Micro greens

[Marb67]

I bought some packets and sprinkled some in a bean sprouting jar with some lentils after soaking them for a day. The results were very poor. Hardly grown at all other than the lentils that grow very well.

[Snoop Puss]

Marb, I'm not sure that would work. Bean sprouts and micro greens are different things.

As I understand it, bean sprouts are legumes like lentils (you eat the residual bean and its burgeoning root), whereas with micro greens you eat the leaves and a bit of the stem of the seedlings of some types of garden seed (not the root at all). You sprout beans in a jar and they get tumbled around inside as you rinse them, but micro greens you essentially treat as very densely sown seeds in a flat tray of some kind, so they grow upright like ordinary plants but small, and there's no tumbling in a jar. If they're al in together, any sprouting lentils in a jar would damage your seedlings that are attempting to grow. And as you turn them to rinse, any seedlings would not only get damaged but have no idea which way was upright in order to grow.

[Penellype]

I bought some packets and sprinkled some in a bean sprouting jar with some lentils after soaking them for a day. The results were very poor. Hardly grown at all other than the lentils that grow very well.

Sprouting seeds is different to growing microgreens. For sprouts you want crunchy white shoots which are usually grown from seeds like beans, lentils, fenugreek, alfalfa etc in a jar. These are usually labelled as sprouting seeds or for sprouts. You must soak them first and then rinse them a couple of times a day to get rid of toxins, and they shouldn't be kept too light or the sprouts will be short and green rather than long and white. You don't need any sort of compost or tissue to grow sprouting seeds, just a jar and water.

Microgreens are grown in an open tray and need light once they germinate or they will grow long and leggy and probably get damping off and fall over. They need a substrate to grow on such as a damp tissue/kitchen paper (which I find dries out very quickly at room temperature) or a small amount of compost (which I prefer). They don't need soaking and if they are kept too wet they will probably rot. They are eaten green, like mustard and cress that you can buy in the shops.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

The mother in law bought me and my son this for Easter to grow micro greens. The rocket has taken off, the basil is just starting to sprout.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

And the root system. It’s allowed us to play with hydroponics a bit too.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, FromYorkshiretoBucks. Lovely photos, very useful too.

Out of interest, what are you using as your seed 'mat'? Looks like blotting paper or something similar, a bit thicker than kitchen paper.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

Thanks, FromYorkshiretoBucks. Lovely photos, very useful too.

Out of interest, what are you using as your seed 'mat'? Looks like blotting paper or something similar, a bit thicker than kitchen paper.

It’s good old toilet paper. Aldis finest

[Snoop Puss]

It’s good old toilet paper. Aldis finest

Excellent. Cheap and recyclable. Just the job! Thanks.

[Containergardener]

What size do you cut the microgreens? Ive lots of old seeds i wont use so be good to have a go at this.

[Penellype]

What size do you cut the microgreens? Ive lots of old seeds i wont use so be good to have a go at this.

I cut them at any point once the seed leaves have opened, right upto when they have 2 true leaves. After that they tend to run out of energy and keel over.

[Containergardener]

Brilliant thanks. When can I start them and do they need certain temps or light?

[Penellype]

Sorry only just seen this. If you keep them in the house you can start them at any time of year - the idea is to grow them quickly so they don't want to be too cold. However if you are growing things like brassicas they really don't need a lot of warmth. My utility room where I grow them can get quite cold (into single figures) when it is really cold outside, and they are fine. The main thing they need is light so that they don't grow very leggy.

In my first post in this thread I referred to a video that I had learned the method from. Coincidentally I found it yesterday. This guy grows things on a much larger scale than I do, but his tips and methods are easily scaled down and he explains things much better than I can. The video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtvuMNVLISo

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, Penellype. I've bookmarked that video for later viewing.

[Containergardener]

Great Penellype thank you.