What You Need to Know About Microgreens and How They Can Impact Your Wellness

You can now enjoy your regular spinach, broccoli, lettuce, mustard, and other leafy vegetables in baby form through microgreens. Microgreens are young seedlings of a variety of edible plants, including vegetables, herbs, or even flowers, and are harvested at a seedling stage.

It’s considered super foods because it’s packed of flavor and nutrients good for the body. Microgreen seeds are planted, sprouted, and then harvested all within just a few weeks. During its sprouting process, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants within the seeds are activated and enhanced far beyond what you find in the raw seed or future mature vegetable or plant. These nutrients and enzymes help to fight cancer, reduce inflammation, aid in digestion and nutrient absorption, and promote overall total-body wellness. Studies have proved them to have up to 40 times the nutrition content of their full sized relatives.

Microgreens are also called veggie delights it can be added to salads, soups, sandwiches, making them quite popular with health food fanatics and trendy in fine dining restaurants. Like Arugula microgreens that taste bright and peppery, Radish microgreens that are zippy and zesty, Sunflower and Pea microgreens which are earthy, nutty, and has mildly sweet taste, these can pop of flavor and texture to any dish.

Facts about Microgreens

> Microgreens are in-between sprouts and baby greens and are usually about 1-4 inches long.

> It absorbs nutrients from the light and soil.

> It grows quickly and can harvest in less than 14 days after germination when they have grown roots, and their first true leaves.

> Microgreens can be grown indoors or outdoors, even without soil using a hydroponic gardening system.

> Microgreens are highly nutritious than mature plants.

> It less prone to spoilage

There are two techniques for growing your seeds indoors, through sprouting and growing microgreens.

Sprouting is the process of growing quickly germinating seeds. The processes and results are different but both involve growing and eating young plants.

Difference of Sprouts to Microgreens

> Sprouts are grown without soil in a damp enclosed container such as mason jar while Microgreens are grown in soil. This makes sprouts somewhat risky, the environment they’re grown in is more susceptible to contamination and possible to undesirable bacterial growth including E. Coli or Salmonella.

> Sprouts are harvested in 3-5 days more or less and all ready to consume at one time, while Microgreens are harvested in 1-2 weeks where you can continually harvest small amounts of them over several days to a week as you need them.

> Sprouts are eaten entirely. Microgreens are cut off above the soil and only the stem and leaves are eaten.

> Microgreens typically have a more intense flavor than sprouts it tastes more like their parent plant.

But both microgreens and sprouts are packed with concentrated nutrients and health benefits. Both can be grown indoors, making them ideal for growing in winter months. And they are both delicious as snacks or add to sandwiches, salads, soups and other dishes.

Difference of Microgreens Seed with Seeds Purchase in Store

> Garden Seed are usually treated with pesticides, fungicides, or preservatives to protect them from soil-borne pathogens or to improve storage life. But by the time you plant a pea seed in the ground, water it, and grow it to its full size, the chemical agents are normally degraded and washed away.

> Microgreen Seeds have a very short harvest time. They are usually grown in a container instead of in the open air and ground.

But microgreens can be grown from seeds for the mature plant just harvest the seeds when they are still microgreens. Microgreens are ready to eat when they have root systems and have their first four true leaves.

If you have a food store that sells raw, bulk seed, don’t be afraid to try them as microgreen seeds. You’ll find specific microgreen seed at many stores and online.

They are often a very economical way to purchase seed.

> What are Some Good Microgreen Options that are Best to Grow?

Broccoli Microgreens

Sunflower Microgreens

Pea Microgreens (pea shoots)

Red Cabbage Microgreens

Salad Mix Microgreens

Radish Microgreens

Basil Microgreens

Kale Microgreens

Watercress Microgreens

> Tips for Growing Microgreens

• Use more seeds for a larger container and less for a smaller container.

• Choose organic seeds

• Refrigerate seeds to preserve viability and vigor.

• Compost the soil and roots

• Add a few drops of food-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide in the soaking water to sanitize the seed and reduce issues with mold.

• For radish and broccoli seeds that develop white fuzz on their stems which looks like mold. These root hairs usually mean the microgreens need more water.

> Safety Consideration When Growing Microgreens

> Always check that the seeds and greens are edible.

> The seeds must be untreated.

> Store seeds in a cool, dry situation and avoid growing in warm, humid conditions.

> Always wash your hands before handling the seeds and use clean containers.

> If greens are grown in excessive water that creates environment for bacterial growth, you can further decrease chances of illness by cooking the sprouts.

> Microgreens should be rinsed and thoroughly dried before storing.

> How Many Seeds Need to Plant for Microgreens?

To get healthy and satisfying crop it’s important to consider the quantity of seeds plant in a plot. If you pack the seeds too tightly together, the sprouts will have difficulty growing and if you scatter the seeds too thin, you won’t get a full crop harvest time.

The spacing requirements vary in different types of microgreens, but the general rule of thumb is:

• Sow 10-12 seeds per square inch for small seeds

• Sow 6-8 seeds per square inch for large seeds

Note that most small seeds are able to be planted denser than larger seeds. The spread of seeds should be dense enough that the entire soil area is covered, but not so thick that airflow through the soil will be impeded. Crowded microgreens will not able to grow as big because they are competing for resources. The result is the full-grown microgreens will not contain as many nutrients as it should been have.

> How to Grow Seeds for Microgreens?

Growing microgreens can be a fun productive hobby and a great way to eat healthier at home. One of the advantages growing microgreens is that they don’t require much in order to produce a crop.

The only complicated part of growing microgreens is that some of the greens have a harder time germinating than others and some are more susceptible to mold than others.

Things You Will Need:

Growing Tray or Shallow Pot

Soil or Non-Soil Mixture, this serves as the base for the seeds and provides them with the nutrients needed for them to grow.

Microgreen Seeds

Growing Lights or Shop Lights (optional) if your home doesn’t have a naturally well-lit area. It helps grow your microgreens and prevent mold from taking hold.

Spray Mister to keep the soil damp but not so soggy that mold and fungus start to grow.

Humidity Dome Lid to cover the tray and keep the seeds moist during germination.

Growing Mat or Pad, if using hydroponic system to holds the seeds in the water.

Procedure:

It’s important to thoroughly clean all trays, equipment and tools before start planting, to avoid possible mold and fungus on your crop. It can be disinfected with a solution of bleach or hydrogen peroxide. If you have to soak your seeds before planting them, it may be helpful to disinfect them as well.

1. Have trays with about two inches deep with drainage holes. Position the tray in a south-facing window. If you don’t have it, you’ll need to find a place to set-up your grow lights or shop light.

Pic tray

2. Dampen the soil and fill the tray, use pre-moisten soil medium before adding microgreen seeds to help prevent the seeds from floating and moving around if you otherwise try to thoroughly wet it later. Note that soil needs to be damp but not soggy.

You can spread a layer, about a half-inch of a pre-moistened sterile growing medium, like a clean fresh potting mix or compost.

3. Plant the seeds based on above spacing requirements. Then lightly press the seeds into the soil surface, or cover the seeds with an extremely thin layer of soil. And use a spray bottle to lightly mist the surface of the soil and seeds until it appears evenly moist. Do not allow water to collect in the soil, drain off any excess.

Remember the seed density is important consideration when growing microgreens. If seeds placed too closely together, the air cannot circulate through the soil properly, making the soil stagnant and creates an environment favoring mold and fungus.

4. Cover the microgreen tray with either specialized humidity dome or another container and wait for sprouts to emerge. Warmer conditions will speed up germination, the ideal temperature range for most seeds to sprout is around 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Keep the microgreens in dark where the best warmth is available during its germination periods.

6. Check the tray daily for sprouts and moisture. If the soil surface becomes dry, use a spray bottle to wet it once again. However, the dome or cover should keep things nicely damp in there.

7. Once the germination period is over and the seeds sprout, immediately remove the cover and expose it to bright light. If your microgreens are heavily leaning one direction (towards the light) it is a signal that they may appreciate a little more. Provide more light if possible, and rotate the tray every couple of days to straighten them out.

remove the cover of microgreens and expose it to bright light

It’s important to make sure they don’t dry out. Keep in mind the soil will dry out far more quickly once the tray is uncovered compared to when the humidity dome was still on. Mist or spray the microgreen tray with water every day or two to maintain the soil moist but not soggy.

And harvest when the tiny plants have two to four leaves and are already green and large enough to cut.

8. Allow the microgreens to keep growing until they’ve sprouted their first set of true leaves (with at least four leaves), these leaves that come after the cotyledon pair (the first pair of leaves that appear in young microgreens as it grows).

Depending on the type of microgreen and growing climate, it will take about one to three weeks before you begin to harvest and enjoy your microgreens.

9. To harvest microgreens cut the seedlings out of the tray by using scissors, cut them as close to the soil line as possible. You can either harvest an entire tray at one time, or take just a small handful for each meal as needed over several days.

It’s ready to be added as a nice addition to any dish or salad. You can enjoy the fact that you grew your very own produce and feel confident about the nutrients your body will get from microgreens.

Remember to always rinse your microgreens with fresh water before consuming.

Planting every week will ensure a continuous supply of microgreens. You can successfully grow crops free of mold and fungus by taking proper precautions, seed density when planting, controlling overall humidity and sunlight levels, and disinfecting trays and tools before using.

> Can You Re-Use the Same Microgreen Soil for Planting?

Yes you can, to re-use the soil put it in another container, break it up decently well, and spread it out to dry for a few days. The roots will die back, and then you can pick and remove it. You can use the soil for about three or four plantings.

It’s quite a lot of effort, but you still have a choice to compost the previous harvest and start fresh.

> Soaking Microgreens Seeds

Some of microgreen seeds need to be soaked before planting. This is to soften the hard protective shell of the seed and get a faster, more plentiful crop.

Below is some seeds variety that benefits in pre-soaking

• Broccoli

• Radish

• Kale

• Peas

• Beets

• Sunflower

• Wheatgrass

While other microgreens seeds should not be pre-soaked because the seeds will become oversaturated and will mold. These seeds include the following varieties:

• Arugula

• Cress

• Basil

• Brown Mustard

• Chia

> How to Properly Store Picked Microgreens

To keep Microgreens fresh and crisp, store them in an air-tight container or place them between moistened paper towels inside of a plastic Ziploc bag in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat them. It’s okey to not dry them 100% and have a little moisture to help them stay crisp. But standing water inside the storage container will make them spoil faster.

Microgreens should stay fresh for about a week in the fridge. As long as they aren’t moldy, slimy, or stinky they’re still good to go.

> Benefits of Growing Microgreens at Home?

> Microgreens are fast and easy to grow, both indoors and outdoors and all year round. And growing microgreens doesn’t require much equipment.

> It’s delicious and packs with vital nutrients needed by our body

> Reduce Waste

> Planting and Growing Microgreens is fun

> Ways to Eat Microgreens