Why Did No One Tell Me Seeds Grow in Bubble Tea?

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]I love bubble tea, and since I've always wondered what types of food I could germinate seeds in, I got some tapioca.

[00:00:07]Poured 100 g of the white pearls into a bowl, measured out 900 g of water, and got ready to boil. Now, I know technically this isn't how you're supposed to start seeds, but when I tried it with Orbeez and it actually ended up working, I soon realized that whether or not they grew, I wouldn't even be able to eat the harvest if I wanted to because water beads aren't really food safe. So, naturally, tapioca was obviously the next perfect contender on the list to try out. So, I immediately started boiling my tiny bubble tea pearls and waited 35 minutes until they turned translucent. Then, I strained them into a fine mesh strainer, poured them into two separate bowls so we could spread the seeds out more evenly, and then I got ready to add my seeds into each bowl. I wanted to add seeds that I knew would have a better shot at sprouting. So, I decided to add some corn, lima beans, and two varieties of peas. I mixed them up, a very unique sensory experience to say the least.

[00:01:10]Tapioca's actually made from cassava root, which is toxic when raw, but when you cook it, it turns into these satisfying little pearls that apparently also sprout seeds. I added a bit of extra water to each bowl to try and make sure that the tapioca wouldn't dry out, and then I sealed each bowl, covering them airtight to make sure all the air got trapped inside. Seeds need warmth and moisture to germinate, so trapping that humidity inside basically turns the bowls into tiny little incubators, and it gives them the exact environment they need to actually be able to sprout. I really had no idea if this was going to work or not. I mean, I was hopeful, but after seeing what you guys thought, it brought down my levels of hope slightly because everyone was like, "No, it's going to grow so much mold. The seeds need air to grow. But deep down I thought to myself that if my other seeds sprouted successfully in Orbeez, there's absolutely no reason why this shouldn't work with tapioca. So I stuck to the process, put all of my trust in this basically, and I even opened my app and started tracking the project in the Orbeez experiment to make sure [music] I could compare them and do this according to the instructions. I hydrated the tapioca. I chose fast germinating seeds like corn and beans. I put the seeds in a clear container on a bright windowsill, and I added water as needed to keep the tapioca hydrated. Definitely on the right [music] track here. So confident but a little nervous, I let those initial 5 days pass me by. Well, immediately after opening that first container, the smell it was giving fermented something. Not horrible, but definitely not the greatest. The seeds were definitely getting lighter which was a sign to me that they should start to sprout a little tail in the next day or two. So I moved to the second bowl and I kept searching and right away I saw a pea with a tail. It actually sprouted. I genuinely couldn't believe it. I mean, I had a little bit of hope, you know, but not so much. So I had to do a double take at how easy I felt this was. I couldn't believe that these tiny seeds just grew inside of a bowl of bubble tea. I kept searching to see if any other sprouted, and there were some.

[00:03:25]So I started collecting them into a separate bowl so I could examine them further. Checked that first bowl again just in case I missed any. I was honestly really enjoying the feeling on my hands and the sounds coming from this bowl. And it was worth it because this is what we were working with, and it was only day three. So this is where I had a choice to make. Either I could let the seeds sit in the tapioca for a few more days, and basically hope they don't go moldy. Or, I could plant them right now in soil and leave the seeds inside the tapioca that didn't sprout in the bowls, so those ones would have more time to sprout. [music] Well, I wanted it to continue working and not mold over like the ones in the Orbeez did because I left them for too long. So, in that moment, I opted for the latter and decided to take the ones that sprouted and plant those in soil, and then leave the unsprouted ones in the bowls for a few more days to give them more time to sprout. So, I planted the ones with tails in some soil, left the others, [music] and the waiting game continued. I let three more days pass me by. So, at this point, the seeds were sitting in that tapioca for about [music] 1 week. Well, finally, it was time to check on them. I opened up that first bowl, picked up the first seed I saw. It was a lima bean. I tried to pick it up very carefully, and I noticed that there were some good changes happening because it sprouted. And that tail was literally the perfect size to get straight into some soil. But, I still had to find all the other seeds and really commit to this process. And to get the seeds, really, there was no other way other than to stick [music] my fingers right inside, find all the seeds, and enjoy this unique sensory experience.

[00:05:05]>> This is so disgusting.

[00:05:08]I don't even want to try smelling it, but I kind of do.

[00:05:12]>> The smell was definitely worse than 3 days prior. But, I was already in it, so there was no turning back now. I will say, my partner was not very thrilled about the bowls that were sitting on the windowsill for a whole week. So, I was finally just like, "Okay, we're committed. Let's do this." By now, I was all in and very dirty. I started to see more peas seeds that were sprouted. So, I moved them to a separate bowl, and well, actually, it was the lid. And this is what we were working with. Since it was time to plant them, I wanted to make [music] sure I was checking off each step as I went to make sure I was doing it right. And when I saw it said that after 2 to 3 weeks the seedlings will have developed enough to transplant in soil if I want to continue growing them, I knew I was actually ahead of the game sprouting these in just 1 week. So, I was content and honestly that's exactly what I built this app for so you never have to figure out anything alone.

[00:06:08]Whether you want to start this experiment, a different one, or follow along with whatever I'm going to grow next, you can download the Grow It app on the App Store or Google Play. So, go do it and start an experiment with me.

[00:06:20]So, after getting the confidence boost I needed, I got the lima bean and the peas into more soil, covered them up, and I waited 1 week for them to grow more. And soon they looked like this. They grew so big that now they're finally ready to be planted outside [music] in a pot.

[00:06:37]Hopefully, we'll be able to harvest our tapioca plant in about 10 weeks, [music] but really I'm like, "What else can I try germinating seeds inside of next?"