Why I Don’t Reuse Potting Mix
I choose not to reuse the potting mix for a few reasons.
I have a secondary use for it in the garden. So I compost it and add it to the garden in the following year.
Don’t want to risk mold growth. Because we have grown microgreens in moist potting mix for at least 7-days and more likely up to 10 or 14 days it has given any mold spores a chance to germinate. Once mold has germinated it is more likely to spread across the tray when reused.
We have also grown microgreens in the potting mix and they have extracted much of the nutrients in the potting mix. Coconut coir and peat moss are basically inert and any natural fertilizers have been used. Because I want to grow nutrient dense microgreens I choose to use fresh potting mix and increase the nutrition I get from the microgreens.
Those are the reasons I choose to compost the soil. Truthfully, I’m surprised how many people expect to get more than one grow from the potting mix. They do not expect that when they use other types of grow mats.
However, some people do choose to regrow microgreens and I have gone through the process of trying the different methods and it can be done. But for the first reason, I don’t risk the next grow to become mold infected with the head start the mold spores have on new seed I add to the old soil.
Those are my thoughts on reusing soil. You can do whatever you feel more comfortable doing. There is no harm except a bad tray on your next grow. That way you can decide in the future the best way to deal with used potting mix.
Cleaning Trays
All microgreens trays (purchased at least) are food grade and can be cleaned like you would any other plastic food storage container. As mentioned, sometimes I only brush tray out, other times I rinse and dry them, and there are times where I place them in the dishwasher to completely sterilize them.
Tray life will be longer if you hand wash, however.
For trays that I use for commercial growing, I sterilize them everytime by hand washing and misting with a bleach solution and let them air dry.
This is a must if you are selling microgreens to the public. No ifs and buts about it.
For personal use, it is up to you and how you feel about the condition of the tray. For commercial sales, the trays need to be clean and sterilized.
Some Useful Links
I’d like to present some links for you. Below are some of my best selling products from full kits (everything you need to grow microgreens), and kit lite’s which contain trays, soil, and seed. You get to choose the variety of seed you’d like delivered with the kit or trays.
Although the kits shown link to conventional seed, there are also organic and kits available.
Microgreen Kits
Home Microgreens Trays
I find these trays very handy, although they seem small they still grow quite a bit of microgreens and it is easier to grow microgreens in smaller containers because there is less distance from the outside of the tray to the inside.
This means the microgreens in the middle receive more light, have less competition, and more air flow.
The Home Microgreen Store
The Home Microgreen Store has a wide variety of high-quality microgreen seeds at competitive prices. I also carry seed package with the perfect amount of seeds for the Home Microgreens Trays and 1010 trays.
If you are growing more microgreens or looking to save money, the Home Microgreens Store also carries microgreen seed by the ounce, 4-ounce and 1 pound bags.
Don’t forget, besides the competitive prices we have a reward program where you can use earn points on your next purchase. No need to accumulate 100’s of points before you can use them.
Check out the Home Microgreens Store
All the Information You Want on Microgreens
Besides great deals in the Home Microgreens Store, don’t forget Home Microgreens has 100’s of article on all microgreen topics and microgreen varieties. I am also adding new articles often.
The best way to find what you are looking for is to go to the Home Microgreens Article Directory and click on the topic or variety you want to know more about and it will scroll down to all the articles published on that topic.
The directory can also be reached under the articles tab in the website header.
Bonus!
Make sure you go through all of the lessons of this course. Once you complete all of the lessons I will email you a special code that you can use for your next purchase at the Home Microgreens Store!
The code in the email can be used once per email and mailing address.
I am sorry to my international readers. I do not ship outside the US because of the costs and all of the documentation and certification requirements most governments put seed sales. Hopefully, I can come up with a solution to help you out in the near future.
I also do not know if you have an Amazon or similar place to purchase some of the items shown in the course. Many countries do, and the links should take you to similar items in Amazon.
Hopefully you can see what I use and find replacements that you can purchase.
I hope you found this course helpful and I look forward to your comments and what I could do a better job of explaining.
Also, not to be long winded, but by joining this course you should be able to access the Home Microgreens Community forum. Please ask your questions there so I don’t have to answer the same question 100’s of times in emails. You can go to the community by clicking the button in any of the lessons.
