swan-neck flasks for sprouting beans and seeds?

[MonDie]

Pasteur's swan-neck flasks demonstrated that microbes are air-borne and do not "spontaneously generate" within flasks... even with an air supply. Utilizing gravity only, his S-shaped swan-necks kept out microbes remarkably well. For sprouting, a breathable fabric and regular water changes are advised, but even ad hoc seed sprouters don't utilize gravity from what I can tell.
Why don't they utilize gravity? Just boil the water beforehand and you won't need to change it, right?

Edited June 25, 2015 by MonDie

[StringJunky]

The intact flask in Pasteur's experiment kept out spoilage bacteria for long enough to show that the other broken flask cultured first, thus proving his premise. I suspect, if you leave it for longer, bacterial spores will eventually get in there to spoil it, same as in a sprouter using pre-boiled water.

[Endy0816]

May want to look into using the clean water normally only used for eventual flushing.

[MonDie]

The intact flask in Pasteur's experiment kept out spoilage bacteria for long enough to show that the other broken flask cultured first, thus proving his premise. I suspect, if you leave it for longer, bacterial spores will eventually get in there to spoil it, same as in a sprouter using pre-boiled water.

 

Unless the swan-neck is waiting for some unique, flying microbe to come along, then a neck length proportional to the soak time should solve this.

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Is a water-"tight" seal really so tight that even an H2O molecule cannot penetrate it? This thing will have to open up for filling.

Perhaps a sterile, specially designed cloth could allow air in yet keep microbes out.

Edited July 5, 2015 by MonDie