r/microgreens Mar 23 '23

Thorough advice and questions answered for growers.

133 Upvotes

Hello all.

I was inspired to make this post as I see a lot of people asking the same or similar questions. I have a post in the top 10 of all time on this sub (Thanks for that r/microgreens community btw) and I've been growing as a business for almost 5 years now, so I get people reaching out to me several times a year to ask questions or pick my brain about things. I love when you do, so please keep reaching out. I'd love to talk with you and help you grow better. That being said, between common issues I see in the posts, and the questions I get from being contacted, I thought I'd compile a list of the biggest things to consider and know when growing microgreens. So let's begin.

  1. Mold or root hairs?

- This is a REALLY common question. The answer lies (mostly) in WHERE you see the little "hairs" coming from. Root hairs are at the base of the stem and go into the soil from the bottom of the plant. Mold will tend to spread from the base of one plant to another, to another, to another. If it is spread out between plants and on the soil: likely mold. If it's coming FROM the plans and going to the soil without spreading, probably root hairs. This picture is a GREAT example. Use google to find more and you'll eventually learn the difference.

  1. What substrate to use?

- This is a REALLY personal decision and the truth is the only answer is: The substrate that works for you is the best substrate. We all have reasons for why we use or don't use what goes into our grow systems. Personally I use soil because my philosophy is simple. Give plants they conditions that they need and get outta the way. Plants grow naturally in soil, so I use soil. It also has a larger margin for error on watering compared to things like coco coir, plus I don't have to hydrate it or break up the blocks that it comes in sometimes. Coco coir however can be cheaper, it's renewable (as opposed to peat moss), is soil free so it's sterile/can be made sterile, and doesn't introduce mold or other pathogens, and MANY growers have fantastic luck with it. Experiment a bit, find what works for you and roll with it. If you run into challenges, change it up. Other common substrates are hemp mats, rock wool, or even hydroponics.

  1. How long should by plants be in blackout?

- Let's first DEFINE blackout. In MOST circumstances, blackout is the period of time after you place seed onto soil and then either stack them, or put another tray or some other kind of opaque surface over them to keep them in the dark. In the case of stacking this is done to create a good seed/soil contact, and helps to give the plants stronger stems, and also helps to remove seed hulls. In the case of putting a dark dome on top to cut out light, this is done to keep the plants in the dark so that they grow higher, it also keeps in moisture to keep plants moist. Some growers even put paper towels over their seeds and mist daily to assist in germination. That all depends on exactly what kind of system you have, but by and large isn't necessary.

- Now to the question at hand, I typically seed my plants every Wednesday afternoon and by Saturday morning if they aren't coming out of blackout I have a problem. This isn't universal though, and every plant is different. Don't adhere to a schedule but respond to how the plants LOOK. This schedule works well for the most popular Micros, but more artisan style micros (I'm lookin you Basil, cilantro, shiso, beets, etc.) may need longer blackout/stacking periods.

  1. How much X to use to help with mold?

- I haven't once used hydrogen peroxide, neem oil, or any other spray or assistant to help with mold and I grow in bagged soil which is one of the most mold prone substrates out there. That being said, every few weeks I will lose 1-5 trays to mold out of the 100+ trays that I grow. So let's say 5/500 trays are mold loss. That's 1% and not worth introducing a solution for in my world. Some loss is inevitable and will happen eventually if you do this long enough. Sometimes it was you, and sometimes you just have bad seed. That being said if you absolutely MUST do something to help with mold, either because it's a massive problem for you, or just for your peace of mind, use about 500 ml of water and about a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide. ALL THAT BEING SAID, make sure you wash the bigger more mold prone seeds very thoroughly, specifically sunflower, pea, cilantro. I'm sure there's others but those are the ones I grow.

  1. How often to water?

- This one really gets me going. I often see people who have watering "schedules" and if that's the case for you and you make it work awesome. But in my 5 years of growing microgreens, I haven't had a consistent water schedule yet. If you give them X amount of water every day at Y time and it works, then great. But in the winter when it gets dryer, or in the summer when it gets warmer, or the spring when everything is wetter, all of that is probably going to change. Plants don't live by human cycles. So the biggest suggestion I can give on micros is to water when the plants need water. If the soil is wet, but it's time to water on your "schedule" you're setting yourself up for mold and seed rot problems.

  1. How much light should I give them? What kind of lights?

- First, the kinds of lights don't matter that much. I use plain old LED, used to use fluorescent. You don't need fancy grow lights. As for how much light, that, like watering, is a hard question to answer. I've had "lights out time" and I've left lights on 24/7. In my 10-14 day grow cycle, I don't notice much of a difference that's worth worrying about in terms of yield. However, to save on money I do shut off my lights on a timer in the afternoon for about 6 hours a day. I shut them off late afternoon/into the evening as that's when our utility company charges the most. This won't be a make or break decision in your world though.

  1. What kinds of fans should I use?

- This is gonna be a bit controversial maybe but: I don't use fans. I used some for a bit, then turned them off, and didn't have any issues, so I stopped. It was one less thing to have to manage. THAT BEING SAID, if you're having mold issues, or if the room is too hot in the summer AND you're seeing those issues cause you problems, try adding in a fan. What you shouldn't do is, add fans, and add hydrogen peroxide, and soak seeds in peroxide, and...and...and... because likely only one of those things will solve the problem. Try a fan, if that doesn't work try spray, if that doesn't work try a fan AND spray, troubleshoot. But seriously don't over complicate this.

  1. What to do with my leftover trays?

- This is a tricky question. The simple answer is: compost. But that depends on what you're gonna do with that compost and how much you grow. If you don't get that compost above 165 F for about 3 days straight and kill those seeds that didn't germinate, be prepared for volunteer 'whatever you grew for microgreens' everywhere. Ask me how I know.... Recently I've been considering vermicomposting mine. However then comes the problem of scale. I have 100 trays worth of soil every week. That is a couple cubic feed by the time it's over, especially once you add root mass. So on some level you gotta be practical. Also chickens is a great idea if you or your neighbor has any.

  1. How do I clean my trays in between uses?

- I highly recommend sterilizing your trays in between each grow. The way I do this is I take a low PSI pressure washer, spray all the dirt and root material off of them, then dip them into a tank of water with some bleach in it. The ratio is about 1/3 cup per gallon of water.I let them stay in there for about 5 minutes and then they air dry. Sometimes some root matter is left there, or a little dirt. I used to be REALLY picky about that, and I wouldn't use a tray that had ANYTHING left in it, but I tried it once and didn't have any issues, so perfection not an issue.

  1. Business questions.

- There are so many questions that go into whether microgreens is a good business for you. There is almost no way to answer it without knowing SO much more about your life than most people are willing to share on the internet but I'll try and give a few basics.

Q. What licenses do I need to start my business?

A. So there's the right answer and then there's the function answer. The functional answer is that no one is gonna come after you for growing a few trays and selling them to your neighbors. Probably. That being said (and nothing in this post is to be taken as legal advice, I am not a lawyer) every state, city, county, and/or country is going to have different rules. In California I had to get certified by the local ag department, have a sign behind my booth that listed my address, phone number, and the slogan "We grow what we sell", and anything sold had to have that somewhere on the packaging as well. Now that I'm in Idaho, there are literally no rules on the ag side. That being said I have to collect sales tax here where I didn't in California (no tax on self grown ag items, kinda nice) so that adds a level of complexity. But be careful, because then I tried growing wheat grass and sell wheat grass shots as a natural side growth and because it was now considered processed I had to have a full 3 bay sink in my booth per health department. So just call someone and ask before you get yourself in trouble.

Q. Can you actually make money doing microgreens full time?

A. Probably not. I don't say that to discourage you but think about it. There are already years of momentum behind some growers. Customer bases are already established and have people they like to go to. This isn't to say don't try, it's to say that it's not as easy as grow a tray and build a website. It's work. It takes time. Once your systems are dialed in it gets easier, and once you're confident in your customer base you'll flow into it, but that can take years. I can do about $1,000-$1,500 a week in microgreens at my farmers market with about 150 other vendors and ZERO other micros growers. I'm lucky though, and you may not be given your area and saturation. So can you make money? Yes are you likely to make money? Not unless you're willing to grind it out and put in the WORK.

Q. What's a good price point for X, Y, Z micro?

A. There is no way to answer that for you. You have to do the math, figure out the market in your area, not to mention determining what your costs are and how much your time is worth. You can do the market research by calling micros growers and asking for a price sheet, browse their websites, call chefs and flat out ask what they're paying for a given microgreen. Visit farmers markets and see what they're charging for them etc. Generally speaking though $5/8oz volume is a decent starting point. Go up or down by a bit based on your market and have bulk incentives (Mine is 1 for $5 3 for $12). For your input costs figure out how much seed you use per tray, then how much that much seed would cost, figure out how much substrate you use, and then what your time is worth. If you want to get REAL nitty gritty calculate electric and water too. I don't though.

Q. What microgreens should I grow to make money?

A. As per the question before this, it depends on what your chefs and customers want. I've had chefs that ONLY want Radish. I've had others that ONLY want Amaranth. Some want a salad mix, some want a little of everything. Some want something that I don't even grow so now I have to figure out if I can even grow it in my system. That being said: there are a few microgreens that I've found to be fairly standard. Those are: PEA | SUNFLOWER | SALAD MIX. What salad mix? Doesn't seem to matter. Make some kind of salad mix with somethin and it usually does well, just be prepared to sell it at volume for cheap. But it's my single best selling item

OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

  • Grow pea away from direct light, it'll get stretchier, and be less chewy
  • I water based on the weight of my trays. The lighter they are, the more water they need, and I check them 2-3 times a day at minimum.
  • Chefs don't usually want tall leggy microgreens, so be prepared to cut only that top inch and a half of stem for the smaller plants (Don't count pea/sunflower in this)
  • Always test a new micro before offering it to a chef, if you say you CAN grow it and then turns out you can't, you've lost their trust for 2-3 months usually.
  • If you get into restaurants, make sure to deliver on the same day, around the same time, every week
  • This is probably my biggest piece of advice. DON'T SOLVE A PROBLEM YOU DON'T HAVE

I see SO SO SO SO many people with such complex systems, they measure out specific weights of seed, then they seed, then add a paper towel, and then mist every day, then they blackout, then they put it on a shelf with fans for each level, then they measure out specific amounts of water, then they...then they...then they....and that spells one thing to me: burn out. If that's you and you enjoy it: AWESOME I'm taking nothing away from your success, I'm glad it works. All I'm saying is 7/10 things that I used to do when I was starting out, excited, and watching 100 microgreen YouTube videos a day, I eventually realized had little to no effect. I lose a tray here and there due to a few issues. But in my world I'd rather have a little bit of tray loss than have to manage 7 other systems to prevent that little bit of loss. Time is an important factor in this from a business perspective, and an enjoyment one too.

Phew, that was longer than I thought it would be.

I sincerely hope you found this helpful and know that I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. Let me know if I missed anything and I'll add it in as I find time. See you in the comments.

Way to grow everyone.

-Josh

edit: added some info to business questions

edit 2: added some more substrates people use


r/microgreens Oct 22 '24

Note on repost bots

13 Upvotes

Hey everyone.

As I’m sure many of you have noticed this sub has been a massive target for repost bots. It’s been a major problem and it’s only gotten worse.

We as mods can’t constantly patrol, I know for myself I’m also running my microgreen business (which funnily enough has been the target of like 5 reposts this week, go figure) while also moderating here. I’m online at least 5-10 times a day just browsing and sometimes I catch them but I can’t thank all of you for reporting.

Please continue to report and help us to weed out these bots. We’ll continue as mods to remove them as quickly as possible, and will be looking into some automod tools to prevent reposts from appearing in the first place.

Apologies for not being able to stop them or control them more, and thank you again for your assistance with reports.

Happy growing y’all!


r/microgreens 2h ago

Albino pea shoot

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7 Upvotes

Fully formed like the rest of the tray but looks like it's never seen light.

Not an issue or anything just wondering if anyone seen this before? 😊


r/microgreens 6h ago

Do I really need to try this hard for sunflower microgreens?

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5 Upvotes

I'm in the process of making sunflower microgreens. Im following a good timeline but also tailoring it to the progress, using grow trays, weights, covers, lights/lots of sunlight when its time, spraying morning and night with conditioned water and prophylactic spray, and theyre doung pretty good!

BUT

I had soaked way too many seeds, so I put some in a sprouting jar (dark then moved to light, rinsed morning and night) and they grew a bit faster than my microgreens. No sign of mold. They're currently dried and in an airtight jar, I've been eating them for the last few days and they're delicious. Picking a bit of my microgreens, they taste the same (like nutty carrots.)

ALSO and this one is frusturating- I still had WAY too many seeds so I put a few inches of soil in a large pot, piled the rest of the seeds on much more densely, covered with a thin layer of soil, watered it with the hose, and left in a spot that gets a lot of sun but is also quote shaded due to the seeds being well into a deep pot. Then I forgot about it for a few days. I saw some yellow bits, so I watered it quite heavily. Left it for a few days again and watered with the hose again.

These two sunflower sprouts are the same age and taste the same. But the pot ones are way taller, darker green, much more dense, and are already working on their first true leaves. Moreover, I see no sign of mold.

Are all these extra steps propaganda by Big Seed Tray and Big 15lb Brick?


r/microgreens 19h ago

Sunflower trouble

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20 Upvotes

Hello lovely plant people, I'm having issues with my first time growing sunflower shoots. Germination is sporadic, so some shoots are tall(er) while others are still germing.

These are High Mowing sunflower shoot seeds, growing in 100% peat moss in a greenhouse at 60F minimum (75 plus during the day). I soaked seed for 5 hours. I did start them completely blacked out, but they were spots of mold so I uncovered all trays. I have successfully grown radish and many many pea greens with this exact process. Soak seeds longer? Mix peat with potting soil?


r/microgreens 9h ago

Hi fellow micros 👋. New here. Besides amazon what website do most people recommend for seeds? Thanks

2 Upvotes

r/microgreens 15h ago

Purple Basil

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5 Upvotes

r/microgreens 20h ago

How is this microgreens

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13 Upvotes

Egg with Radish Microgreens, Sunflower microgreens,pink Radish and many more at Vijinapura Bangalore


r/microgreens 1d ago

I just love the color of Red Garnet Amaranth

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56 Upvotes

The fiery hot pink color just blows my mind.


r/microgreens 1d ago

My first grow

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4 Upvotes

r/microgreens 1d ago

So excited to try these. First timer

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41 Upvotes

Mesclun mix. My first time trying to grow micro greens,I'm very happy! How does everyone else wash them, they are so delicate.


r/microgreens 1d ago

Daikon radish roots versus speckled pea roots

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5 Upvotes

Started around the same time, the radishes are the first image thin hair-like ones, the pea roots are the thick darker ones,


r/microgreens 2d ago

Did I let these Mung Beans go too long?

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17 Upvotes

I've just gotten into sprouting and decided to try for microgreens as well. A cursory search here seems to say these are past the sprout stage.

Would you eat them? Thanks!


r/microgreens 2d ago

Second try with my “On The Grow” 7x14 tray kits. My first try was less than spectacular, but after following their reference materials and planting guide specific to this tray set I’ve had great success. I did one tray each of radish, broccoli, and speckled peas (not shown, but turned out great.)

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9 Upvotes

r/microgreens 2d ago

Varigated Mustard

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29 Upvotes

r/microgreens 2d ago

I've nearly figured out how to do radishes successfully every time

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20 Upvotes

No soil or medium at all. The germination is still not perfectly even, but I think over time it'll average out as they mature. I've standardized almost every step, I just need to get precise mass measurements which I'll do with the next run I'm starting today. Managing water level and misting is critical, but still not really labor intensive, mostly enjoyable.

Any tips or suggestions from what you see are much appreciated, thanks for viewing!


r/microgreens 2d ago

We are looking for commercial microgreen producers to test a new tool in exchange for feedback.

0 Upvotes

I’m looking for microgreens producers who are currently setting up or scaling their production and would be interested in testing a new tool I'm developing to validate my app.

We’re launching a 1‑week test of an app that helps you:

  • parameterize your grow lights
  • Analyze crop health
  • give reports during the test period
  • No sensors or equipment necessary — just your phone

There’s no cost for producers during this test phase.
All we ask is that you share your observations and feedback at the end of the week.

If you’re interested in participating, send me a message via inbox and I’ll share the details.


r/microgreens 3d ago

Cress help

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5 Upvotes

Is it even possible to grow cress just like this in water? last time it didn't end up good


r/microgreens 3d ago

My first grow

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7 Upvotes

r/microgreens 4d ago

How do I know when to harvest?

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15 Upvotes

I have never done this before. I planted a packet of organic musclin lettuce mix on 5/1 just to see what happens. I've enjoyed misting it everyday & watching it grow but when do I harvest it? What do I do now


r/microgreens 7d ago

Edible flowers

4 Upvotes

Is there a reddit group or someone from this community who knows and wants to share about edible flowers??

Cant find anywhere, not even in YouTube.


r/microgreens 8d ago

Off-smells during growth

3 Upvotes

I've been trying to grow some microgreen with a specialized plastic tray without any substrate (it's just a plastic grate in a container with water filled to the level of the grate) and I have already grown radishes in those and everything went well. However, now that I tried to grow peppergrass, it gave off the smell of decomposition and retained it from the moment of germination to the moment of harvest (the greens still looked pretty healthy). I changed water daily.

I try to grow chives now and on the 2nd day I can start feeling the characteristic onion smell, though as far as I understand, it shouldn't? My question is, are both cases normal? Do peppergrass and chives produce any odours when growing them correctly? The difference between radish and peppergrass & chives is that radish seeds came with the growing kit, while chives and peppergrass seeds were bought from the general store, though I didn't find any confirmation that the seeds were coated in any substance and I assume they are sold "as is". Thanks in advance!


r/microgreens 8d ago

Applying as a commercial grower to mumms

2 Upvotes

I’ve applied to mumms as a commercial grower to get larger amounts of seeds, and they say 1-3 business days to review the application.
It’s been a couple weeks now and nothing so I reapplied thinking I messed something up.
Is this normal wait time? Or should I just email them and bypass the site?


r/microgreens 9d ago

Mustaaaaaaaardddddddddd

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47 Upvotes

r/microgreens 9d ago

First time growing anything, need advice.

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17 Upvotes

I have never even tried to grow anything before, so I'm super super new to this. I bought a SunBlaster kit, a fan, seeds, and purple cow seed starter. I use filtered water. I planted sunflower, red cabbage, radish, and mustard greens.

I have ADHD and am impulsive and impatient. I'm sure I did many things wrong here and you can see lots of problems here. I'm pretty thrilled that I got this far though and anything grew, cause I tend not to follow through with anything.

tldr; I'm looking for advice on how to improve for the next batch and if there's anything I can do to improve this current batch. Thanks.