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Wheatgrass is baby wheat (the same plant that makes flour) grown indoors and cut young as a grass. Unlike salad microgreens, you do not eat the blades, because they are too tough and stringy to chew. Instead you juice them into a bright green, grassy, slightly sweet drink and take it as a small shot. Growing it is quick and always the same: soak the wheat berries, spread them thickly on a shallow tray, cover the tray to keep it dark for a couple of days, then move it into the light and cut the grass near the base in about a week to ten days. There is no outdoor season or weather to worry about, so it grows the same wherever you live. The main thing to watch is mold, since the crowded, damp seed mat can grow it easily, so spread the seeds evenly, keep air moving, and do not soak them too long.Wheatgrass is the young shoot of common wheat (Triticum aestivum), grown indoors and harvested as a grass rather than eaten as a leaf. Unlike salad microgreens, the fibrous blades are too tough to chew, so wheatgrass is pressed into a fresh, intensely green, grassy-sweet juice and taken as a shot. The cycle is short and repeatable: soak the wheat berries, spread them in a dense even mat on a shallow tray, give a brief dark blackout, then light to green up, and cut near the base at the jointing stage in about 7 to 10 days. Because there is no frost, season, or hardiness zone involved, the same tray grows identically on a counter anywhere. The one real challenge is mold: the dense wet seed mat is prone to it, so an even sow, steady airflow, and not over-soaking are the whole craft.
Indoors, every week of the year. Most mixes are ready in 7 to 10 days; start a fresh tray every week for a steady supply.
Plump, swollen wheat berries spread in one even layer across the surface, over damp mix with no standing water and no thick clumps.Fully imbibed berries in a single even layer on moist, well-drained medium; no deep piles.
White roots knitting into a mat across the tray, then pale green-tipped shoots beginning to stand up under the cover.Roots forming a mat; blanched shoots with green tips emerging under the cover.
A dense stand of pale, upright shoots several inches tall lifting the cover, growing evenly together. Still pale, not deep green.Uniform, elongated pale shoots lifting the cover; dense even stand pre-greening.
Blades turning from pale to deep, rich green and standing tall, growing noticeably taller each day.Blades greening to deep green and elongating toward cutting height.
Deep green blades six to seven inches tall, with a second blade just beginning to appear from the center. That jointing point is peak sweetness for juicing.Blades at 6-7 in with a second blade initiating (jointing); optimal juicing point.
The numbers that matter, at a glance.
You do not need to worry about soil pH for wheatgrass. The mixes, coir, and light soil sold for growing it are already fine.pH is not a practical lever for a single 7 to 10 day indoor cycle. Standard seed-starting mixes, coir, and light potting soil all sit in a workable range and need no adjustment for wheatgrass.
You do not need to feed wheatgrass. The wheat berry carries enough food to reach cutting height in a week or so, and fertilizer on a crowded, damp tray just invites mold and algae.Wheatgrass is cut in 7 to 10 days, well before it exhausts the wheat berry's own food reserves, so no fertilizer is needed for a single cycle. Added nutrients on a dense wet mat mainly feed algae and mold.
Your wheatgrass is ready when the blades are about 6 to 7 inches tall and a second blade is just starting to appear, usually 7 to 10 days after planting. Cut it near the base with clean scissors and juice it right away. It does not grow back well, so you start a fresh tray each time.Cut wheatgrass at the jointing stage, when a second blade just begins to split from the first, usually at about 6 to 7 inches and 7 to 10 days from sowing. Snip near the base with clean scissors and juice it fresh. The mat will not give a strong second cut, so each tray is a single harvest.
You measure wheatgrass by the tray, not by each plant. A full tray usually gives about a pound of grass, which juices down to roughly 12 to 20 ounces (a good run of shots).Yield is measured per tray, not per plant: a well-grown 1020 tray of wheatgrass returns roughly 1 to 1.5 pounds of grass, enough for about 12 to 20 ounces of fresh juice depending on the juicer.
Each tray gives one good cutting. It may grow back a little, but the second cut is thin and can taste bitter, so most people start new trays instead of waiting for regrowth.Every tray is a single cut; wheatgrass regrows weakly and a second cut is thin and often bitter, so continuous supply comes from staggered sowings, not from regrowth. There is no waiting period. Your first tray works like the rest; you will just get a feel for soaking, how thick to sow, and airflow after a few tries.There is no establishment year; the first tray performs like any later tray. Expect to dial in soak time, seeding density, and airflow over the first few cycles.
Wheatgrass grows from regular wheat berries, the same grain that becomes flour. Buy whole, untreated wheat berries labeled for sprouting or eating; hard or soft winter wheat both work, and softer wheat is a little sweeter. Never use treated field-planting wheat, since it is coated with fungicide you should not eat. Soak the berries 8 to 12 hours, then spread them in one even layer.Wheatgrass is grown from common wheat berries (Triticum aestivum), the same grain milled for flour. Use whole, untreated, sprouting-grade or food-grade wheat berries: hard or soft winter (or spring) wheat all grow good grass, with the softer classes running a touch sweeter. Do not use seed-treated field or cover-crop wheat, which is dressed with fungicide and is not food safe. Soak the berries 8 to 12 hours and, if you like, let them sprout a short root for a day before spreading them in an even single layer.
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