Microgreens, also known as 'vegetable confetti,' are rich in flavor and packed with antioxidants. These tiny vegetables stand between 1 to 3 inches and are beneficial to your health. They contain zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper, and more. They even have polyphenols, which are antioxidants that may lower your risk of diseases and certain cancers.
It makes sense why these delicious, flavor-packed microgreens are picking up in popularity. In this article, we're going to cover how affordable it is for you to grow microgreens at home.
What supplies you'll need to start growing Before you can start growing microgreens, you'll need to make sure you have the right items. Below you will find the things you'll need to grow successful microgreens:
Quality, Organic Seeds - Seeds come in many shapes and sizes and have varying flavor profiles. It's important to make sure your seeds are high quality and preferably organic. This ensures that they're free of pesticides.
Growing Tray - This is where you'll house your microgreens. Some people use homemade compost or a container. For beginners, you can also use a microgreen kit. Their design has a spray bottle, grow medium and clear lid that helps keep moisture for the seeds.
Growing Medium - This is what you'll use to encourage your plant growth. Growers typically use potted soil as their growing medium but there are other alternatives as well.
Good Lighting - A -south-facing window is a great place to grow your microgreens indoors. This ensures they'll get plenty of sunlight during the growing process. If you don't have windows that get a lot of sunshine, then consider purchasing an LED light for plants. The plants will need about 12 to 16 hours of light a day.
How to grow your microgreens
Now, we'll talk about the process you need to follow to grow microgreens at home. Their grow life can range between 1 to 3 weeks, which is very exciting. We'll lay out the growing steps below:
Fill your tray with moistened soil and lightly compress it.
Sprinkle your seed of choice over the soil. Cover them with a small layer of soil. Press the seeds into the soil to help them soak up the moisture; this helps with germination & growth.
Cover your container with a plastic humidity dome or stack another tray on top. This creates more moisture in the environment.
Check on your seeds daily and spray at least once a day. You don't want the seeds to be wet, but you do want them to be moist.
Once the seeds germinate (begin to sprout), you can remove the lid. Spray them once or twice a day by this point.
It can take between 7 to 10 days before your seeds are ready to harvest. You'll know when they're ready once they're a few inches high and have a few sets of leaves.
Harvest your microgreens by cutting them with sharp scissors. Cut them right above the soil line. Rinse and enjoy!