We are in the microgreens business long enough that we know how important it is that we choose the right variety. We are growing over 50 varieties and through the years of experience and all of the feedback from our customers we know which are the perfect ones.
Radish, cress, mustard, red cabbage, broccoli, kale, pea and sunflowers are the ones to start growing microgreens. They are very common seeds and easy to grow. These microgreens need around 7-12 days that they are ready for harvesting and seed are available almost everywhere.
With that being said, we also have started with these varieties in our early years, when we met microgreens. Plus, those are for us, the tastiest 🙂 Let us look more in depth on this topic further on, so keep reading, to learn more.
Broccoli Seeds.
So, which seeds to choose and why?
You can find many varieties of microgreens and they all have a lot of health benefits. It’s up to you to find the best fit for you.
If you want to become a professional and do this for a full time as a grower you will need a wide range of flavours. These days restaurants are on a really high level and chefs need all these varieties that they can combine with top cuisine. The use of microgreens is basically unlimited.
If you want to just diversify your menu at home then we recommended that you start with easy varieties mentioned above. We recommended that you choose a few of them, maybe 5 to 10 and start with them. Then use some plastic containers filled with soil or some other growing media like coco mat or bamboo mats and you can start. For home growing use you don’t need extra artificial light, just some window sill, balcony or kitchen counter. But if you still feel that your greens need some extra light, read our very detailed blog post Best Lights For Microgreens – Everything You Need To Know.
Sprouting Seed.
How to find good microgreen seeds?
There is always a question: how to find good seeds? At first sight it is hard to separate good seeds from bad but you can start with good seed suppliers for those for whom it is their main business not some grocery shop. Trying to use organic seeds, not seeds who are treatable with pesticides or herbicide and can have bad effects on health.
Germination rate is definitely the most important thing when we are talking about seeds. They have to have a high germination rate, best to have 95 percent or higher. Unfortunately you will not know if they are good or not until you sow them and they will start growing. That’s why it is super important before you buy some big quantity of seed that you test them, simply sow them and observe. If you see a lot of seeds that don’t germinate and you have done everything well you will know that the seeds are bad. The bad seeds are No. 1 reason for mold. Check our detailed blog post series on seed suppliers around the world.
We differentiate seeds on two varieties, one who needs to be soaked before we sow them and on the ones that you don’t need.
Usually the seeds with bigger and harder hulls, have to be presoaked like SUNFLOWER, PEAS, which are most common. One good technique for soaking is that you fill a big glass jar with seeds, pour water in it and on the top you put some net (can go with some mosquito net) and you let it like this overnight. Next day you rinse off the water and that’s it.
With this procedure you reduce the time of the growth.
Seeds for microgreens are top for including kids in the planting process. You pick the fastest one and take some small empty box filled with soil then just sprinkle the seeds on the soil, mist it with water and then just repeat this every day. Of course you let the kids do everything 🙂 Because of the fast growth you can see the seeds progressing every day and in one week they have tasty little plants.
Let the Kids To The Sowing and Growing.
How to know which microgreen seeds are perfect for you?
We have different tastes for food and this also applies for microgreens. Some people love spicy taste, others look at the health benefits of microgreens. Maybe some third person needs this tiny beauty just for decoration. There are a lot of reasons to combine it in our everyday routine.
Let’s talk about spicy first. One of the most recognized spicy microgreens are definitely RADISH and MUSTARD. Both have a quite unique sharp taste and they aren’t appropriate for kids.
Well at least for majority one. If your kids love spicy taste, then go ahead also with that. There is also a well known garden cress .
Microgreen seeds are perfect for included kids because a lot of varieties are fast grown seeds between 7-10 days. When kids plant them and then water them every day they can observe each day how they are progressing. We all know this generation has to have everything fast 🙂
A proper storage for microgreens seeds
We have different tastes for food and this also applies for microgreens. Some people love spicy taste, others look at the health benefits of microgreens. Maybe some third person needs this tiny beauty just for decoration. There are a lot of reasons to combine it in our everyday routine.
Microgreen seeds have to be stored in a dry and dark place with temperature around 10 degrees celsius (50 fahrenheit ), if you have an option for that and if you bought seeds in bulk. Otherwise it is ok also in higher temperatures, just the germination itself could drop a little bit if you wait too long to sow them. The most important thing is that there is really no present moisture. Plastic containers or metal that you can close with an airtight cover are perfect. Don’t expose them to direct sun because condense can produce inside a container so that is why dark places are the best. Some seeds are packed in plastic bags and it is true that normally seeds have a long life even three or four years but if in some cases rodents appear in place where you store the seeds, these bags can easily be destroyed.
Wheatgrass Seeds.
Do I need special seeds to grow microgreens?
No, we don’t need special seeds if we want to grow microgreens. But there are few requirements for seeds that are best for sprouting and microgreens. And that is to be untreated, and even better if they are organic. So, you can sow your own seeds, from your own garden, if you have left some, for example salad or radish too long, and you gain a lot of seeds. But only if you knew that you haven’t used any pesticides or chemicals on them. Usually, seeds that are declared for sprouting and microgreens have gone through several tests. When you are eating sprouts or microgreens you eat very young plants and that is why there are higher concentrations of everything, including nutrients and if they would be treated, then this can harm you.
There are also differences at sowing and harvesting.
For microgreens use, we sow the seeds in a trays or some others containers and they have to be densely sown. For growing you can also use other mediums like coco mat, hamp mat, rock wool ,bamboo mat etc.. We harvest microgreens before they develop first leaves for majority microgreens. This means 7 to 10 days and height will be around 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inch).
For adult plants we have to use soil, otherwise plants are without any nutrients and they will look really por and tiny. We plant them rarely so that they have enough space for growth and time for harvesting or picking crops is much longer than for microgreens. They also need more natural light that is why it is good that we plant them outside or in the greenhouse.
Colourful Seed Pallet.
Are microgreens healthy?
Super food is just one of the many superlatives people are calling microgreens. The reason is high nutrition and vitamins content. We harvest microgreens before the first leaf pops up and in this stage microgreens are supposed to have the highest nutrition value. We always use them fresh without cooking them and this is the way to keep all the vitamins in them.
We can use microgreens practically everywhere for example in salads, sandwiches, smoothies on pastas… is just your imagination where you will use them.
Now it’s your turn. Which microgreen seed will you use. If you want, you can share it with us in the comment section below. Or join our Tribe on Facebook: Don’t forget, it’s not what and how much you are growing, just start growing and this is the best thing you can do.
Want to learn more?
If you have any questions about the information cited in this post or about microgreens in general, please leave a comment below or reach out to us via email hello@reactgreens.com.
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