Chapter 4 - Learn how to Easily Grow Microgreens in less than 1hr a week: Where, When, How, What Starter Kit needed
IN THIS LESSON
In this chapter, you'll learn Where, What Microgreens growing medium, When and What kit you need to get started;
and I'll share the method that I found works best to grow & harvest Microgreens at home and answer your frequent questions:
The best (at least recommended!) Microgreens setup
Where to grow Microgreens?
What Microgreen growing medium to use?
Can you grow Microgreens year round?
What kit do I need to grow Microgreens?
How to Grow Microgreens without soil : step-by-step Guide
How to Harvest Microgreens, Wash & Repeat
So if you want start growing Microgreens, this chapter is for you.
Where to grow Microgreens
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Yes you can, in fact the direct sunlight is beneficial – but it’s also much harder to control the environment (temperature, water) and keep your Microgreens as “pure” as possible (from rain water, pests)
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Yes, that’s my recommendation – you can grow Microgreens anywhere in your home with either sunlight or artificial light (I recommend anywhere with rack and artificial light). It happens that the optimal temperature to grow Microgreens tends to be the average temperature in most homes. When choosing the location, consider somewhere in the kitchen for ease of access or even in your garage for more constant, cooler temperatures. Wherever it is in your home, you’ll need to keep the grow space at around 64-77F or 18-25C and the humidity level should be at 50-60% (use a dehumidifier in that grow space if you can)
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Yes, that’s the method recommended here – there are very different opinions amongst growers on the benefits to grow on soil. While it’s clearly what Nature intended, it’s also many more variables to control, resulting in more crop failures, and it’s more work!
With no noticeable downsides based on latest research and the resulting produce, I don’t recommend growing Microgreens on soil.
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Yes, in fact the method I recommend is to grow Microgreens in water (hydroponic) with an organic fiber mat, however there is a way to do it, Microgreens would simply fail if you flood the seeds with water.
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Assuming you have a “standard” greenhouse, I do not recommend to grow there. It will be too difficult manage the temperature and humidity needed to grow fragile Microgreens. If you do have a Aquaponics Smart Greenhouse, then maybe for some Microgreens (like Watercress), but for the rest I’d still recommend growing indoor – it’s just so much simpler, less efforts, more predictable results.
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Yes, you can do that too but for a regular family consumption it’s not easier, and has potential to develop more challenges and more work for you than in the method I recommend.
I do however have an Aquaponics Smart Greenhouse and grow watercress & lemon grass for example on top of an Aquaponics tank in floating pots (filled with clay balls).
When to grow Microgreens
(Through the winter and you can grow Microgreens year around!)
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In addition to the nutritious and health benefits, Microgreens also help to fill in the gaps in the winter season when your garden isn't producing enough to feed your family and delight your taste buds!
With Microgreens you can not only extend the seasons between end of October and Beginning of March(shorter days and less light in the northern hemisphere), but you can grow Microgreens throughout the year using the method I recommend here!
So yes, by growing Microgreens in Winter you will continue to eat fresh, raw greens!
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I recommend growing Microgreens in your home or garage: the reason is that it happens to be the right temperature for Microgreens to grow! Most homes keep their average room temperature at 65–75°F or 18–24C°, exactly what's needed for Microgreens.
Higher temperature will increase risk of mold and slow down or even prevent germination in some varieties!
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There really is no specific restrictions, you will be able to grow Microgreens any time including in the winter – the hardest but easily solved, is to provide sufficient lighting!
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In short you can be harvesting Microgreens throughout the year. It just requires a little planning to make sure you are growing a regular supply of Microgreens which you can harvest just as you need each day.
See the When to harvest Microgreens section for more details abut harvesting and timings for different varieties.
Movie time – See an example of large scale Microgreens production in Winter with urban Farmer Curtis Stone:
Microgreens production in Winter
What is the best Microgreen growing medium to use?
A clean Microgreens produce is important for your safety and appearance on your plate! And with all the options available, it's not easy to choose: Let's take a look here at what really works consistently, with the minimum of efforts !
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I care about what goes into my food so I am concerned at many of the options I have seen on the internet to grow Microgreens, in particular with the use of synthetic materials.
When choosing your growing medium, I’d recommend you consider these factors first:
Location: As I recommended above, you will be growing this in your home, so best to avoid medium that makes a mess inside your home!
How will you water? You need to consider how you will water the microgreens: by hand, ebb/flow, NFT? – Given you are growing for your family, I' recommend you simply water by hand. If you want to invest in further automation, I'll also share below how you could do it.
Storage: For family consumption, you will want to eat the Microgreens raw, just cut a few minutes before putting them on your plate, so we don’t need to be concerned about longer storage, although with the method I recommend here you can still put Microgreens in a very cold fridge for up to 10 days (but I don’t recommend it to make sure you get the most nutrients when harvested just fresh!)
Organic: You don’t need to worry about the “Organic” certification since you aren’t a commercial grower, but the method I’m sharing is even better, 100% “pure”.
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I've tried many different growing medium options and learnt the hard way what works and what doesn't, so you don't have to! I've tried all those options:
Growing microgreens on paper towels
Quick Plug Biostrate
Microgreens with cocopeat or coco coir
Microgreens with soil
Microgreens mat
Jute grow mats in roll
Paper
Tissue paper
Kitchen paper towel
Microgreens mats hydroponic grow pads
Biostrate Felt hydroponic growing pads
OMRI potting soil mix
Growing Microgreens on Hemp mats
Compost mixes/ worm compost / vermicompost
So how do you choose which Growing Medium to grow Microgreens?
Let's take a look at each of the options in more details to help you choose your growing medium:
| Microgreens Growing Medium | Pros | Cons | Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Plug Biostrate | – Holds the optimal amount of water – Roots are stabilized – pH balanced – Great to control the grow environment at larger scale | – Couldn’t find any apart from costs! – Compostable in commercial composting, not at home | ++++ |
| Soil | – Best natural growing environments – Compostable | – More factors to control (in particular if using your garden soil, compost or vermicompost)) – More messy in your home! – More messy to handle at harvest time – More prone to mold | + (although +++ if buying good quality soil mix) |
| Kitchen Paper towel or tissue paper | – Good at maintaining moisture – Compostable | – pH imbalance possible – More prone to mold – Possible chemical leach | + |
| Paper | – Compostable | – Usually contains chemical – Dries out quickly – pH imbalance possible | + |
| Coco coir peat | – Good at maintaining moisture – Compostable – Sustainable, natural by-product from coconut husks – pH neutral | – More messy in your home! – No nutrients available to Microgreens – Can be difficult to control water absorption (either too much or too little) – More messy to handle at harvest time | ++ |
| Jute grow mats in rolls (there are also similar ones made of Hemp fibres instead) | – Very compostable – Sustainable, natural – Works well for some seeds (radish and broccoli in particular) | – More unpredictable germination – Doesn’t hold moisture well – Difficult to control water absorption – More wasted space on the sides/corners of the mats due to moisture control | +++ |
| micro mats hydroponic grow pads | – Usually made from biodegradable wood materials, | – Check that there is no plastic or synthetic fibres – Consider the manufacturing footprint | ++ |
| Rockwool | – More consistent results | – Doesn’t break down in home composting | +++ |
| Coco fibre mats in rolls | – Holds moisture – Strong composition | – Make sure to buy Organic mats and check no chemicals or pesticides – Work best when you’ve soaked them overnight prior to using them | ++ |
Learn from others with their growing medium experiments
Don’t take my word for it, check out other experiments with growing mediums:
Comparing results of Jute Mats vs Rockwool https://youtu.be/Jce4eHRqd8Y
Susan’s experience Growing Microgreens on Jute mat https://youtu.be/qzOYpuwK4Xs
Learn how to prepare the coco fibre pads https://youtu.be/zzuTExnay2I
Why you Should use coconut coir pads https://youtu.be/IyDxd7XfWd4
If you are in the US, buy direct at lower costs and check out CoirMart and their ready-made grow pads
Another method you will see sometimes is using paper towels:
Experiment: I don't recommend using paper towel or paper tissue to grow Microgreens!
While it certainly works as shown in the picture below, it’s very hard to use paper towel as a growing medium, it dries very quickly (and I worry about any chemicals used in the paper tissue which may leach in the Microgreens). and I'm not the only one worried about that! https://youtu.be/j5AHq9FFpYE
So what’s my best grow method for Microgreens?
Soil-less, coco-fiber mats
The method I recommend is to grow Microgreens soil-less, in water (hydroponic) with an organic fiber mat; however there is a way to do it, Microgreens would simply fail if you flood the seeds with water.
See what you need to grow Microgreens next!