Houzz Logo Print
foodonastump

Microgreens growers - light question

3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

A couple years ago with Sleevendog's inspiration and the help of her starter kit, I tried my hand at growing microgreens. I enjoyed them, bought tons of seed and coir, but quickly lost interest largely because my natural light availability wasn't ideal and I kept moving the trays around all day which became a hassle.

I'd like to try again, this time setting up some shelving with LED lights. One number that keeps coming up is the PPFD. I'm finding some conflicting information on what's best, specifically these two quotes:

"Microgreens can be grown at anywhere between 100-250 µmol/m2/s PPFD. Higher light levels will grow more compact, spicy, vibrant crops, but this is not universally preferrred."

~and~

"Depending on the species, the most suitable conditions for growth and nutritional quality of microgreens was 320–440 µmol/m²/s irradiation, conditions which resulted in larger leaf area higher total anthocyanins, total phenols and DPPH free-radical scavenging capacity and lower content of nitrates. High light (545 µmol m-2 s-1) had no significant positive impact on most of the investigated parameters. Moderate light levels were more effective at enhancing the nutritional value of microgreen plants through altered action of the protective antioxidant system."

What do you go for and recommend? Or do you just put up a light and not worry about it?

Here's one set I'm looking at; open to other suggestions: https://a.co/d/7cauefo

Lastly, the seeds are from 2020 I believe. Still good or start fresh?

Comments (7)

Sponsored
Hope Restoration & General Contracting
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars35 Reviews
Columbus Design-Build, Kitchen & Bath Remodeling, Historic Renovations