Snafu -
honestly, I am not quite sure why we use barley, but if I had to guess it would be because it is the cheapest thing available for the amount of protein/enzymes it provides. like rrog said, corn is another great cheap option. alfalfa works great if you are already sprouting alfalfa seeds for eating, plus you get the bonus triacontanol - which it turns out is highly concentrated in the root tip. a.k.a. don't use an alfalfa seed tea during flower. rice works (although it takes longer to germinate..another reason we use barley), so do mung beans, adzuki beans, etc. basically any seed will work as long as you can germinate it, but barley is cheap, germinates quick, and provides a bunch of great enzymes. there are a few enzymes which barley doesn't create, off the top I can think of zeatin, which is named after the genus zea (of which corn is a member). here is a c/p from wikipedia in regards to zeatin:
Zeatin is a plant hormone derived from the purine adenine. It is a member of the plant growth hormone family known as cytokinins. Zeatin was first discovered in immature corn kernels from the genus Zea. It promotes growth of lateral buds and stimulates cell division to produce bushier plants if sprayed on meristems.
so its good to mix it up now and then...i tried to do a sprouted corn tea every few weeks just for the hell of it.
oh, also, another great aspect of the sprouting process is that you can get multiple enzyme "extractions" if you will from a single batch. since sprouts need to be rinsed every ~12 hrs, you can use the rinse water (NOT THE SOAK WATER!!!) undiluted to water your plants. usually I just rinse all my seeds, dump the rinse water in a 5 gal bucket, and throw it on my veggie seedlings. this way I can get 2-3 weak enzyme teas before I get the concentrated one at the end. not bad for the 20 cents it costs me for 1/4 cup of barley seed.
and in regards to aloe foliars, I spray once or twice a week
I can get praying leaves off aloe foliars alone..its pretty intense. great stuff. have you tried aloe as a rooting compound yet? phenomenal..
oh yeah, and coconut milk is drastically different than
young coconut water. nobody use coconut milk lol...please. that would be a mess.
EDIT: also, rrog - my local homebrew store doesn't even carry grain that can be germinated..they looked at me crazy when I asked. so maybe we should reconsider directing people towards the homebrew store for their grain. we don't want folks to buy pregerminated (malted) grain thinking it is the right stuff...
maybe the feed store? I had to order my barley online because I couldn't find anything organic locally. all i know is that the homebrew store might not be the best place to look, at least down here.