- You don't have to wait
until 8:00 PM at night to soak your seeds anymore.
You can actually submerge your seeds in water
at any time of day without having to be there
or having to do anything.
In this video
you're going to hear exactly how I figured this out
so you can put your seed soaking on an automatic schedule
and enjoy never having to think about this task again.
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So when I was first learning how to grow microgreens
and first starting my business years ago
I had one delivery day
and I was growing a few different crops
I think two or three of them had to be soaked.
And this was fine because I was soaking these seeds
I had to do it maybe like one or two nights per week.
I had to go in there and soak the seeds.
Now I was soaking them at 8:00 PM
because I wanted to get their ideal soaking periods.
So if I was trying to go for a soaking period of
between eight and twelve hours, really the latest I'd
go in there, well the earliest rather would be 8:00 PM.
So over time as my business grew, it turned
into a seven day a week chore where I would have to go
into the farm every single night
at 8:00 PM and take care of this responsibility.
Now it's a very easy task.
Let's be honest
you're just pouring some water into a bucket.
So the seeds are submerged, but it's not really the task.
that was the burden or the problem.
It was the fact that I had to go
into that farm every single night at 8:00 PM.
So I couldn't finish my day, you know
at three or four, like most people do.
I had to wait until 8:00 PM to then finally, all right
responsibilities are done for the day and settled down.
So it really wasn't the task itself that was weighing on me.
It was really like the mental capacity
the mental load of knowing I have that responsibility
and always getting it done every day.
So it was a pain point I had
I wanted to get away from that system.
I really wanted to figure out how to avoid having to go
into the farm every night at 8:00 PM.
And especially as an entrepreneur
that's the last thing you need is just another thing
on your plate.
Another responsibility to be thinking of as an entrepreneur
you're already thinking of so many things when
you're starting your business and running your business.
So I didn't actually go searching for a solution.
Funny enough.
Here's how it happened.
I was in the Apple store, in the mall
a place that I hate to go
and they had my computer in the back or whatever.
And I was just looking at the wall.
They always have a wall of cool gadgets and whatever.
So I'm looking at this wall and I see this one
package that had this little square controller on it.
And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, no freaking way.
I can totally use this
in my farm to solve this exact problem
that I'm talking about'.
So what this device is
is it's an automated watering controller.
You hook it up to your hose, right?
So it's really for like outdoor irrigation.
If you had a drip line or
or some sort of hose that you only, that you wanted to turn
on every now and then, or for X amount of minutes per day
it was really for like a home garden
but I'm seeing this device and I'm like
I know how to make that work for me
and make it so I can automatically soak these seeds
and never have to go into the farm again.
So here I am in the Apple store
the guy's fixing my laptop, whatever
and I'm just like freaking out.
I'm so excited.
I, I figured out this device
I know I know what this is going to be able to do
for me and my business.
And so I leave the Apple store all happy.
I'm practically skipping
through the parking lot and I get home.
I'm opening up the package.
I see what it is.
So, I mean, it was amazing.
It did exactly what I expected.
You just hook it up to a hose, nozzle, the same
you know, hose bit, the typical bit where you hook
up a hose to, and then there's technology, right?
There's an app that you connect to it
and then you can put it on a schedule.
So it goes off automatically.
And that's exactly what I wanted.
So I call up my, my handyman, my plumber
and I get them into the farm.
We run a line over where my spigot is
- To do the watering
of the trays when I'm first making trays.
So when the germination room this is
so we've run a line over from that spigot down
beneath the sink up and around and we get it done, right?
So this water line comes up.
It's in the right position.
We attach, we attach the device and then
This is over a sink where
I keep my buckets for seed soaking.
And I have three buckets in there
but there's only one spout on this device.
So I went to Home Depot and I got
Basically it was like
It was like, you hook it up to a hose line.
And then it goes, turns one into four spigots.
I only needed three, but it was the only option they had.
They didn't have the three one.
And then there's individual nozzles
on each of these little spigots.
So you can turn them on and off.
And then one I just keep off permanently and in
And when I first did this, I got these
like hoses that I cut that could go down into the bucket.
So that way the water wouldn't go everywhere.
But the problem that I had at this point was
so when you soak seeds, especially smaller seeds
like say a wheat grass
what happens is when you fill that bucket
with water and there's this big group of seeds in there
if they don't get like ruffled around much
or if there's not really turbulence
what can happen is the water will
will flow kind of around them.
And there'll be these little pockets
of air bubbles and little chunks of seeds.
That'll almost like stick together
and they won't get a thorough germination
because they won't actually be submerged in the water.
They're like in case in this little, this little air bubble.
So my next thought was like, okay, I went back
to Home Depot and the hoses weren't going to work.
I needed to figure out a way to add turbulence to the water.
That way all the seeds would be fully submerged.
And we wouldn't get these little bubbles forming
and these little clumps of seeds.
So that's what I did went back to Home Depot.
And I just found these really cheap little shower heads
like literally two dollars a piece.
I'm pretty sure they were like that cheap.
And I put them, I attach that on
to all three of the spigots and just pointed them
in the right direction towards the buckets.
And it worked, it worked right away.
They shot the water right down into the buckets.
It was pretty neat.
It didn't like splash water everywhere.
And it got the job done exactly what I wanted to happen.
So instead of the water just flowing into the bucket
it actually just like rained into the bucket.
So all of that pitter-patter on the, on the water
in the buckets was actually enough to kind of get the water
moving a little bit and prevent the seeds
from getting these air bubbles and these air pockets.
So it was amazing.
I got it done.
The system was set up.
The device was in place.
That was the hard part with the hardware.
Then I just went into the software of it
the app on my phone, I set up the schedule based
on my needs for what I'm soaking for each day.
And it was amazing.
I didn't have to go in at nighttime anymore at all.
So now I'm able to end my days as early
as 10:00 AM at some points, just setting
up the seeds and then it'll go off the next morning.
But it's, it's amazing.
I can just end my day.
There's no more responsibilities for the end of the day
and the best part about this aside from just setting
up the contraption and getting it working and all that
which of course that's amazing
but the best part was really the reduction
in the mental load, right?
Not having this responsibility that I have to
go fulfill every single night at 8:00 PM.
My girlfriend remembers this too.
She was, you know, she was going there
with me and it was just, it was just a bummer.
This responsibility was now
off my plate and what you'll find
I'm sure this happens with any business
but this definitely happens with my microgreens business.
So business is really just a bunch of systems that you set
up put in place, and then they get things done
and oftentimes businesses need a bunch of different systems.
So what I find happens over time is as the systems improve
where you make a tweak or a change
in your business model or in the systems that you have
you'll notice obviously there's this direct impact
maybe financially or in the numbers or other things
like just in the schedule throughout the day.
But as an entrepreneur and the person running the business
you're very much have the mental load
and the responsibility of the business on you.
Like it's a weight on your shoulders, like quite literally.
And when you make changes like this
you can feel this like relief it's in your lifestyle.
So the way that you live your life on a daily basis
it comes with a feeling and when you change something big
in your business and it makes this big change
where it'll modify your lifestyle
and your lifestyle on a day-to-day basis is just different.
You can feel it without even looking at the nitty gritty.
You can kind of feel the macro effect of what happened.
And this by far was the biggest thing that I've done
in my business to create that effect.
So this is the biggest feeling I had the biggest change
in my lifestyle and the biggest weight
off my shoulders of the responsibility, just leaving me.
So it was amazing.
This contraption is amazing, and I'm just
I want you to feel this exact feeling for your business.
So I'm happy to show you right now
how to set this thing up and get it going for yourself.
So the first thing that you're going to do is you're
going to have to make sure that there's water in your area.
So for me, like I mentioned before
that was running a water line
with a plumber out of a water output and just rerouting it.
So it was in the correct space.
Now I put all my soaking buckets inside of a large sink
a top sink that actually is hooked up to drainage.
And I do this because
just in case something went wrong or something overflowed
you don't want that to overflow and then go onto the floor.
That could be a disaster, especially depending
on your farm situation and where you're growing out of.
And actually funny enough
one time this controller did have a slight malfunction
and I got there in the morning and it was just on
and the buckets were all overflowing into the sink.
Thank God.
And it was going down the drain.
So with that being said, technology is technology.
It can malfunction.
I highly recommend you do your seed soaking in a sink.
So if something goes wrong, it can drain
out of the sink and into the plumbing.
And actually the sink that I use has
played an intricate role throughout my business
even in in my prior farm
I was using it as just a sink.
So I was using that as just
like my sink to wash things, wash buckets, and that
and then obviously when I moved into my next farm
it became like the seed soaking sink.
So I love this sink.
I'll put a link
to the exact sink that I'm using in the description below.
I think I got mine from Home Depot
so you can probably find it there.
But the link that I found is actually to Amazon
I found the same one on Amazon.
I will mention the sink is a utility sink.
So it's actually really low to the ground.
The legs on it are really low.
So what I do recommend
to rise it up, otherwise you're just
going to be breaking your back, is I use just bed risers.
There's these things that I guess exist.
They're called bed risers.
I found them at one point
and realized they could work for me.
And really they're supposed to go under the four legs
of your bed just to bring it up a little bit
if you want more storage space underneath.
So that's what I use.
They're called bed risers.
I don't have a link to those
but you can find those anywhere
Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, wherever
Find some bed risers.
And I actually use those
for all my harvesting tables as well
to get those a little bit up off the ground
I'm pretty tall and that'll save your back.
So pro tip use bed risers to raise your stuff higher
off the ground and have a better time.
All right.
So after your plumbing is all set up
you're going to need the device.
That's what attaches next.
So the device that I'm using it's by Eve Home.
Eve Home is like the general, I guess
business or brand around these products.
They're kind of like a smart home system
but the exact device that I'm using is their device
called the Eve Aqua.
They have a slew of different devices
but the one that I'm using is called the Eve Aqua
and in Apple where I found it, it was a hundred dollars
and I also at Best Buy, I also found it
it was one hundred dollars
but I was looking for a better price.
And I actually found it on Amazon for eighty dollars.
And it is out of stock
it says at the time I'm shooting this video, what is it?
May eighth, but it's eighty dollars on Amazon.
And it said it'll be back in stock
on May twenty-second 2021.
So that's around the corner.
That's in a week or two after I post this video.
So I'll put the link
to that below in the description as well.
So you can go right to the device and get it for yourself.
It's eighty dollars on Amazon
and it'll be back in stock very soon.
That's about it.
The only other hardware you're going to need is
the shower head pieces, as well as that connecting piece
that goes from one to four.
So I got all that stuff at Home Depot.
You can get it from just a hardware store.
If you guys could do me a huge favor
please just go into the comments below
and let me know if this information is helpful.
I'm doing a different style of teaching here on YouTube
with this video and my last video
They're a little bit longer
a little bit more information.
So please let me know
in the comments I'm making this video for you.
So let me know in the comments if you
One, think this information is useful
and you're enjoying this type of content
And two, if you're liking this form
of content where it's like a little bit longer
and I can talk about it a little bit more fluid
and get a little bit more details
and information out that way as well.
So if you guys could just go into the comments
and leave me one, I'd really appreciate it.
All right.
So after all the hardware is set up
it's time to set up the software.
So you're going to download the app.
That's what it's called Eve for Home Kit.
It's this one.
All right.
So once you have that installed
you're going to open it up
and then you're actually going to set
up your automated watering schedule.
So I actually have my app set up on the phone of the farm.
I have a phone at my farm that I keep there
with the app installed with the watering schedule.
So that way it's always in the farm.
It's always there ready to go.
Follow the instructions to set
up the app in the first place
you're going to set up a room.
You're going to connect your device to the room.
And then you're going to go into the device by tapping
on it and click the gear icon where it says, like schedule.
So do schedule 'On'
Hit that gear icon, and then just set it up
for your own needs as a microgreens farmer
and whatever you're soaking on different days of the week.
All right so let me explain
how I'm setting up my schedule a little bit.
It's slightly confusing.
So I hope I can explain this correctly
but for my sunflowers, I only soak them for four hours.
Whereas my wheat grass, my barley grass, my peas
I'm soaking those for longer.
Typically between eight and twelve
I always get into my farm at 9:00 AM.
So 9:00 AM is like the standing on soak time.
Don't know if on soak is a word, but I use it all the time.
So bear with me if it's not.
So if 9:00 AM is my on soak time and I'm soaking sunflowers
for this day, that I'm going to start my soak at 5:00 AM.
So that way, when I get in at nine
it's been a four hour soak and I can drain them.
Now, if it's sunflower
and another variety that needs a longer soak time
like the peas, the wheat grass, the barley grass
I do the same soak schedule.
So I started at 5:00 AM that way, when I get it at night
I can on soak the sunflower because any other way, I did it.
If I did it earlier, the sunflowers would be soaking
for too long or longer than I really want them to.
So I on soak the sunflower only at 9:00 AM.
And then for the other varieties
I just wait until like after twelve or one.
So that way they've had a little bit longer time to
soak fully take in that water
and get a thorough germination.
So I'll just soak
on soak my sunflowers in the morning.
I'll wait a few hours
for the other seeds and then I'll on soak those.
So that's how I do it.
If there's too involved, if it's just sunflower
obviously it's just the 5:00 AM one.
And then
if it's the other varieties that need the longer soak
but no sunflower, then I do it a little after midnight.
And that way I get like a nine hours soak
when I come into the farm in the morning
so that's how I do it.
And it's really up to you.
It's based on your own needs when you're soaking
what variety, on what days.
So just set up your seed soaking
schedule to what your needs are
on the app and that's about it.
So now you know how to set
up an automated seed soaking system
for your microgreens business.
Awesome. But it's not the only system
that people are creating.
I actually see a lot of amazing systems created online
that are doing different things like automated watering
and people are posting that in the Microgreen Support Group.
So I created this group
on Facebook called the Microgreen Support Group
and really it's just a place for microgreens farmers
or aspiring microgreens farmers to, to come in
learn information and help each other out.
So that's one place where somebody comes
up with an awesome new idea or an awesome new system.
They often like to go in there
and post pictures and brag about it a little bit.
So it's like half bragging
but also half helping the community at large.
So there's a link to that in the description as well.
I highly recommend you join the Microgreen Support Group
on Facebook.
It's actually known as the most positive
and helpful microgreens group on the internet.
So definitely join in there and be a part of the community.
If you want to see more videos
there's some videos below one is about my morning chores
what I do every morning to get the farm up and running.
And then my other video is
on the supplies and equipment that you need to
start your microgreens business and run it.
If you liked this video
please hit that like button below, subscribe to my channel.
And remember, you can share these videos with other people
if you think it'll help.
So please do that as well.
Thanks again and I'll see you next time.