When To Harvest Wheatgrass? Your Perfect Guide!

Last Updated on February 20, 2022 by Marco C.

When to harvest wheatgrass?  If you want to grow this healthy plant, you need to know all the details!  Read this article to understand when to harvest wheatgrass and all the key details about growing wheatgrass in your aquaponics system.

You may have heard of the popular health drink a wheatgrass shot.  But what is wheatgrass? Wheatgrass is the sprouts of a wheat plant.  Wheat is a grain typically used to create flour which is used in many different products like bread.  

But if you do not let the plant grow through its lifecycle, you get wheatgrass.  It is actually quite easy to grow and does not take a lot of time.  As mentioned before, it is a sprout.  This means that you can start eating it only after a few weeks! 

It has a number of health benefits.  This is why many gyms and healthy food cafes offer it on their menus.  Not only is it good for humans, but it is great for animals.

Wheatgrass is a super easy and convenient plant to grow in your aquaponics system.  Keep reading this article to learn when to harvest wheatgrass and how to get them growing successfully in your system. 

How To Grow Wheatgrass

The first thing you need to do if you want to grow wheatgrass is, located some seeds.  It is best to find organic, non-GMO, heirloom seeds.  You should be able to easily find them from a local farmer’s market.  

Since you only eat the sprouts, you want to buy a large number of seeds.  The more seeds you have, the more you can produce.  Remember, it is eaten as very small grass. 

So if you want to make a juice you need to blend a decent amount to even have one shot.   This is why it is best for you to buy seeds in bulk.

Learn more about: How To Start Seeds For Aquaponics?

Once you have located the seeds, you can start.  The first thing you should do is soak your seeds for at least 8 hours.  To increase success, you can use water from your aquaponics tank to soak the seeds. 

Make sure that the seeds are fully submerged in the water.  During this time, it is best to keep the seeds in a dark and cool place.  

The process of soaking the seeds softens the hard seed coat, making it easier for the sprouts to come out.  In fact, you can use this method with almost all seeds.  

After the seeds have soaked for 8 hours, drain all the water out.  At this point, keep the seeds covered with a towel to keep the moisture in.  Keep it out of the sun and heat.  

The seeds will continue to germinate over the course of the next hours.  Keep them there for at least another 8 hours.  

After 8 more hours, you can rinse the seeds with water again then let them sit.  You can continue this rinsing and sitting process until you see a sprout forming.

Wheatgrass and Sprouts

The sprout will look like a small white string coming out of the seed.  At this point, you are ready to transplant them into your aquaponics system.  

Be sure to not soak your seeds for too long and observe them carefully.  If you see mold growing, the health of your seeds can be compromised.  Make sure to not soak too many seeds in one container.  

Before you transplant, let the seeds dry out a bit.  One of the best growing mediums for wheatgrass is hemp or coconut fiber sheet.  This is because it wicks water but doesn’t get too moist.  

If you can find it, prepare your growing beds by laying the sheet at the bottom of your growing container.  At this point, you can simply place the seeds on top of this sheet and cover it with a cloth.  

This cloth helps keep the moisture in and helps speed up the germination process.  As you flood your grow beds with water from your fish tank, the wheatgrass will continue to grow. 

Once you see some green emerging, you can remove the linen cloth.  At this point, your sprouts will need sun.  Make sure you have a good location for them to grow.  

Typically, one grows bed that is 10 inches by 20 inches can take about 6-8 cups of wheatgrass seed.  Using this rule, you can maximize your wheatgrass growth. 

Continue to water the plants and give them sun until they reach a good size for consumption.  So when to harvest wheatgrass?  The optimum time to harvest is when they reach between 5 to 6 inches in height.  

Once your seeds germinate, they can grow to this size within 1-2 weeks!  As you can see it’s super fast!

How Many Times Can You Cut Wheatgrass?

One of the most awesome things about wheatgrass is that you can get more than one harvest!  If done correctly, you can get up to 3 harvests.   

However, if you want multiple harvests, you need to be careful not to remove the roots of your plant.  Cut your wheatgrass at the base of the plant where the green color meets the white.  

Wheatgrass is a great plant to include in your aquaponics system.  According to the University of Illinois, “ It contains most of the vitamins and minerals needed for human maintenance, including the elusive vitamin B12.”  Wheatgrass is an ancient plant that has been consumed for over 5,000 years! 

Plus, it grows super fast.  So why wouldn’t you grow it?  Simply follow the steps in this article and you should have wheatgrass shots in no time.  

If you do not want to drink wheatgrass, you can feed it to your animals.  It provides the same health benefits for animals as it does for humans.  

Hopefully, after reading this article you know the answer to the important question: When to harvest wheatgrass?  It doesn’t take long to have tasty wheatgrass ready to harvest.  Within two months you should have plenty available.  

Give it a try and let us know about your experience.  Please comment and ask questions below!

Read more about: How To Grow Watercress At Home?

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