What are microgreens?
Microgreens are young greens that are picked, usually when they are just a few millimetres tall. You can add these tiny greens to salads, sandwiches, or stir-fries, and they have a tasty punch. Play around with various combinations and add the flavours you prefer.
Microgreens are not cheap, and may be grown indoors or outdoors with ease, which is good news. They thrive in garden beds or containers, yield a rapid crop, and require little labour on your part.
Microgreens: Reasons to grow your own microgreens
It’s entertaining to watch microgreens emerge from the ground, making growing them a terrific gardening endeavour for novices. Children will enjoy supporting them and seeing them develop. These delectable snacks are available at markets and grocery stores, but they can be pricey to purchase, and these packaged greens don’t keep well in the refrigerator.
Microgreens can be grown quickly and conveniently on a window sill or other small surfaces. You cut off what you need and eat fresh produce straight from your yard.
See also about: how to plant a seed step by step
Microgreens: What can be grown as microgreens?
Any salad green or herb can be grown as a microgreen. Starting with pre-packaged seed mixtures, especially particular microgreen mixes, is simple.
Here are a few well-liked microgreens to grow:
- Mustard
- Kale
- Endive
- Arugula
- Green beets
- Radish
- Tatsoi greens
- Spinach
- Watercress
- Mizuna
- Peas
- Cabbage
- Arugula
- Lettuce (any)
Microgreens: Prior to planting
Decide what you want to plant for microgreens first. When you first start out, choose one or two types of seeds. Selecting broccoli, lettuce, radish, cauliflower, spinach, basil, or cilantro is a wise move.
Choose the location and containers you’ll use for planting them next. Locate yourself somewhere sunny. Then decide what kind of growing media you’ll use. A seed starting mix or an even combination of potting soil and peat moss both work well to keep moisture in the soil.
Microgreens: Cultivation
Raised garden bed microgreen planting
Clean up the garden bed
Choose a growth medium and prepare the garden plot. This can be potting soil, seed starting mix, or a combination of potting soil and peat moss. Make sure to provide space so that once the seeds are planted, a thin layer of soil can be added on top. Rake the soil to make it lose and smooth.
Spread Seed Blend
Your seed mixture should be dispersed over the soil with the seeds being spaced 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart. They don’t need much space because you’ll be harvesting them when they’re very young.
Cover the seeds with water
Cover the seeds with about 1/8 inch of the earth once they have been dispersed around the area. To evenly hydrate the soil, use a mister or spray bottle of water.
Microgreen planting in a container
Choose and get ready the container
Select a container with a minimum depth of two inches and a diameter of your choice. It should be smoothed out before being filled with high-quality organic potting soil.
Sow seeds
Spread the seeds out at a spacing of 1/8 to 1/4 inch, then top with 1/8 inch of soil.
Placement of containers
Place your container in a location that will receive at least four hours of direct sunshine, and water the soil with a spray bottle or mister to hydrate it. The optimum window for indoor growth is one that faces south, though windows that face east or west will also work.
Source: Pinterest
See also: All about Areca Palm
Microgreens: Maintenance and care
Keep the soil from drying out. Every day, mist the soil to keep it damp but not soggy. Within three to seven days, sprouts should start to appear.
Eliminate any weeds to make it easier for the tiny greens to access water and nutrients. You won’t need to fertilise if your garden bed has rich soil.
If your potting mix doesn’t already have fertiliser, it’s advised to add a little granular fertiliser before planting in containers.
Microgreens only have a very brief growth cycle; therefore, diseases and pests rarely disturb them.
However, if cabbage worms are an issue and you are growing brassicas in your mixture (mustard, kale, etc.), you might want to add a floating row cover to protect them.
Microgreens: Harvesting them
You’ll notice seed leaves as the first leaves. They don’t resemble the actual leaves of the plant at all. After 10 to 2 weeks from planting, when the microgreens have grown their first set of genuine leaves, is the ideal time to harvest them. Harvest the microgreens by cutting them off just above the soil line.
From a single microgreens crop, you won’t receive subsequent harvests. The plants haven’t had much time to grow, and you’re only removing the very bottom of the stem, so they have no way to produce new growth.
Microgreens: Benefits of microgreens for health
Cardiovascular illness: Polyphenols, a class of antioxidants related to a lower risk of heart disease, are abundant in microgreens. Microgreens may lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, according to animal research.
Alzheimer’s disease: Consuming foods strong in polyphenols and other antioxidants may reduce your risk of developing the disease.
Diabetes: Antioxidants could aid in lowering the kind of stress that might hinder sugar from properly entering cells. Fenugreek microgreens appeared to increase cellular sugar absorption by 25–44% in laboratory experiments.
Certain cancers: Fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, particularly those high in polyphenols, may reduce the incidence of many cancers. Microgreens high in polyphenols would be anticipated to have effects that are comparable.
Source: Pinterest
Consuming microgreens: Is it risky?
In general, eating microgreens is safe.
The chance of food contamination is a worry, though. However, compared to sprouts, the possibility of bacterial growth in microgreens is substantially lower.
Compared to sprouts, microgreens need slightly less warmth and humidity, and only the leaf and stem—not the root or seed—are eaten.
When intending to cultivate microgreens at home, it’s crucial to use growth mediums free of hazardous germs like Salmonella and E. coli and to purchase seeds from a trustworthy supplier.
Peat, perlite, and vermiculite are the three most used growing mediums. Single-use growth mats made exclusively for microgreens are regarded as being very hygienic.
FAQs
Are fertilisers required for microgreens?
Lightly fertilised soil should be adequate for microgreens. Follow the correct directions if you're sowing the seeds in your garden.
Which is healthier, microgreens or sprouts?
It is safer to eat microgreens than raw sprouts. Typically, microgreens are more nutritious and have higher fibre levels than sprouts.
What time of day is the right time to consume microgreens?
Microgreens are young veggies that are always edible. They themselves don't contain any caffeine. When we conduct surveys, we find that customers prefer to use our items in the morning.
