How to grow your own spirulina?

How to grow your own spirulina?
How to grow your own spirulina?

It’s a lot easier to grow your own spirulina than you might imagine, and it will give you a regular supply of spirulina with all of the benefits described on this site, for your shakes, stews and other food.

Once you have decided to grow your own spirulina, these are some of the steps you will wish to plan for:


Collect the necessary equipment and materials you will need

How to grow your own spirulina?
How to grow your own spirulina?

In summary

Stage 1. Collect or buy an aquarium tank, a small net for harvesting, an aquarium thermometre and a fine cloth. Unless you live in a very warm location with daily outside temperatures of between 22ºC and 32ºC (80-85 F), you will also need an aquarium heater.

Stage 2. Once you have set up your aquarium with clean water and fertilizer,obtain your spirulina cultures. We recommend you do not order the spirulina cultures before you have your tank set up, as they need to be placed into the prepared tank, as soon as possible after you have received them. They should not be left lying around for days until you have received and set up and fully prepared your aquarium with clean water and fertilizer.


How to grow your own spirulina – the detail

Collect or buy an aquarium tank. A tank of 54L (60x30x30cm) ought to provide a family of four with a good supply of spirulina. But equally you can use a smaller or larger aquarium tank if you are looking to produce less or more than just for yourself/family.

Whilst you can grow spirulina in a pool or pond outside, you will need to ensure you have an ambient or average temperatures of 22ºC to 32ºC. Even if you live in a warm climate, it’s probably easier for you to manage the spirulina cultures with a standard sized aquarium tank inside
your house.

Remember you need to ensure you can maintain a temperature of between 22ºC and 32ºC which in colder climates you can easily do, using an aquarium heater. Don`t forget to obtain an aquarium thermometre too.


Get a lid for your tank.

To prevent any contamination going into your tank and being soaked up by the spirulina as it grows, you also need to ensure the aquarium has a lid/cover. You can buy a more expensive aquarium, with a manufactured lid, or you can improvise. Just be sure, that no contamination, dust, dirt etc., gets into the tank from the room it is growing in.

Prepare and position your tank

Prepare your tank. It needs to be positioned somewhere warm, ideally with good sunlight. The window in your house that receives the best sunshine. Spirulina requires plenty of light and warmth to grow well. Its essential to get this right. e.g. at 18ºC (64ºF) the growth rate is only about 50% of 20ºC (68ºF). But at between 22ºC and 32ºC (72º F and 89ºF) the growth rate can double. Whilst at temperatures of 37ºC (98ºF) it may start to be damaged. And if its above 44ºC for a number of hours, it will probably die.


Add the Water to your tank.

Ensure the water you use in the tank is clean. Its essential you do not use chlorinated tap water. If however you only have access to tap water, then you should ensure this is de-chlorinated using supplies from an aquarium shop. You can run normal tap water through a standard tap filter (such as a Brita or other filter) but we recommend using bottled mineral or distilled water.

 


Continuing to set up your tank

  1. Now check the temperature of the water and set up a system to check this regularly. The temperature in your tank should ideally be around 35°C (95 F). Below 20ºC (68ºF), growth will be very slow.
  2. Above 38°C (100.4 F) is too warm. We recommend you use an aquarium thermometer to ensure your tank maintains the right temperature for your spirulina. Spirulina can survive or tolerate lower temperatures but it tends to thrive in warm environments. If your tank is too cold, you will need to order an aquarium heater or buy one from your aquarium supplier or pet shop.

Harvesting Equipment

You will also need some equipment to harvest your home, grown spirulina. Whilst a colony of spirulina can appear quite thick, its mainly water. Once it is ready to be consumed, you will need to squeeze out the excess water. Most home growers will only require a small amount of spirulina at a time, for which a small aquarium net, to scoop out the spirulina and a fine cloth, to squeeze out the excess water, should be more than adequate. For larger amounts, you will need more cloth to make it easier.


Once you have set up your tank.

  1. Obtain your spirulina cultures:

To kick start your spirulina colony you will need some live spirulina culture to start it off. Spirulina acts a bit like a sponge and soaks up anything in its environment, so you will want to obtain these from a trusted source to ensure the original cultures are not contaminated in any way. The Healthy Algae kit is recommended by many buyers. And the Healthy Algae fertilizer also comes recommended by them. This spirulina algae culture, comes with clear information giving advice on how to grow your spirulina algae and the company have a good customer relations reputation.

b) Once the water is in the tank, add the fertilizer food following instructions.

We find it easier to use Healthy Algae fertilizer. Alternatively, if you are a more experienced Gardner, you may wish to experiment. You will need the following:

  • Salt
  • Citric acid
  • Calcium chloride
  • Sodium bicarbonate
  • Magnesium sulphate
  • Potassium nitrate
  • Urea
  • Iron sulphate
  • Ammonium sulphate

However, to start your colony, like us, you may find it easier to use the all in one fertilizer


Organic Spirulina Growth tips.

If you do not like the idea of adding fertilizer to your spirulina, we are currently preparing information on the best way to produce more organic spirulina, which we will be adding to this site soon.


Add the Spirulina Culture

Once you have everything set up, the tank, the water, the fertilizer, now you can add the spirulina “starter” culture. Follow the instructions on the package.

Monitor the growth of your spirulina.

Initially, its likely that your spirulina culture will seem quite thin, but slowly over time it will thicken and increase in density. Generally, you don`t have to do much other than to observe it growing. However, if the spirulina does not seem to be growing well, you can check the pH of the water using pH test strips that you can usually obtain in your local aquarium shop or on-line – be very careful that you do not contaminate the water as you conduct the test.* pH 10 is the ideal level.


Use an aquarium pump or stir the water occasionally

For best results, use an aquarium pump to ensure your spirulina thrives.

However, alternatively, to save money and to ensure your spirulina receives an adequate supply of oxygen, you can stir and agitate the water periodically. Be very careful when you do this, not to contaminate the water. A clean wooden or sturdy plastic spoon, used just for this, would probably be best.


When can I start to consume my spirulina?

If you have followed all of the instructions carefully, typically, after about 4 -6 weeks. Scoop some spirulina out and then using a fine cloth, squeeze out the excess water. Then, use the spirulina paste in your smoothie, stew or other food preparation.


What next?

Each time you take out any spirulina to use, you must remember to put some more fertilizer into the spirulina tank to ensure your spirulina culture continues to flourish. If you take a spoonful of spirulina, add a similar sized spoonful of fertilizer to the tank and stir it into the water.


Maintenance

Check the temperature regularly. We recommend daily.

If you are not using a pump, ensure you gently stir the water periodically, being very careful not to add any contaminants e.g from a dirty spoon into the water.

*If the pH is low, you can add a little sodium bicarbonate
(NaHCO3). To decrease the pH of the water you can add a few drops (i.e. a little) of vinegar.

For more detailed instructions, this pdf (1) may also be helpful to you.


We hope you find this page with advice on how to grow spirulina helpful. We look forward to receiving any questions you may have and hope you will start to grow your own!


Click through to this page to find out which conditions Spirulina might be  helpful to you with and to learn about its history.

Check Spirulina FAQs here.

==>Click Here If You Are Interested In Buying Quality Spirulina Or Chlorella<==


Thank you, For Visiting

Thank you for visiting whyspirulina. We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any comments or questions, kindly leave them below and we will get back to you.


Affiliate links

You might have seen the “affiliate link” button at the top, that links to a page.  This basically means we could make a tiny commission, if you purchase anything using one of our affiliate links on this page.  It helps to keep us in coffee, making a small contribution, allowing us to research and write articles on the benefits of superfoods. You will not pay more by making a purchase via one of our links.


*Nothing on this website should be interpreted as personal medical advice. Always consult a qualified Doctor or health care professional before changing anything related to your healthcare.

*Please visit our About page to see the references*


Sources
(1) Grow Your Own Spirulina by Jean-Paul Jourdan

Anti-Aging Skin Care Diet – Spirulina?

 

 

 

10 thoughts on “How to grow your own spirulina?”

  1. Hi Trevor,

    To be honest, many years before I came across an ad about growing your own spirulina and earning money. I was impressed and planned to take up that business opportunity. However,  because of my age at the time, my mom would not agree to moving forward with the idea (12 years before), I didn`t.

    Accidently today I came across your informative and insightful article. What an extensive guide indeed! I thoroughly appreciate the research you must have done to gather and compile so much valuable information. You have given me plenty to think about here. This guide is so thorough it opened my eyes to all sorts of information I wasn’t aware of!

    I am going to bookmark your guide for future reference and growing spirulina is on my list.

    Reply
    • That is great to hear Paul and interesting that you have identified it as a “business opportunity”.  I think it certainly is, although the purpose of the post was to help more people grow their own spirulina, to be more self sufficient.  I would love to see a tank of spirulina as common in homes as a herb garden or even a laptop computer! We are certainly doing that as we have seen so many benefits with the regular consumption of spirulina.    Don`t forget to check out the list of conditions that we have researched that it can help to mitigate symptoms too.

      Reply
  2. Spirulina can be expensive in the long run, so it’s better to grow it yourself. It’s totally different from growing plants.

    The process looks a little bit complicated but I’m confident it gets easier over time.  I just need a fish tank. I had one but I gave it away a few years ago.

    Do you recommend a fertilizer brand in particular?

    You mentioned we can expect to see results within 4-6 weeks provided we followed instructions correctly. How much spirulina can we get?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Thank you Enrique for your questions and detailed comment.  For a starter tank fertilizer, I recommend the brand through this click through which comes highly recommended. You really can use a very modest fish tank, providing you ensure you have a lid.  With a small tank in the right growing copnditions, you can have sufficient to add to add to a daily smoothie for everybody in a  family of four.  Probably more ! Its a very satisfying way to produce your own spirulina !  Thank you for visiting us.  Did you have a change to check the different conditions that spirulina can help with?  Have a great day.

      Reply
  3. I hadn’t really thought about trying to grow spirulina at home until I saw this article. It’s great that it isn’t too complicated and I appreciate the easy to follow steps you have provided. It seems pretty straightforward (although the steps are pretty specific), so I hope I can manage this one on my own.

    One quick question: Do you have any photos that you could add to help me make sure I am doing everything right along the way? I would love to see what it’s supposed to look like right at harvest time.

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Dear Aly,

      Thank you for visiting our site.  You are absolutely right, growing your own spirulina is not difficult and something we would like to see as common as a herb garden or a laptop computer in every home.   What a terrific suggestion regarding a photo as to when it is “ready” to harvest.  Yes, we will add one!  Have a great day!

      Don`t forget to check out our page that covers the different conditions, spirulina can be helpful with.

      Reply
  4. I would love to try growing spirulina so thank you for this article on how to grow your own spirulina. I just started an indoor garden and have seen great results.

    Reply
  5. Hello, Great information. I would like to start growing Spirulina but unable to find how much can be harvested? Im guessing there is a dry weight ratio per gallon of fully matured spirulina? Before I start aquiring things, I need to estimate how big of a tank i need to get 4 lbs of dry weight per month.

    Reply
    • Hi Allen, Thank you for your comment. It will I believe take some time to build up to that sort of amount, but the sooner you get started…. I wish yuo every success. Please bear in mind that the cleanliness of the growing environment is critical to producing good spirulina.

      Reply

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