 Why do Sunflower Sprouts grow bitter?

Sunflower sprouts win with their lovely mild taste of fresh sunflower seeds with a hint of salad.

You will notice, that there may be a bit of a bitter flavor when the sunflower sprouts have just unfolded their leaves. There is a trick to this and it is all about light.

When the plants have had time to transform the sugars in their leaves and stems within 1-2 days after their leaves have turned green, the sunflower sprouts will turn are sweet with a soft taste. This espicially work if you place them in a lighter spot in the kitchen – just not in direct sun.

 

Shop for your Sunflower Sprouts

4 Why do Sunflower sprouts get pink stems?

Have you ever experienced the otherwise green and white stems on you sunflower sprouts turn pink?

The beautiful pink tones that form in your sunflower sprouts is caused by the plants being stressed. The stress is often lack of water or too high temperatures for the little seedling. It may also be caused by a fast switch between heat and cold.

The colouring is not harmful in any way. It is a natural antioxidant called anthocyanin. The same as in green apples turning red when exposed to hot sun during growth.

The sprouts will turn green again if you rinse them more often and place them cooler to prevent their stress.

 

Organic sunflower seeds for sprouts and Microgreens
organic sunflower sprouts

5 Can you grow Sprouts from unhulled Sunflower seeds?

You can find unhulled sunflower seeds in most supermarkets, but they will seldom succeed as sprouts.

This is because sunflower seeds are very fragile and easily break. And broken seeds give bad, rotten sprouts. So to get beautiful sunflower sprouts, they must be grown from sunflower seeds with shells/hulls on them.

Also you should sort away broken seeds before soaking. Then it will be easier for you to keep the rest healthy during cultivation. When you choose Sunflower seeds certified for sprouting, the seeds have been handled carefully to avoid too many broken seeds.

6 How to use Sunflower Sprouts in salads and other dishes

Sunflower sprouts and microgreens are known to be full of nutrients. Because of this many use them in big quantities in juicing. If you choose to make juice from sunflower, you can get a little extra from growing them i  a SproutPearl sprouter.

This is because this sprouter allow for you to harvest and use the whole sprout in your recipe. If you grow in soil, you can only eat the stem and leaves.

have a sweet taste reminiscent of fresh sunflower seeds. Their flavor is light and delicious in raw salads and green smoothies.

If you prefer to unse inly the stems and leaves in dishes like sandwiches, salads or wraps, you can use the leftover roots blended into dips, spreads or smoothies.

 

Sunflower sprouts in smoothies
Certified sunflower seeds

7 Do not grow Sprouts from Bird seeds

It may be tempting to use bird sunflower seeds for your home-grown sprouts and microgreens. I do not recommend that.

Why not?

Because sunflower seeds sold for birds are often sprayed with pesticides that the sprouts take in during the cultivation. Or the seeds are not clean and teated for harmful bacteria which certified sprouting seeds has to be by law.

So choose organic sunflower seeds with shells/hulls on them sold espicially for sprouts. These will give you good, healthy sprouts and an easy cultivation.

Buy organic Sunflower Seeds

Questions from other readers

Can you eat mouldy Sunflower sprouts?

Yes, if the Sunflower Sprouts look healthy with white roots and the sprouts smell good. Because then the ‘mould’ is actually root hairs which is just very fine roots that form on the tip of the thicker main root. This looks like mould the first 2-4 days of the sprouting process.

What kind of Sunflower seeds should you buy for Sprouts?

I recommended that you always buy organic sunflower seeds with shells or hulls specifically sold for sprouts. These seeds have undergone the necessary cleaning and treatment processes, ensuring they are free from harmful bacteria and pesticides.

Why do Sunflower sprouts get pink stems sometimes?

Sunflower sprouts get pink or rose stems when the sprouts are stressed. This may be due to them being too dry or the air being very hot. The solution is to rinse them well and place the sprouter in a cooler spot.

Can you eat Sunflower sprouts with pink stems?

Yes, you can eat the pink stemmed sunflower sprouts if they smell fresh and look healthy. The pink stems is a natural consequence of the sprouts being too warm and dry.

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