How To Start Growing Microgreens at Home
Over the last decade, microgreens have carved out a space in the market thanks to their stunning looks and sharp flavors. They’re often used by chefs to elevate signature dishes and add a pop of color and flavor, but you don’t have to be a chef to appreciate microgreens. Whether you’re looking to garden with limited space or supplement your diet, it’s fun and easy to grow your own microgreens.
Just as anyone can eat microgreens, so too can anyone grow them. To get started, you only need a few supplies and a packet of your favorite microgreen seeds. You’ll also want to pay close attention to factors such as lighting and watering to make sure your seeds have everything they need to thrive.
Are you ready to learn what it takes to grow your own microgreens at home? In this article we’ll break down everything from seed to harvest, so that you can start growing with confidence today!
Photo by Quin Engle
What are microgreens?
Microgreens are the seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs that are harvested later than sprouts but earlier than the “baby leaf” stage. They’re usually grown tightly packed together in trays, then cut and packed into clamshells to be sold in the following days. Like sprouts, they can be expensive to buy because they’re labor intensive and have a short shelf life compared to their mature counterparts.
Culinarily speaking, microgreens became popularized in the 1980’s in the high-end San Francisco restaurant scene, spreading from there until reaching a fairly ubiquitous status. Chefs would use the small yet mighty microgreens to elevate dishes with pops of color and flavor.
Today, chefs continue to use microgreens in their restaurants, but they’ve become more mainstream and available to the average consumer. You can easily buy microgreens in the grocery store and add them to salads, soups, and plenty of other dishes.
Why microgreens?
If you’re not a chef, you may be wondering about the “why” of growing and consuming microgreens at home. But don’t be fooled by their small size; microgreens pack a number of nutritional benefits, not to mention it’s an affordable way to grow your own food from your home!
Microgreens are good for you
Greens come in all shapes and sizes and include popular vegetables such as spinach, iceberg lettuce, and bok choy. But the term “greens” also encompasses the different stages of many kinds of leafy vegetables. For example, you can buy mature kale or baby kale just as you can buy a bunch of cilantro or a clamshell of micro cilantro.
In whichever form you prefer them, greens are packed with important nutrients and vitamins, including: vitamins A, C, and K; minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron; dietary fiber; and antioxidants such as beta carotene and lutein. A diet rich in greens leads to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, mental decline, and more.
Like their more mature counterparts, microgreens offer all of these same benefits in a smaller, more concentrated package. That’s why they’re often considered a superfood, a term that is often used to refer to foods that are especially rich in vitamins and antioxidants. Plus, because we usually eat them raw, they may better retain certain minerals and antioxidants than cooked greens.
Home grown food is ultra-local and sustainable
As eco-conscious individuals, many of us want to take steps to reduce our carbon footprint whenever possible. One way to do this is by eating locally and seasonally. By doing so, we can reduce the amount of energy required to grow, process, store, and transport at least some of our food.
Depending on where you live, this can be a daunting task. How do you know what’s local? Or in season? Fortunately there are a lot of sources to help you navigate our complicated food supply chain, such as USDA’s Seasonal Produce Guide.
In addition to knowing when apples are in season versus strawberries, you can also grow your own fruit and vegetables at home, even if you don’t have a garden! In fact, microgreens are one of the easiest vegetables to grow at home, and take up only minimal space on a windowsill.
What’s more local than something grown at home?
You can save money
Microgreens are becoming more and more popular, so they’re relatively easy to find in the leafy greens section of most grocery stores. However, they’re expensive to buy this way, and for good reason. Growing and processing microgreens is labor-intensive due to their fragility, and thanks to their short shelf life they require precise conditions during transport to keep them fresh.
Store-bought microgreens, while delicious, have a short shelf life. This means you have to buy them frequently if you want them on a regular basis. Home-grown microgreens, on the other hand, can be enjoyed fresh for longer, up to several weeks! Instead of harvesting your microgreens all at once, you can simply keep them in their growing medium until you’re ready to enjoy them.
But how exactly does this save you money? By growing microgreens at home, you eliminate the cost of paying another company to grow, process, and ship them to a store near you. Instead, you pay a small fee for a bag of seeds, which can go a very, very long way.
How to grow microgreens at home
Growing microgreens at home has never been easier. Once you have all of your materials, you simply sow your seeds, add water, and wait!
That said, for the best results you do want to pay close attention to certain factors such as: water, light, temperature, and soil. But don’t worry, we’ll walk you through the process step-by-step so you can be confident to start growing your own microgreens.
Note: as you gain more experience, you can experiment with various factors to change the results. For instance, play around with light exposure or seed density to find what works best!
Photo by Joshua Lanzarini
How to choose the right seeds
Before all else, you’ll want to buy the right seeds. When growing microgreens, it’s important to select seeds that have been bred specifically for microgreen growing as these are subjected to a high germination standard and will generally perform better under microgreen growing conditions.
On top of that, we recommend choosing organic seeds, if you can afford it. Remember, supporting organic agriculture in all of its forms is one more way that you as a consumer can support sustainability.
Finally, you’ll quickly see that there are dozens of herb and vegetable varieties to choose from. There’s really no right answer. Start with vegetables you’re familiar with, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Some of our favorite microgreens include:
Arugula
Kale
Radish
Mustard
Beet
Chard
You can also choose to purchase a microgreen seed mix. These typically include varieties that mature around the same time but vary in color, taste, or appearance.
Supplies you’ll need
Growing microgreens is a surprisingly easy process, and you only need a few key items to make it happen, besides the seeds:
Growing tray
Microgreens can be grown in any kind of shallow tray with drainage holes. For example, you can save the plastic trays that mushrooms often come in, and simply poke or cut drainage holes in the bottom. You can do the same with a foil loaf pan. Or, you can buy a specially-designed microgreen tray.
For most hobby microgreen growers, it’s better to start out with a smaller tray rather than using the standard 10x20 plastic trays used in greenhouses and commercial microgreen growing. Instead, start with something roughly 5x5 or 6x4 and 1-2 inches high.
If you find that one or two trays of that size aren’t enough to satisfy your microgreen consumption, then you can simply start more trays at a time or upgrade to something larger. One of the often overlooked benefits of using smaller trays is that you can easily grow multiple types of microgreens at the same time.
Finally, because your trays will have drainage holes, you’ll want to make sure you have another tray to trap the water and keep your house clean. If you’re using something such as a mushroom tray or loaf pan, simply poke drainage holes in one and use a second tray underneath without drainage holes.
Growing medium
Unlike sprouts, microgreens are grown in a medium and harvested at the stem. That means that choosing a growing medium is an important decision when starting out. You can choose either a potting soil or soilless medium such as coconut coir.
If you’re using potting soil, consider choosing one that has fewer large particulates such as twigs or bark, as these will block your small seeds from sprouting. If you’re really diligent, you can sift your soil through a ¼” screen.
Light
Finally, once sprouted your microgreens will need sufficient light in order to grow properly. If you’re growing during the spring or summer, and your home is well-lit, a window sill is the perfect place to house your microgreens.
But what about when you want to grow through the winter, or you live in an apartment with little natural sunlight? In that case, your best option may be to grow your microgreens under a grow light. Although there are many different kinds of effective and affordable grow lights on the market, we recommend an LED light of at least 30W to support your greens.
If using a grow light, you can pair it with an outlet timer to set a schedule. Keep in mind that while 6-8 hours of sunlight is plenty to grow a good crop of microgreens, they’ll need about 12-18 hours of artificial light, depending on your grow light.
Sowing and growing your microgreens
So you’ve got your seeds, and you’ve got your materials. Now it’s time to grow some microgreens! Simply follow these instructions for a bountiful batch:
Step 1: Prepare your growing tray(s) by disinfecting them and filling them with about 1 inch of moist growing medium. Level and tamp the soil lightly, either by hand or with a small block of wood.
Step 2: Spread the seeds. Depending on the size of the seed, you’ll probably want about 1 tsp for a 5x5 tray. Note: the more seed you use, the more dense the crop, but too dense can result in poor growth.
Step 3: Gently tamp the seeds into the soil and mist with water. If you’re using trays of the same size, you can stack them one on top of the other. This is especially beneficial for bigger seeds, and can ensure strong root development. For smaller seeds, avoid adding too much extra weight/pressure.
Step 4: Cover any unstacked trays with an additional tray or plastic film to create a greenhouse environment, and move your trays to a warm location to germinate.
Step 5: Wait and water your seeds as needed. You want to make sure they stay moist, but not wet. Once the seeds start to sprout, uncover them and switch to bottom-watering.
Step 6: Once microgreens are about 1-3 inches high (depending on variety and preference) you can start harvesting them. You can choose to wait until the first true leaves appear, but this is not necessary. Simply harvest by cutting them at the base of the stem with scissors or a sharp knife, and enjoy!
Tips on watering your microgreens
Proper watering is key for a healthy crop of microgreens. An entire tray of microgreens can be ruined if any mold develops, which can happen if there’s too much moisture on the surface for prolonged periods of time.
To prevent this, we recommend bottom watering by simply adding water to the second tray (without drainage holes). The water is naturally wicked upwards by the soil and roots, which has the added benefit of encouraging strong root growth.
Additionally, microgreens are fragile and easily damaged by topwatering. The exception to this is misting, so if you have a spray bottle feel free to mist your greens whenever they start to dry out.
As far as frequency of watering, you want to water only when the soil is just starting to dry out in order to avoid stressing the plants by overwatering or underwatering. It takes time to get a feel for this, so start by bottom watering every 2 days and adjust as needed.
Photo by Artelle Creative
How to harvest microgreens
Harvesting microgreens can seem like a challenge at first. Because they’re grown so densely, you want to avoid pulling them out of the soil. Instead, cut your microgreens at the base of the stem with kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife.
For best results, gently gather a small bunch of microgreens in one hand and cut with the other. This way, the harvested microgreens will already be in your hand and you can use them immediately.
How to store microgreens
One of the greatest benefits of growing microgreens at home is that you can harvest as you go. That means you can simply leave any remaining microgreens in their trays to continue growing until you’re ready to consume them.
Sometimes, however, you do want to harvest all of your microgreens, for example if you want to start a new batch in the same tray, or if they’ve been growing for a while already. In this case, simply harvest them as you would normally and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Add a damp paper towel to maintain humidity if your fridge tends to run dry.
Avoid washing cut microgreens until you’re ready to consume them, as washing reduces their already short shelf-life. If you do have to wash them (for example in order to remove debris), dry them in a salad spinner with a towel, or gently pat dry.
Photo by Augustine Fou
How to enjoy microgreens
There are countless ways to enjoy home-grown microgreens. You can channel your inner chef and use them to garnish a salad, or wow your friends by adding them to your favorite cocktail. You can also add microgreens to smoothies, soups, sandwiches, stir-fries, and more!
What microgreens are you most excited to try growing? Comment below if you have any questions or need help troubleshooting!
