I am a big eater of greens either in salads or cooked. I grow sprouts semi regularly. I have only experimented with Microgreens a tiny bit. I would love to figure out a good workflow that produce enough for a one person household.

I usually grow in Pro-Mix but I have a brick of coir floating around. I would love to learn about your technique if you have time. I am reasonably skilled and in the neighborhood of Johnny’s and Fedco for supplies.

Just gonna chime in . . . jealous!

Nice tidy grow area. Lots of room. You could use another light but not entirely necessary. is that a south facing window? Some direct sun? ...again not necessary.

This pic, top, is Johnny's spicy mix. Note in bottom left you can see an understory of slower growing seed. This is a 1010 tray. Pretty slow growing but can clip the faster growing and let the understory keep growing. I just don't grow the mixes often. I do have a pound each from three different suppliers. Should probably test them side0by-side soon.

The bottom pic is head lettuce trials for winter growing. Most of that is Salanova, a few baby bok choy, and endive. 16 plants 1010 tray 3 inch pots. Again very slow growing. This is about 4 weeks. I can pick outer leaves at this point. Expensive seed Salanova but near 100% germination. Not sure if I'll continue this plan. I realized I would need to start a tray once every two weeks to keep a good amount in succession for the table. Though not a bad addition to my usual fast growers.

That deep purple leaf is lovely.

Kind of funny. Decided to try growing out some greens indoors for the first time in ages. Set up 2 largish trays of a lettuce mix and an Asian mix A couple days ago. My grow rack is in a South window and has lights.

It was sort of spontaneous decision... probably should have checked around here first, lol.

Look at the top pic of the spicy mix...one purple leafed probably a kale...one in the whole tray, lol.

agmss, most gardeners are seed hoarders. For a reason I may add. We collect packets and rarely use the whole packet any year. Then we have a budget every year and buy more...

So you may have enough already to do a good trial start. A Tbsp of pea seed, you can mix them...a tsp of radish and cabbage, you can use a blend together. You need nesting shallow trays. Poke holes in the corners, I use a drill but the tip of a pairing knife works, just wiggle it a bit. Container over a couple layers of cardboard so you don't poke your countertop...

I have two size trays, a 4x5 inch and a 5x8 inch. Seed density is important. Dry large seed like pea, (this is a pea mix and mung bean), needs to be 1/3rd the container, then soak 12-24 hours or overnight. Middle pic is soaked. Bottom pic is perfect density pressed in damp soil. I use a flat bottomed shot glass to press so I have good contact with the soil. Damp soil.

Stack your trays with an empty container on top and a weight on top of that. (I use beach rocks.)

This gives the seed good contact with the soil during the 2-3 day germination time. The seed will lift the trays even toss the weight off in the middle of the night sometimes. : ) "what was that sound?"..."oh, our salad". Spritz with water once a day. Not too much. (I use my sink spray arm)

Seedlings will be yellow having germinated without light. Once under the light or sunny window they will quickly green up and be ready to harvest in about 3-5 days. Radish and some similar seed will have a fuzzy white growth. Not mold! those are root hairs and will subside when watered.

Feel for the correct weight in your trays once a day. That quickly becomes habit. Some grow fast and are more thirsty than others. At this point I just water at the edge of the tray, top water, but just enough that no water is in the catch tray...no wet feet. Just a few Tbsp is all.

Thanks for posting more info. The window is south facing. I will report back when I get further along in my experiment. Especially the cooking or eating part.

After some internal debate I clambered over my freezer to dig out a 4 foot grow light. I may as well use the whole space. The table top is 2 by 4.

I have to see if I have any half flats. I still have to find the coir brick and another heating pad. My winter shed is primarily firewood - the garden tool storage area is a bit dense and chaotic.

If you give it a go, lower your light a bit. 12-15 inches is good. (never need to touch it again). I use boxes, small ones stacked. (books work also). All grow at different heights at different times. Easy to shift around with out fussing with raising and lowering a heavy light. Works with all seed sowing like tomatoes. Fixed lights, just raise the trays up/down. Like here.

I don't often grow this many. 10-14 days before a dinner party I grow much more.

If I start on the average 4-6 trays, my small 4x5 inch trays, once a week...rotating my top six favorites, fast growers, we have salad for two every day. Often I need to bag it and into the fridge so I can sow a new batch. Lasts forever being so fresh!

Just an idea:

Get a sheet of "space blanket" ($1.00?) or a sheet of mirror Mylar ($15.00?) and hang it behind your window planter, or grow light. You can increase your out put a lot.

The reflective film can be easily hung with clips on a string so you can move it around for watering, etc.

dcarch

Sleevendog, you grow the prettiest colors. Those little purple leaves in the 4" pots, and now trays of intense reds and purples.

Great light switch out! You have a fantastic area for success.

My gardening stuff is in chaos. Most under a snow fall or tossed in garage...we are having a melt today hitting close to 50 so I've got some chores to do.

Most all micros do not need heat mats. They prefer cooler temps 60-70. They don't need food at all. Each seed has an embryo and its own food supply for germination. Up to the second set of true leaves. I often grow a bit larger we call 'macro'greens. I have a small bag of soluble seaweed food but rarely use it.

Your head lettuce like the salanova and other slow growers like basil, cilantro, par-cel, even the salad mixes, will need a bit of food. All that category I call 'fussy' and advanced growing.

I warned all my friends, family, co-workers I gave 'kits' to as x-mas gifts a couple years ago. "stick to the fast growers and you will have lots of salad", in 7-10 days. They ordered everything but and had lots of problems, lol. Dampening off and wet feet. 4-5 weeks of tending for the tiniest of harvest. Amaranth is a perfect example. (circled in the pic above). Very pretty but more of a decoration than food.

I have close to 50 varieties. 8 or so different peas, 3 different radish...buckwheat, mung bean, sunflower, mustards, all types of veg. etc. I purchase one pound bulk of of the top ten. (mustard seed in your spice cabinet will grow). Bulk mustard seed in one pound bulk is under 5 bucks.

Many have been gifted back and traded with co-workers. The amaranth was gifted.

A sampling of some of my favorites. Note the cost. often 4-5 dollars for a 1/4 pound, 7-10 dollars for a full pound. Best price full pound. Small investment for an entire year of fresh greens.

I use Johnny's and MountainValley

Ok I ventured into the chaotic part of my shed that isn’t full of firewood, tracked down the coir, a half bag of pro-mix and the rest of my growing mats. I think I will get a clean 1010 flat if I go into town today.

It is a dismal rainy day here. Perfect for experimenting indoors. Even my animals refused to go out.

I think I will try the Salanova knowing it is fussier and slower. I have 8 oz jars of 4 varieties. I am not used to pelletized seed so it looks like a lifetime supply to experiment with.... I also have a huge bag of carrot seeds for Microgreens that was gifted to me - it is quite elderly. I will test for germination and toss if it isn’t viable.

I will have to see if bottom heat is helpful. My house is on the chilly side. In greenhouses we always used bottom heat to germinate.

"Get a sheet of "space blanket" ($1.00?) or a sheet of mirror Mylar ($15.00?) and hang it behind your window planter, or grow light. You can increase your out put a lot."

That has been pretty much proven to not add much to the party. Fussy, restricts airflow. But if you have it, use it. I tend to believe it will add some reflectives for a larger grow. Wanting bigger plants over a long light deprived winter grow. One of my grow room shelves downstairs has a mylar styrofoam board I use for starting/growing my micro tomatoes. It was free so I put it up.

The pic above of micro/macrogreens is kitchen pantry shelves. A cheap 15 dollar Ikea strip light. Nothing more needed. Most of my friends are in small NYC apartments...cheap LED and/or sunny window. Most are using both. The LED is a nice inexpensive night light. AND an early morning reminder to check the salad garden before leaving for work.

1010's used to be hard to find. Seeing them more and more. Not sure why the standard is 1020. Difficult to move around. A 1010 square, 10x10 inches can be spun easy for even light. Easy up and down stairs, easier out to the garden.

Amazon and greenhousemegastore online. Costco and some groceries have the 5x8 deli/restaurant containers. Mine are heavy duty versatainer from the online webstaurant store. But I needed a full case since I made Christmas gift 'kits'. They go through the dishwasher fine after a quick rinse of any soil. Not at all a brittle easily cracked container.

10 years ago I started with recycled clear clamshells from the grocery. They work fine.

The versatainers work the best for me after all these years. Especially now starting the trays next to the kitchen sink. Busy work schedule I can start a few trays in about 5 minutes with a morning cup of coffee. And easily keep an eye on them. One tiny stack I just push to the back. This is obviously for the 4th of July party...lol.

Lower left, dinner party.

I think I will try the Salanova knowing it is fussier and slower. I have 8 oz jars of 4 varieties.

Wow, that is a lot of seed. Do use it! Pelleted seed is known to have a short life but I've had no trouble with three year old seed. Easier to sow. just sow one per 3-4 inch pot. you will get a bit faster grow with sun and florescent combined.

How much do your rocks tend to weigh?

A can of soup or can of tomatoes. 8oz-one pound. Commercial growers use concrete paving stones on 1020 stacked trays.

Time flies! Just realized tomorrow is the 15th. I'll start 5-6 small trays and 4-5 larger trays for the up-coming holidays. Sunday. Kimchi, krauts, and seed sowing...crisper drawer is stocked for the projects. Have three heads of cabbage. Lots of root veg.

Pickled mustard seed, Korean pepper/sesame sauce, pickled shitake. All do-aheads we live on.

Forgot to mention Johnny's has many videos you may have seen. And CurtisStone has 5 or 6 y-tube videos on just micro greens. Great teacher. Troubleshooting, etc. He no longer does commercial production but the videos still exist. I just cut back the tray sizes for home use.

Sorry to delete my pics. I help those asking. I don't want Houzz getting ownership of my time and trials.

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. I feel prepped to stumble forward in this experiment. Do what feel safest for you!

Home to sand utensils. Last craft show of 2019 tomorrow. After that I will fully inventory my seed and figure out what I will try to grow this winter.

Yes, we all have different growing conditions and humidity issues. All growers have challenges...experimenting with lots of seed is best.

Do you do corn sprouts/greens at all? I'm looking at the mountain valley website, and looks like popcorn can be done, but in the dark.

I'm a bit of a popcorn fan, and find the notion of sprouting them to greens interesting.

Yup, I grow all. Corn not that often. Fun though. In the dark. I just put a cardboard box over that tray. It gets a bit of air from the four flaps. (small amazon box). My popcorn of choice is the amish baby white. Thanks for asking, lol. I just jumped up and soaked some RanchoGordo popcorn to soak for the holidays. Any good popcorn should sprout fine. Needs a good soak in water. 24-36 hours. I put that in the party 'novelty' grow category. Pretty and a lovely pale green. Shockingly sweet corn flavor and tender. A short 3-4 hours uncovered it gets woody exposed to the smallest of light.

Much of the unusual grows are really just decoration. But young kids just love it..."tastes just like corn!"...peas shoots,... "that tastes just like a spring pea!"

I also call this category the 'advanced' grow. Not that complicated but you need to take note it is under that box. I have forgotten the corn but it does fine. Post-it note..."check the corn!".

I seldom get any mold growth but I do spritz with a dilute peroxide on the soil level in advance as a precaution for any that are prone to it.

I have maybe a couple dozen seed I just grow for color and holidays. Or just priceless eye-opening.

This all started when I bought the Newfoundland home 18 years ago in a small fishing village. No internet. No fresh greens.

I started experimenting.

Now I grow In NYC. Never thought I would ever do that but snipped fresh is priceless.

Ugh I always get to these threads after pictures have been deleted.

Its been on my to-do list to try my hand at micro greens for a half year now. I started some research back then which left me frustrated but I’ll try again. I will have more questions than I would expect answered here, but I’ll try just two for now:

1) Coir - form, source, how often re-used before depleted of nutrients? Fertilized?

2) Recommended reliable resource for beginner info, web or book fine.

Maybe that was more than two. TIA!

Hi Foodonastump -

I most likely wouldn’t reuse soil. Or at least I would have to steam it between uses.

Johnny’s Seed has some videos and I found another helpful one on YouTube. I will see if I can refind it.

Sleevendog - I ordered some 5 by 5 trays that should fit into 1010s or 1020s perfectly. I have a lovely if bulky growlight set up built by a woodworking friend. The tiny bit of wasted space on each shelf drives me crazy. Especially as I move up sizes.

I can already see why weighing the seed down is necessary. First batch is a bit crazy.

I am impressed by corn!

Yes Johnny's has a couple videos. Easy to find on the micro green seed pages. They list their peas and sunflower seed under 'shoots' in the veggie section.

FOAS, search on y-tube 'Curtis Stone micro greens'. 6 or so videos...watch them all. Covers everything and how I learned. I just scaled down to home/kitchen size. He covers everything from troubleshooting to seed density. Why stacking is important...the best seed for fast growth.

The only thing I do different is no top watering once the seeds are up and growing. I just pour into the side of the tray. I just spritz the first 3-4 days.

I don't re-use soil. I buy compressed coir pellets. In bulk. A ten pound bag lasts about a year. 40 bucks. Just barely an inch of soil is needed. Then composted. Good compost can be used by heating in a lasagna pan in the oven. Easy to do but I don't have the time. It gets good use all Spring when prepping the big garden.

We want good nutrient dense greens. Fresh cut and fast growing. I'm guessing a good size salad we split served/plated separate between us is 25-30cents. DH often wipes it out before we sit down for our main.

Bulk is the way to go. Mentioned often and why I make my own spice blends. One pound of mustard seed is 5-6 dollars. The tiny grocery bottle is 3-4$ for 2-3 ounces. A pound of pea seed is 7-10$. Little packets purchased for the garden can be 3$. (a pound bag is huge!). I've not bought seed 2019. last bulk purchase was October 2018 when prepping holiday gift kits. I think I made close to a hundred. (some went to a charity bake sale). The year before I made spice blends.

Took this pic last night. 30 inch pantry shelf. Trays stacked germinating, most ready to harvest. I have a big stack next to the kitchen sink for the holidays. Setting up my sunny window suspended shelf tonight. Good south sun this time of year with the trees void of leaves.

(I am growing some big leafy greens but they take 4-6 weeks and need a lot of realestate.) Macros are 2-3 days stacked and germinating. Then 3-5 days under light and/or sun to harvest. Zippy.

I have friends all over NYC in small apartments growing this way after receiving my gifted kits. Shelf, sunny window.

agmss, your spicy mix and salanova should fill up that space since they take so long to grow. Spicy mix like mesculun sow densely. Salanova needs room. One seed 4inch pot minimum. Sow once a week or every other week.

Micro tomatoes are a fun grow. I have six I'm working on...two close to stable, two a couple more years work and two just starting F2 hunting. (carrot leaf)

8-10 inches tall, no pruning. On the left is PicoloGatto. (little kitty) Angora leaf. On the right is LadyWilliam. A multi-flora should be stable next year.

Thanks - Looks like CS has myriad videos, but that shouldn’t be hard to pare down to essentials. Looks like he’s pushing making a business of it. Hmmm. I’ve got an empty house and microgreens could make quiet tenants. ;)

lol, quiet tenants.

Curtis no longer grows commercially but did for 15 years or so. He consults, gives workshops, has a book or two. Why I checked to see if his videos were still posted.

Saw this on our recent NFLD road trip in NovaScotia. Wow. 7 bucks. (5.50-ish US).

(wrong container, too wet)

Great market though, Masstown. We travel with and empty crate and stock up with fresh veg.

That recent trip I prepped a stack of trays here at home and they germinated during the drive in a book crate, truck bed. Nice to have salads within a few days of arrival.

The pea in the middle is Feisty from Johnny's. So curly!.

I went through all of my seeds and picked out my possible Microgreens. I also seem to have two large bags of zesty sprout mix. Not sure how that happened. I want to try a variety of what I have before I go crazy acquiring the bits and pieces of a new hobby. I am lacking in self control when seed shopping.

I have heard of microtomatoes. I would like to try them sometim. However this year a friend (same one as the giver of seeds) shared with me her incredible tomato bounty. Along with my more modest harvest my freezer is full of a variety of tomatoey things and not many greens. So greens is my current goal.

I do have a cute little Thai pepper plant inside. Covered in tiny bright red fruits.

When you say you prefer big and beefy what kinds are you speaking of? Chard?

Wow, I can already tell what a difference the kind of seed can make for microgreens.

The 2 big trays I set up last week Thursday... just open on a rack in the South window, watered in well, left open, and misted daily till sprouts started popping. Then I kicked on one of the small grow lights a couple inches over sprouting tray....

The Asian mix I tossed together of tatsoi, chinese cabbage, and pak choi sprouted on Monday or Tues... and is already growing kind of plush. I can tell I didn't distribute the seed evenly over the whole tray, lol. But I'm thinking it's possible I might be adding some greens to dinner for Christmas.

The commercial lettuce mix I used just started popping it's first seedlings today and went under the light this afternoon after I got home from work. No wonder why I've done so poorly with indoor winter greens in the past- apparently I was expecting the wrong thing out of lettuce seed.

And rummaging through my seed.. it's that planning on seed orders time of year for me. I got a lot of radish seed on hand- enough to garden up and try a tray or few for sprouting. And got lots of different popcorn, including some baby white. Lots of parsley and dill, and basil in various colors. Kales- including about a half pound of some homegrown stuff from a couple years ago. I let the patch go to seed that I had planted in with a bunch of different kinds to try stuff out... and did the chore of harvesting all the pods and cleaning.

A bunch of carrot seeds- I'm just not successful with them in the garden yet, but might they make for good microgreens? And I have some brassicas- broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage- to use up for now too. Won't have garden space for them for a year or two till I get the new gardens out back set up.

I have almost no peas. What I have is seed stock to grow out next year. And I'm out of nasturtiums sadly enough. Ran through the last of my taste trials this year (4-6 kinds a year for 8 years) , and so it's time to re-order the winners to grow next year.

And since looks like nasts can be microgreens too- Milk Maiden, Moonlight, Out of Africa, and Tip Top Apricot are the best tasting nast greens. Orchid Flame is worth growing out for it's mature leaves and blooms better. Pheonix is more ornamental, and it shows. Most of the spotted throat flowers have the nice general thing going on like nice general greens. A notable for a mix rather than a particular variety is Alaska mix- It's tasty from sprout, bloom, greens and seed, reliable, and many companies offer it.