After months of procrastination and excuses. today I finally decided to go for it and start my microgreens farm. This has been in the planning for a while, and today we get started, and will keep daily updates here to help keep me on task, and possibly to help others avoid my mistakes.
I am going to grow in 10″x20″ trays with reusable silicon grow mats. Will be starting with two trays of sunflower microgreens, as well as a tray of red cabbage, and red Russian kale.
Seed quantity of each tray is as follows:
| Sunflower | 125 gms |
| Red Russian Kale | 28 gms |
| Red Cabbage | 28 gms |
note: I did NOT soak the seeds ahead of sowing them. There are many growers out there promoting to not soak ahead of time, and I am going to try that for this initial grow. Should I discover a less than expected germination rate I will try pre-soaking the microgreen seeds next round.
Day 1:
Step 1: SANITIZE! – Remember, microgreens are grown to be eaten. Always be sure to sanitize your stuff before growing. Not only will your greens be cleaner, you will also greatly reduce the risk of pests or diseases.
Step 2: Seed your trays. After measuring out the correct amount of seed for each tray I poured a little water in the bowls to get them wet, but there was no pre-soaking… it just made it easier to work with the seeds once a little wet.
Step 3: Water the seeds. Using a spray bottle, be sure to get your seeds nice and wet.
Step4: Put the top tray over the seeds for their four-day dark period to germinate. Place a weight on the trays (most people I have seen use 16 pound pavers from Lowe’s… I did the same), and put them away for the night.
What to expect next?
Microgreens have a very fast growth cycle. From start to finish you are typically looking for a little less than two weeks.
For the next 4 days, I will be checking the trays twice a day and making sure to keep the seeds wet, and to check for any signs for trouble.
Will check back tomorrow with a Day 2 update!
~ Mike
Leave a Reply