Chapter 4 - Learn how to Easily Grow Microgreens in less than 1hr a week: Where, When, How, What Starter Kit needed
IN THIS LESSON
I'll share the exact Microgreens grow kit list that I found works best and answer your frequent questions:
Microgreens growing rack or shelf
Best trays for growing Microgreens at home
What special seeds do you need to grow Microgreens?
Hydrogen Peroxide to prevent mold on Microgreens
Best Water for Microgreens
Best Microgreens Grow Lighting
The Definitive kit list to grow Microgreens: harvesting tools and other accessories you'll likely need to best grow Microgreens
Alternatives: Starter kit options for growing Microgreens at home
So if you want start growing Microgreens, this chapter is for you.
You Pick:
DIY or ready-made Kit
to grow Microgreens?
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Make it...
That’s my recommendation.
On this page I’ll share all the practical advice and tips I've learnt to setup your own “Microgreens Growing Station” and better grow Microgreens at home. -
... or Buy it?
If you prefer ready-made kit, check these out:
US: If you prefer a subscription model to get started growing Microgreens and live in the US, check out the starter kit at Hamama. If you prefer a growing kit, get it from TrueLeafMarket.
UK: Check out Sowfresh, Wildgreens
EU: indoor, automated Microgreens kit with light from Urban Cultivator for your kitchen.
Make it.
This is the exciting part! you'll find here all the DIY growing equipment or kit you need to grow Microgreens!
Let's get shopping!
What do I need to grow Microgreens?
Microgreens growing rack or shelf
Best trays for growing Microgreens at home
What special seeds do you need to grow Microgreens?
Hydrogen Peroxide to prevent mold on Microgreens
Best Water for Microgreens
Best Microgreens Grow Lighting
Definitive kit list to grow Microgreens: Other accessories you'll likely need to best grow Microgreens
Microgreens growing rack or shelf
Get 1 or more Grow rack.
Once you've identified the location in your home, the next step is to find a suitable station for your Microgreens.
While you could simply put a tray on the windowsill, if you are going to grow enough Microgreens for your family I recommend you get basic shelving units like this one - it will be very convenient to keep things clean, waterproof and hang lights and fans, etc.
Learn how to set it up
Learn how to setup the growing rack for your Microgreens station. Or explore much larger station
Learn how to setup the growing rack for your Microgreens station
How to assemble your new DIY seedling cart
2. Best trays for growing Microgreens at home
Depending on how much Microgreens you’d like to grow and minimise the amount of equipment needed and cleaning efforts, I’d recommend you simply use trays with these characteristics:
Preferably “1020 flat” trays also called Vacuum-Formed Standard 1020 Open Flats (21 x 10.75 x 2.5 inches)
No drainage holes
BPA free
Ideally made of HDPE plastic (so it resists mold, rotting, insect; and its light yet super strong and impact resistant!), BPA free, food-grade
Here are a few good examples:
UK: Microgreen containers
Not the “standard size but works well still for family consumption:
US: BootStrap farmer 1020 Trays
made of Polypropylene (PP #5) leach resistant plastic with no harmful additives, BPA Free Plastic Trays
A great alternative for Microgreens growing trays in UK
Look for specialist plastics manufacturers who produce food-grade containers and find pizza dough proving trays.
Here in the UK, I love the work Solent Plastics (not sponsored!) do: See here their 40 x 40 x 8 cm trays: Food grade, smooth easy clean internal surface, extra strong HDPE, BPA free, chemical resistant storage.
Another great UK supplier is GrownLocal, check out their shop and trays
Squirrels know best: Non-GMO. No Hybrids. Not coated. Just Organic
3. What special seeds do you need to grow Microgreens?
Where do Microgreens seeds come from?
They are just seeds from those mature Vegs – there is nothing special about them! Except……You'll find a list of recommend seeds suppliers here – and why I recommend those specifically.
Wondering about the Microgreens seeding density you should use?
Check out the calculator to help you get the best yields!
4. Hydrogen Peroxide to prevent mold on Microgreens
What's food grade Hydrogen Peroxide?
Food-grade hydrogen peroxide (H202) doesn’t contain any stabilisers which aren’t fit for food consumption.
Here I recommend using a 3% solution (or buy higher concentration and dilute yourself with clean, filtered water (not tap water)
Hydrogen peroxide without the stabilisers means it’s very unstable so it’s best to buy small bottles, keep it in a black coloured bottle ideally and keep it closed (a spray nozzle is best)
Got further questions about H2O2? Check out this blog post about how to prevent and stop mold in Microgreens.
Hydrogen peroxide helps better grow Microgreens:
It helps kill any pathogens or insects on “dirty” seeds such as Peas, Coriander, Sunflower, Cilantro in particular
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) , hydrogen peroxide kills yeasts, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and mold spores.
It's also used to kill microorganisms in food packaging materials,
We use it to disinfect the trays, and the grow medium,
It helps the seeds develop and strengthen their root systems,
As we recommend on this guide, if I see mold growing on Microgreens I’d rather throw away the tray rather than attempt to kill it with more spraying of H202
5.Best water for Microgreens
In the method I recommend here, we don’t use soil, we simply use water (we are growing Microgreens hydroponically here!).
On Veg Geek, I care about what you put in your body and that applies to water used for your Vegs too as it will eventually make it back to you!
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Most city tap water is “safe” but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you and millions of people drink potentially unsafe tap water without knowing it.
What’s wrong with my tap water to grow Microgreens?
While city water is treated, it’s not pure and it’s likely you will benefit from additional filtering to remove more than 99.999% of viruses and greater than 99.9999% of pathogenic bacteria, also removing or dramatically reducing protozoa, trihalomethanes, inorganic minerals, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, VOCs, petroleum products, perfluorinated chemicals, rust, silt, sediment and even radiologicals, Fluoride and Arsenic elements.
Now you’ll think twice about drinking tap water! ;)
So it’s really important we take great care in ensuring we use pure and clean water to grow Microgreens.
You can improve your water quality in several ways, ordered by cost of treating the water:
Simply and cheaply by boiling the water to remove the chlorine and potential bacterias – but this doesn’t remove all issues with city tap water.
Use bottled water (but quite expensive and not always “pure”
Use water filters of some kind (some houses are fitted with filters under the sink). If your taps aren’t filtered, I highly recommend these portable water files
Use Drinking water filter systems: I highly recommend this British Berkefeld (Get it on Amazon) Drinking gravity filter, portable system which you can easily locate next to your Microgreens rack (And more easily control the water pH as described in step 2) to provide you with near pure water easily, at very little cost.
Use Reverse Osmosis filter systems: Reverse Osmosis is a technology that is used to remove the large majority (98%+) of contaminants from water. The Reverse Osmosis system works by pushing the water under pressure through a number of increasingly smaller filters and finally through a semi-permeable membrane, essentially trapping all contaminants. It does generate much water waste to make RO water however so I don’t recommend this solution (I do use that in Aquaponics however!). I recommend the FineFilters (Get it on Amazon)
Build your own filter: you could also consider making your own water filter (although I don't recommend it, not as effective on city water)
Movie time – See how to make an easy Water Filtration for Microgreens farm (DIY)
Easy Water Filtration for Microgreens farm (DIY)
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While you can certainly simply filter the water and ignore the pH of your water (typically city tap water has a pH of 7-8 which is too alkaline for Growing Microgreens), you will get better results if you manage pH carefully too between 5.5 and 6.5 it will help the Microgreens develop better. Leave the water for 24hr in a container to release the chlorine used by the city water treatment. You can adjust the pH with pH Up/Down solution or even vinegar.
See more information on how to balance the pH of your water.
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If you would like to automate further the watering of your Microgreens, you could consider ebb/flow and NFT methods, see here how to do it:
Automate Microgreens watering: DIY Seedling Cart with Flood Trays - Small Version
6. Best Microgreens Grow Lighting
Light is one of the most important environment factor needed to grow Microgreens.
The Sun is obviously the best natural source, but it’s simply not sufficiently available throughout the year to help you produce Microgreens throughout the year.
So we address this by using lights for our indoor growing.
A bit later in this guide we’ll show you when and how much light is needed to grow Microgreens, but first, let’s review how to choose grow lights for indoor Microgreens. As always, we consider the research and practicalities of Growing Microgreens for your family too!
So how do you choose best grow lights for indoor Microgreens?
Let's take a look at each of the options in more details to help you choose your lighting:
| Microgreens Lighting options | Pros | Cons | Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunlight | Best! Full spectrum | Just not available everywhere in sufficient quantity! | Free! |
| Fluorescent shop lights (T5 recommended) | – 6000K daylight – efficient – lower heat produced – lifespan of 8,000-19,000 hours) | – quite toxic to environment (contains mercury) – less red light | + |
| LED shop lights | – low power consumption – better intensity – very low heat – longer lifespan to 50,000 hours + | – sensitive to heat! – less blue light | ++ |
| LED Strip Grow Lights (T5) | similar to above | higher in red light spectrum (see research below!) | +++ |
| LED Panel Lights | similar to above | higher in red light spectrum (see research below!) | ++++ |
See below some important research done which can guide our decision making for choosing the best light for Microgreens:
There is a potential for LED light in the UV and blue ranges to enhance food safety of hydroponically grown microgreens by treating the water as it circulates. Light in blue and UV wavelengths is able to kill bacteria (Kim, Mikš‐Krajnik, Kumar, & Yuk, 2016; Maclean, MacGregor, Anderson, & Woolsey, 2009; McKenzie, Maclean, Timoshkin, MacGregor, & Anderson, 2014).
And another important study highlighted that fluorescent lights promotes growth while LEDs promotes greater pigmentation!
Kale under the fluorescent/incandescent light treatment had a significantly higher shoot fresh and dry mass. The shoot tissue concentrations of most pigment were significantly higher under blue/red LED light treatments. The higher fertility level resulted in higher concentrations for most pigments. Interestingly, the pool of xanthophyll cycle pigments and de-epoxidized xanthophylls was higher under all LED treatments.
Kopsell, Sames, Morrow, 2016,https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27220007/
If you are using LED, the wider spectrum (more red light in particular) will grow taller Microgreens. More blue light (typically from fluorescent lights) will make Microgreens more compact and dense. Adding blue light toward the end of the growth phase increases the phytonutrients that are available in the plant.
LumiGrow had carried out more experiments and found that using LEDs impacts:
LED ligthing can save growers 40-70% on lighting electricity costs.
Light Quality – Gives increased flavor, antioxidant levels, darker leaf color, along with plant morphology manipulation.
Plant morphology – Vary the size of leaves, the height of the plant, shorter internodes, larger root mass, all based on light quality.
Temperature – Reduced temperature allows for less evapotranspiration and reduced water consumption. When comparing plant growth to HID standards daytime temperatures may need to be increased by 3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Recommended Microgreens Grow lights kit:
Here is the most suitable grow lights I've found to grow Microgreens in your home, providing the highest quality grow lighting available:
Here is the most suitable grow lights I've found to grow Microgreens in your home, providing the highest quality grow lighting available: T5 Sunblaster Nano (AMAZON LINK)
Or similar specs in LED – 2200lm, 6500K (Bright White), 20W (AMAZON LINK)
TIPS
on grow lights for Microgreens
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Microgreens need darkness during their first few days to germinate (as they would in the soil). Keeping the Microgreens in the dark will help develop stems as it searches for a light source to develop its first leaves.
Once it has germinated, it will be time to expose the Microgreens to light. If you don’t do this quickly enough, it will run out of energy and fall over.
The time to put Microgreens under light is typically 2-4 days (depending on varieties) after germination (when they are about 1.5inch tall).
You will need to keep the Microgreens under light until harvest.
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You should consider a few of factors:
Depending on the light you use, there may be heat generated from the lights which may be excessive for the Microgreens. However with the recommendation made in this guide, this shouldn’t be a problem
You do actually want some distances between the light source and the Microgreens to help it stretch to seek the light source and grow taller stems.
You also don’t want the light to be too far away as the light intensity quickly fades. That’s why most light manufacturer are putting great effort in the quality of their reflectors that are usually attached to the lights to improve coverage and penetration through the canopy of the Microgreens.
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To answer this, it’s important to understand why the Microgreens need light: Photosynthesis outputs peak between 435 nm and 680 nm, so a light that gives a spectral distribution with relative intensity peaks at 435 nm and 615 nm is ideal.
The grow light I’m recommending here meets those optimal specifications.
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There isn’t much research to validate the optimum schedule of lighting exposure for Microgreens. The baseline is clearly the natural Sun exposure cycle, but indoors you can accelerate the growth by modifying the daylight schedule: I find that 18hrs of light schedule works well, balancing what the plant needs (including rest time) as well as the costs of operating the lights.
Depending on your local electricity provider and how much light there is where you grow the Microgreens, you can also adjust the light cycle to benefit from cheaper night-time electricity tariffs.
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The optimal specs for Microgreens lights are around 6500k (slightly blue white light that mimic the daylight, hence my recommendation earlier in this guide. Most office or kitchen LED are in the range of 2200k and not ideal to grow Microgreens.
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Microgreens varieties have different blackout periods (the few days before Microgreens should be exposed to light) and vary of course on the environment in which you grow the Microgreens (seed quality, medium, temperature, moisture, etc.), in general 2-5 days – I typically use 3 days myself as a benchmark
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Yes. Depending on where you live, you might find it works well still with Microgreens growing on a windowsill.
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Yes, post germination phase, similar to humans, plants also need some rest! that's why recommend the schedule above.
7. Definitive kit list to grow Microgreens and Other accessories you'll likely need to best grow Microgreens
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To make it easier for you, I've gathered all the equipment you will need to grow Microogreens on my Amazon StoreFront:
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pH Up/Down (I like General Hydroponics but you could also use lemon zest, vinegar)
pH test kit
GSE grapefruit extract
Pressure sprayer
Gram scale and measuring cup (measuring spoons)
Timers (to control fans, lights)
USB fans or standing fans
Dehumidifier
Seeds storage containers (I don't, I just use resealable bags)
Seed shaker (I don't, I just use a cup and then spread out with my fingers to avoid seed clumps
Microgreen snips
Zip cutters (to cut the coco fibre mat – you won't regret it!)
Microgreens Harvesting tools: Stainless steel knife, Scissors or electric shears
Multiplug power strip with USB ports (for fans)
Masking tape for labeling
Spray bottles (make sure it's BPA free!)
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Unlike sprouts, you won't need glass jars to grow microgreens; and no lamps either!
Nutrients solutions: Microgreens grow faster in a hydroponic medium as recommended here, so I see no reason to add or spend on additional nutrients solution (do consider the impact of those nutrients solution!
You can of course add Nutrients and it will certainly accelerate growth – but it will also alter the natural taste of the Microgreens.
If you have specific deficiencies in certain macro or micro nutrients, you could introduce this in your solution (in addition to a healthy and balanced diet!).