Microgreens @ Home Workshop Guide
Microgreens in a Minute Quickstart Guide
UPDATE: After several months of experimenting, I’ve tweaked this guide so that you have even BETTER results when you try this out on your own!
Supplies:
- Weber 7.5x5.5 aluminium drip pans
- Coco Coir Seedling Mix
3. Arugula or other broccoli family Seeds One Teaspoon...maybe two, if you’re feeling dangerous.
(you can also buy arugula seeds at your local garden center if you just want to try this cheaply...same with all the other supplies besides drip pans...go to hardware store or grocery store for those)
4. A Mister, you can use a cheapie spray bottle, or a professional garden sprayer like this one.
Optional extras that make it easier:
Brown paper grocery bags (2)
Professional garden handheld sprayer (I like Solo brand)
A Brick (adds extra weight for better moisture coverage, stronger stems and more)
Directions for Planting Your Quickie Trays:
Step 1: Gather your pans, and cut two squares out of the brown paper grocery bags that fit into your pans
Step 2: Moisten your coco coir so that it's just barely damp, a "wrung-out-sponge" consistency.
Step 3: Place your cut out brown paper bag square into your pan, for easy clean up, then add your coco coir.
Step 4: Carefully sprinkle your seeds. Seeds can be touching each other, but shouldn’t be piled on top of each other.
Step 5: Mist the seeds thoroughly, but don’t get them dripping wet..the way you might mist your hair with hairspray. We don’t want rock hard hair (unless you’re my grandmother)
Step 6: Place your 2nd brown paper bag cut out over the seeds, to block out light.
Step 7: Place another small pan on top of the one you planted, and place a weight on top of it (I use a brick). Max weight should be no more than 7 lbs.
Step 8: Check daily to make sure seeds are just moist, and in about 3ish days, you’ll see them slightly pushing up the top tray, when they have grown about a half inch.
Step 9: After a half-inch of growth, bring them out into typical room lighting, then just keep the soil moist until harvest.
Optional Extra Steps for Taller/Juicier Microgreens:
Step 10: You can turn your empty pan over to form a dark dome over the microgreens, this will encourage the stems to get longer, but the longer you do this, the more risk you have for mold...so its up to you if you want to live dangerously 😉
Step 11: You can provide stronger light after a few hours, and as long as they aren’t getting strong sun, the brighter the light=the bigger/greener the leaves.
Step 12: You can add dried kelp meal (1 teaspoon) or worm castings (1 teaspoon) after the microgreens have been in light for a day or two.
Comments:
You can replace arugula seeds with any seeds in the broccoli family for around the same results (but different flavor):
Radish (the easiest)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kale (I actually haven’t tried Kale, but I’m guessing its as easy)
Oriental Mustard Seeds
Grow Microgreens for Life Mini-Guide
This guide is the system I use to have consistent microgreen harvests without as much maintenance or daily care that the Microgreens in a Minute Quickstart Guide requires, this is also a constantly improving process that I’ll be working on changing over time.
Supplies:
1. 10x10 Shallow Trays from Bootstrap Farmer, with holes
- 10x10 Deep Trays from Bootstrap Farmer NO holes!
- Broccoli, Arugula, or other brassica family seeds
You’ll need at least two seed packets worth, only get what you can store well.
4. A Mister: I wouldn’t buy any other type of mister, this is the best one for regular daily use:
My Favorite Durable Garden Sprayer Amazon Link
5. Coco Coir Seedling Mix
6. Brown Paper Bags: I get these at Whole Foods, but you can also use black and white newspaper, or any clean leftover brown paper you can find around the house.
7. Regular Sized Bricks (one for each tray you plant planting)
-adds extra weight for better moisture coverage, stronger stems and more)
-Find one at the hardware store, or find a rock, nearly anything works.
8. Bamboo Paper Towels
-Try to get the “greenest” paper towels you can.
Supplies for Making Your Self-Watering Tray:
1.A Drill
2.A drill bit, anything around 1/8 inch, doesn’t have to be precise
3.Heavy Duty Scissors or Knife
Self-Watering Tray Set Up:
- Get your tray on a steady surface you can scratch/damage...I like cardboard layers on the concrete outside.
- Drill a line of holes through your shallow tray, then use a knife to make a slit that two paper towels can fit through
Directions for Planting Your Trays:
Step 1: Gather your trays, and cut two squares out of the brown paper grocery bags that fit into your trays, two squares per tray you want to plant.
Step 2: Place a paper bag square onto your shallow tray, then take your paper towel and stick the end of it through the holes you drilled, make sure the paper towel covers the entire surface of the top tray and sits over the cardboard.
Step 3: Moisten your coco coir so that it's just barely damp, a "wrung-out-sponge" consistency, and fill the shallow tray with the coco coir.
Step 4: Carefully sprinkle your seeds. Seeds can be touching each other, but shouldn’t be piled on top of each other.
Step 5: Mist the seeds thoroughly, but don’t get them dripping wet..the way you might mist your hair with hairspray. We don’t want rock-hard hair (unless you’re my grandmother)
Step 6: Place your 2nd brown paper bag cut-out over the seeds, to block out light.
Step 7: Place another shallow tray on top of the one you planted, and place a weight on top of it (I use a brick). Max weight should be no more than 7 lbs.
Step 8: Check daily as a beginner, after several rounds, you’ll have an instinct for it and you can ignore the trays for 3-4 days.
Step 9: After a half-inch or so of growth, bring them out into typical room lighting for a few hours.
Step 10: You can provide stronger light after a few hours, and as long as they aren’t getting strong sun, the brighter the light, the bigger/greener the leaves.
Step 11: Make sure the coco coir stays moist, while you get the hang of the self-watering tray.
Optional Extra Steps for Taller/Juicier Microgreens:
Step 12: You can turn your empty tray over to form a dark dome over the microgreens, this will encourage the stems to get longer, but the longer you do this, the more risk you have for mold...so its up to you if you want to live dangerously 😉
Step 13: You can add dried kelp meal (1 teaspoon) or worm castings (1 teaspoon) after the microgreens have been in light for a day or two.
Step 14: If you’re growing more than one tray, you can pile trays on top of each other.
Comments:
You can replace arugula seeds with any seeds in the broccoli family for around the same results (but different flavor):
Radish (the easiest)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kale (I actually haven’t tried Kale, but I’m guessing its as easy)
Oriental Mustard Seeds
You must clean the trays VERY thoroughly before replanting, on all sides, or you’re likely to get mold.
Once you get the hang of the brassica family and you have regular microgreens to show for it, you’re ready to try intermediate greens:
Buckwheat
Peas
Clover
Amaranth
Nasturtium
Then intermediate-advanced:
Sunflowers
Beets
Chard
Books to Tweak Your Process:
Year Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke
Microgreen Garden: Indoor Grower's Guide to Gourmet Greens by Mark Mathew Braunstein
Microgreens: A Guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens by Eric Franks and Jasmine Richardson
Microgreens: How to Grow Nature's Own Superfood by Fionna Hill
Web Resources:
OnTheGrow.Net handy PDF seeding chart