Sprouting seeds indoors on a bed of wet cotton without soil as part of a biology lab class
Question
Does the stringency to avoid planting during shemitah even in an unperforated planter apply to sprouting seeds indoors on a bed of wet cotton, without soil, as part of biology lab classes? The sprouted seeds are discarded after they sprout and do not continue to grow.
Answer
Rabbi David Eigner
The prohibition during the shemitah year is to work the land outside or indoors in the ground (as it is customary to plant in the ground in regular hothouses). However, there is no prohibition of planting on platforms detached from the soil indoors (just as it is permissible to plant in hothouses on detached platforms).
For this reason, it is permissible to sprout seeds in a dish indoors during the shemitah year.