Microgreens are powerhouse veggies that are a great addition to your diet. They are the easiest way to get nutrition and require no prep work to add to a dish. They are also very easy to grow and can make a great addition to your homesteading projects.
List of microgreens that are easy to grow
If you search for microgreen seeds, or types of microgreens you will come across hundreds! Just like flowers and vegetables, you can find an unlimited number of variety of seeds to grow. As a microgreen farmer, we have tried many different types of microgreens.
Below I listed the ones that we have tried and tasted, and which ones we feel are the easiest to grow. Use the key to help understand growing instructions.
Key of terms
Broadcast over the soil – this is a form of planting where you just sprinkle the seeds over the soil. No need dig the seeds in. After you broadcast the seeds, you just want to lightly water the entire tray. The water faucet from your kitchen with the spray turned on is totally sufficient.
Top water – this is when you water the actual seeds with a light mist covering the entire tray. After the initial planting, we use a spray bottle to mist. You do this until they start to germinate and are germinated for 2 days or start to look established.
Bottom water – this is how we water after the seeds germinated and go under the light after they are already germinated. We water the bottom tray without the holes. Usually, you do not need to fill up the tray, just have the tray covered.
Stacking – this is when we put weight onto the tray to help the seeds get rooted. To do this, place a third tray without holes on top of the planted one and add weight. The weight can be anything from books to actual weights.
Blackout – some variety of microgreens do not need to be stacked (aka weight), but need to have darkness to grow properly. To do this, we put another tray on top, but flip it over so that the tray does not put any weight on the seeds
Smack! – haha this is just for the sunflowers. We will take our clean hands and pretty rigorously brush the top of the sunflower microgreens to help the hulls come off.
Seed density – how many grams of seeds to use per 10”x20” tray. You will notice there is a large difference between some of the seed densities depending on the variety.
Start Planting!
Broccoli microgreens – [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 20 – 25 grams for a 10×20 tray
Kale microgreens – [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 20 – 25 grams for a 10×20 tray
Kohlrabi microgreens – [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 20 – 25 grams for a 10×20 tray
Red Cabbage microgreens – [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 20 – 25 grams for a 10×20 tray
Pea shoots – [easy]
- Soak for 8 hours
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – Sweet taste
- Seed Density – 200 grams for a 10×20 tray
Sunflowers microgreens– [medium]
- Soak for 8 hours
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the light
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Smack
- Flavor/Taste – Nutty
- Seed Density – 120 grams for a 10×20 tray
Basil microgreens – [medium]
- Broadcast over soil
- Just blackout (no stacking)
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – Sweeter than full-size basil
- Seed Density – 15 – 20 grams for a 10×20 tray
Cilantro microgreens– [medium]
- Broadcast over soil
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 30 – 40 grams for a 10×20 tray
Parsley microgreens – [medium]
- Parsley microgreens- [medium]
- Broadcast over soil
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – mild taste
- Seed Density – 120 grams for a 10×20 tray
Radish microgreens– [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – Spicy
- Seed Density – 30 – 35 grams for a 10×20 tray
Cantaloupe microgreens– [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Add more soil until seeds are covered
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – slight bitter with sweetness at the end
- Seed Density – 35 – 45 grams for a 10×20 tray
Beet microgreens – [medium]
- Soak for 8 hours
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – sweet & strong
- Seed Density – 40 – 50 grams for a 10×20 tray
Arugula microgreens – [medium]
- Wet the soil first
- Broadcast over soil
- Just blackout (no stacking)
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – Spicy
- Seed Density – 12 grams for a 10×20 tray
Mustard microgreens – [easy]
- Broadcast over soil
- Top water until under the lights
- Stack and blackout
- Bottom water daily
- Flavor/Taste – Spicy
- Seed Density – 10 grams for a 10×20 tray
List of what you need to grow
Soil
Microgreens can be grown on a variety of different mediums, we use soil. They can also be grown hydroponically, on a paper towel or on a grow mat, but we like to use soil. Not only is soil an important player in our ecosystem, we also give the spent microgreen trays to the chickens and they eat it and turn it into compost.
If using soil, the type of soil you need to use to grow microgreens is different than what you would use to grow flowers or full-sized vegetables. You need to use what is called soil-less soil that has peat moss, vermiculite and lots of drainage.
Trays/some Type of Container
We use 10×20 shallow trays from bootstrap farmer. We use two types of trays – one with holes and one without holes. Just the same as with planting regular starts, one tray with holes so the roots can grow and expand and another to trap and hold water.
These trays are very shallow – only 1” deep. If you want to try growing microgreens without purchasing specific trays at first, you totally can use other trays that you have, as long as one of them has holes and is shallow and can fit inside another one without holes to hold water
Seeds
Microgreen seeds are different than regular vegetable seeds. They have been selected for a shorter germination time. You can use regular seeds, but they may not germinate well and/or take a long time to grow.
Sunlight
Like all plants, microgreens need sunlight to grow. On our farm, we use artificial lights and keep them on for 18 hours (with a timer). You can use sunlight from a window, but it does need to hit directly and it will take longer to grow
Water
Some microgreen growers will talk about the specific pH, but we never had to do that. We just use our home well water and do not alter the pH. It is just important that your water is free of contaminants. If you have chlorinated water, you may want to let it sit out for 24 hours before applying.
Summing it all up
Microgreens are a great addition to your diet. They are super easy to both use and grow. The list above are varieties that we found are easiest to grow and provide the most taste.
