Guest guest Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 I grow my own striped (and other) sunflower seeds, and they all sprout well, but only the black oil ones give the nice succulent, tender sprouts-the other types are a bit dry and uninteresting. I often sprout a mixture of them. > > > > > > > > , > > > > They can indeed be sprouted. In the beginning I used them all of the time. You have to remember that they probably are not organic and you have no idea where they came from or who handled them. > > > > There are a lot of broken pieces, sticks and other debris. You need to sort this out. When you put these seeds to soak, rinse really, really well. Then put about a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide in the soak water. Eight to ten hours later, give them another thorough rinse and then spread on your growing medium. > > > > A lot of people are going to jump in here now and give different opions. Drug store hydrogen peroxide is ok to use, because you will rinse it off and not eat it. > > > > If you have a Whole Foods or other market of that type, you can buy sunflowwer seeds in bulk bins. The striped ones will sprout also,. > > > > ew > > > > > > > > Black Oil Sunflower > > > > > > > > OK so at Wal-Mart today and see in there bird feed they have a 20# of Black Oil Sunflower. Can this be grown or should I stay away from it? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 , The only problem would be cleanliness, and other things such as stems in the bags. They aren't going to be grown with pesticides anyway, since that would kill the birds that eat them. It's just that they might not be cleaned enough to be the same quality as the ones you get at a health food store. I think a lot of people do sprout birdseed that's sold for birds, though. H. OK so at Wal-Mart today and see in there bird feed they have a 20# of Black Oil Sunflower. Can this be grown or should I stay away from it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Really sorry Carolyn, I'm a science teacher and sometimes I just go auto with chemical formulae without thinking. It's okay, H2O2 is just the chemical shorthand for hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is like water but has another oxygen added, this gives it a bit of a chemical punch and makes it a good antiseptic. It would prefer to be water (H2O) and lose the extra oxygen, which it gradually does over time. This is why hydrogen peroxide is stored in coloured glass (sunlight helps it ditch the oxygen), and doesn't keep it's strength over time (it slowly turns to water!). Okay that's the bell... Charlotte > > H2O2 ? Heavy water like used in nuclear bombs? (I don't know how to raise the 2's on this computer and in this new program. Or do you just mean to wash them with a lot of H20  just plain water? I don't think we can get heavy water and I sure don't know how to make it.   > > > Carolyn Wilkerson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 P.S. If anyone is ever bored, try dropping just a tiny piece of liver into hydrogen peroxide. The liver acts as a catalyst for the hydrogen peroxide to lose the extra oxygen. You get an immediate and very volatile soda fountain. Nice 'kitchen science' for children. C > > Really sorry Carolyn, I'm a science teacher and sometimes I just go auto with chemical formulae without thinking. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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