I've always been using jars, but now its getting pretty difficult... My life is very busy, sometimes im at home only at morning and i come back really late...So sometimes (almost all the time now) i lose my sprouts, cause i did not rince them or i forgot them while they were soaking....

so heres my question... I'm seriously thinking of buying the "Freshlife" sprouter... It provides water by itself, so i dont need to take care of the sprouts

I want to know if its a good thing to buy, cause its quite expensive!!!!

I know a couple of the people on this forum use and love the FreshLife. I considered buying one myself for the same reason you are. I did the majority of my sprouting in SproutMaster trays. I also have an EasySprouter which I used frequently, but prefer the wide, flat SproutMasters. I spent a lot of time holding trays under the sink morning and night. When I had a several going I might spend ten minutes in the morning and ten in the evening. Most of the time I didn't begrudge it, but sometimes I was in a hurry. Worse, when I wanted to spend the night away I had the hardest time finding anyone who could be trusted to remember to rinse them in my absence. The EasySprouter travels really well, but only if I know to take it when I leave home, and as I said, I'd be more likely to be using the SproutMasters.

The concern that finally convinced me not to get the FreshLife was the fact that the device recycles the rinse water, washing the sprouts with their own wastes. I finally settled on the EasyGreen automatic sprouter (also not cheap, sorry). It never re-uses water. If it's hooked up to plumbing it can be incredibly easy to manage, but since I haven't done that (I'm moving soon anyway) I need to fill the reservoir with a gallon of water every couple of days and dump out my collection bucket every few. The mister also pushes filtered air across the sprouts helping them to stay aerated, healthy and mold-free. It comes with a nicely adjustable scheduler so people can adjust the cycles to the needs of their climates, though I've stuck with the suggested defaults, as my climate is not prone to dryness or the heat and humidity that produce excess mold.

I know that people do have really great results with the FreshLife, but my observation over the last months of running the EasyGreen, is that even after being washed over the sprouts a single time the water develops a noticeable funk. Each time I dump a gallon or two from my used water bucket I can smell it a little and I think that I would never want to pour this over anything I might plan to eat. It's possible that this funk is in some way being caused by a limitation of the EasyGreen, but I can't imagine how, and I'm happy with my purchase.

thanks for the answer! i think i will go for the freahlife sprouter... Ive been looking to the Easygreen sprouter too though...But that fact that you have to plug it to the tap bothers me a bit... You say you dont plug it?

No, I don't. You can hook the EasyGreen up to plumbing, but out of the box you can just pour water into the reservoir manually. (Actually, I need to use a funnel to add water because the opening is quite narrow.) The reservoir holds about one gallon, which I need to replace every couple of days. The EasyGreen drain can also be hooked up to plumbing, or you can just run a drain tube into a bucket or a sink. I use a five gallon clay crock which I pour into the sink whenever it has two or three gallons of used water.

Good luck with your FreshLife. If you can take the time to post pros and cons about your experiences with the device it may help the next person looking for online reviews.

Happy sprouting!

thanks for the help!!

I use to have the EasyGreen sprouter and nearly went ballistic when I discovered that MOLD grows in the tubes that bring the water from the faucet, etc. I gave mine away.

That's surprising, Avocadess. Since that's the tube carrying clean water, I wonder what might have gotten in your tube that might mold. Does the tube stay full of water all the time, or only when water is running to the machine? If it stays full of damp air most of the time - instead of water - that might make the perfect environment for the development of tiny life.

As I said, I don't have a tube to bring water from my faucet, but if I eventually set that up I'll keep an eye on it and make sure the tube doesn't need periodic cleaning.

Well it all depends on what you want. The traditional sprouter is cheaper but is a bit tougher to use whereas the automatic sprouter is like a magical box that seeds go into and sprouts come out of. I personally love my automatic sprouter and I say that it is worth it but that is only because I feel that I am too busy to get sprouts any other way.

I know a few people think that the Freshlife automatic sprouter can just take care of itself, but you have to change the water daily, and clean everything thoroughly between harvests.

Between harvests (at least once a week)I put the tubes in a dish of boiling hot water (don't boil them) then scrub with an old toothbrush and a pipe cleaner or dharma straw brush. I pour a bit of food grade hydrogen peroxide into the pump and sprinkler head and let it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing with boiling hot water.

Barrel and screens go in the dishwasher.

I also rinse and dry the water reservoir daily when I change the water.

It's not a lot of work to keep everything clean and safe. I guess you could go 2 days without changing the water but I think it might smell funky.