Hi. I posted a review on the iPlant Garden Sprouter a while back. Recently someone asked questions about the screens, how to clean, grow etc. So here is a post just about that. As many of you know, I am learning a vegan diet based upon the Hippocrates Health Institute training I am currently taking, which advocates 50% of your meals be sprouts. So I am learning best ways and am serious about growing them the best and easiest way possible.
Before you put any sprouts in your iplant, soak them over night. This will help them germinate and grow faster. Fill your iPlant water area between the min and max line and check it every day. You can even mix about 1/4 tsp of baking soda into the water container which will help ward off any mold build up. At least every 24 hours, the water should be changed out. Use the old water to hydrate your garden patio or house plants, it’s great for that!
I have been sprouting daily since March using a double decker iPlant and my screens are still in good shape. I have also been careful with them. To clean them (and its ok to eat the roots too on the smaller sprouts) I gently pull all the sprouts at harvest (about 7 days) and then I use the spray nozzle in my kitchen sink faucet along with a soft veggie scrubber or nail scrubber, to gently get all the remaining sprout material off the screen. The screens will naturally darken a bit from the bright white and when they do, I soak them in hot water with a bit of bleach, couple of tablespoons of bleach to enough water to completely submerge the trays and I leave them to soak a while.
Now, as I am in very heavy rotation, I have also ordered extra trays, too. You will want to thoroughly clean your iPlant machine after each use but I will admit I typically just wipe mine down well with a complete cleaning once a month.
As we take this journey together, I am here for you so feel free to reach out with any compliments or questions you have please. 🙂 Namaste.
I have just purchased this sprouter and it did fine the first day. Today I changed the water and when it started back up the watering g paddles did not turn. What could be the cause and how do I fix it? I tried going to company website printed on the box and the page does not exist.
Good morning Tamara and thank you for supporting my little blog with a purchase however, Amazon doesn’t show the transaction. Did you use my link to purchase the sprouter? Thanks for confirming so I can resolve what happened. Kindly see my article on cleaning the ipLant sprouter. Yes, the company really is not engaged at all…apparently…because I have also reached out in the past and gave that up. But I LOVE this sprouter! For regular bi-weekly cleaning, I use baking soda and an old toothbrush to clean everything and rinse well. This helps prevent nats and keeps the sprouts fresher in taste too. I live in Dallas where it’s very hot and humid and we have to be mindful of fruit flies etc when in season. With your daily water change, add about a teaspoon of baking soda into the water as well. What I do at home is change the water every day or every 24 hours. For the little spinner whenever it is not spinning as it should, I gently jam a toothpick inside each hole to dislodge any bit of debris that might be in there. Next, I assure it is seated properly and I have the double decker model. Lastly, sometimes I find the top somehow sits where it jams the spinner, so I gently lift and re-set that down, where I can see that the spinner is moving freely. Hope this helps! As a side note, get quality sprouts. Yours probably came with a first batch that will last a while but don’t buy cheap. I did that once and they just didn’t work out well at all, most did not sprout so FYI on that one. Keep me posted please!♥