Microgreens are popular because they are nutrient-dense, easy to grow, and add vibrant flavor and texture to dishes, making them a trendy and healthy addition to modern diets.
If you have made it this far, you must have some interest in growing your own microgreens, so let’s just get to it.
I am going to use this post to walk through a full sunflower microgreens grow. (I am going to write it live, so it will update daily until harvest, which will be around 10 days start to finish).
Day 1
I am going to grow four 10″x20″ trays of black oil sunflower seeds.
I do not use dirt, I use reusable mats to reduce on mess and overall cost.
Each tray gets 125 gm of seeds.
For the first three days, they do not get any light, you keep them in the dark. The tray sets come with a lid that you keep on at all times, and weigh it down with a 16 lb paver.
Mold can sometimes be an issue, especially since the first several days the seeds are wet and in the dark. For this crop I am trying a propholactic 3% hydrogen peroxide mix. I mixed a small amount with some regular water and sprayed the entire tray. I saw this tip online and will try, but mold has never ruined a crop for me, but its usually a little present somewhere, so this will be a test for that.
The only maintenance that is needed at this point is to water the trays twice a day. You want to water with a sprayer, and make sure you check them a few times you first harvest so you get a feel for how much to give them. You never want them to go completely dry, but you dont want there to be a lot of standign water when you go back to water. I usually use a paper towel and clean out whatever is there before adding again.
This is all for now.
Day 2
There is not really a lot to report here on day 2 of our sunflower crop.
At this stage, I am watering each tray in the morning around 8am, and then again around 8pm.
Remember: At this stage we are top watering with a hand sprayer of some sort, we do not begin to water from below until after we have germinated and emerged from blackout.
During the course of the day you want to be sure that you are lifting up the trays periodically just to ensure that the bottom tray is not totally drying out.
Mold can be an issue here if you start to keep too much water in your trays. If you see some starting to form, don’t worry too much, when you spray the next time it will likely wash some away, and once you get to where they are no longer covered and you have some fans it usually will disappear totally, but it is a sign to ease on your watering.
I am not seeing any mold at this point, but I have also taken an extra step and used a 3% hydrogen peroxide spray on the seeds to begin with, but if you are seeing it don’t stress, its somewhat common and it usually clears up on its own after you ease the watering.
Should start to see some roots sometime tomorrow!
Day 3
Not much to report on day 3. We have started to see the very start of some seed sprouts, but not enough to even show in a picture. Still no roots are showing through the bottom yet.
Today we are top watering in the morning and at night, and making sure the bottoms of the trays are dried out before watering.
We will check back again tomorrow when we should start to see some actual growth!
Day 4
Still not a lot to see, but we are starting to see a few sprouts!
At this point I am planning to leave them in the dark for at least 2 more days, maybe even 3. We are still just watering them once in the morning and once at night, while checking on the trays occasionally through the day to make sure nothing ever gets totally dry.
I am still not seeing any signs of mold at all after using a diluted prophylactical spray of 3% food-safe hydrogen peroxide and water spray when I initially seeded the harvest. I only did it once, and it seems to have done the trick. I have never had a big mold problem, but I typically will find a little patch of it here or there, but never enough to worry about, and it always takes care of itself within a day after coming out of the dark
We are starting to see some nice roots too. In 2 more days the bottom will be covered!!! We will check back tomorrow to see just how much growth they can enjoy in a single day.
Day 5
Everything still looking great, we have about twice as many roots, and our seeds continue to sprout. Still just watering twice a day.
Day 6
Today is when things are really starting to look nice!!
As you can see, our root system has come a long way. As we see roots mature and sprouts really develop we need to pay attention to our watering a little more closely, we do not want to let these microgreens dry all the way out at this point.
This will be the last day that I keep them covered with the 16 lb. paver on top. They will need a full day of blackout before getting under the lights, but today is the last day to have to deal with the pavers.
We are getting close now! It’s always exciting right before you move them under the lights.
Day 7
Things are looking great at this point! We are almost ready to put them under light. Before we do, we are going to have them spend one more day in blackout, but with the lid flipped and no more weight on top.
Our sprouts are looking great, and our root system is thriving. At this point you can still just top water them if you want, but I prefer to put a little water in the bottom of the tray just to make sure the roots stay moist at this point in the harvest.
Tomorrow we are going to switch them over to lights, and then 2 or 3 days until we can harvest.
Everything is looking good at this point, and I’m excited to get this harvest under some lights soon!
Day 8
This morning we turned the lights on and removed the cover. We are going to leave lights on for around 17 hours, and 7 off. Anywhere from 16 to 18 hours is fine.
As for watering, it is now 1 cup bottom watered twice a day. I do spray them very lightly so I can gently rub my hands over the canopy which helps the seeds fall off. This makes it easier later, we do this a few times a day. Just be sure to wash your hands first!
