Category Archives for "Growing Microgreens"

Which Microgreen Soil Is Best For Slow-growing Microgreens?

Which Microgreen Soil is Best -Part 2In the previous article, The Best Soil for Microgreens, we grew relatively fast-growing microgreens (Red Acre Cabbage) in three types of microgreen soil to see which is the best. In that test, we decided that a coconut coir based soil mix outperformed pure coconut coir, and a peat-based soil mix […]

The Best Soil for Microgreens

Soil for Microgreens – Which Media is the Best?In a previous article, we showed without a doubt that growing microgreens in the soil is way better than on jute mats. The next obvious step is to evaluate soil media to see which works best. Or at least begin the process to narrow down the choices. We planted the […]

The 6 Easiest Microgreens to Grow

These Are The 6 Easiest Microgreens To GrowThe six microgreen varieties we introduce below are not only easy to grow, but you can plant the seeds and harvest the microgreens within 10-days. In reality, a couple of the microgreen varieties can be on your plate in as quick as 5-days! Grow these quick win varieties to practice […]

Why Microgreen Seed Density is Important

Why Microgreen Seed Density is ImportantThere are many reasons why microgreen seed density is important. We’ll touch on those reasons below.  But first, the start of a short story, the reason that this website exists is because of the topic of microgreen seed density. When we started growing microgreens, we hadn’t a clue on how many seeds […]

Should You Cover Microgreen Seeds? – A Test

Should You Cover Microgreen Seeds?The general consensus among microgreen growers is to cover newly planted seeds either by placing another tray of microgreens on top or using some sort of cover to darken the planted seeds. At Home Microgreens, we are all about listening and taking advice from experts. But we aren’t going to follow blindly. […]

Microgreen Blackout Period – What Exactly Is It?

Microgreen Blackout Period for the Home GrowerYou may have come across the term blackout period in articles about growing microgreens, or seen the term in seed catalogs, or product listings in online stores. Blackout period is a nebulous term in that it’s talked about but never explained in any detail; authors assume the reader has an […]

Microgreens Seed Calculator – Find the Perfect Seeding Density

Home Microgreens Seed CalculatorUse this Home Microgreens seed calculator to determine the perfect seeding density for your microgreen trays.  We’ve covered aspects of microgreen seed density and calculating the perfect seed density in several articles, see below for links to those articles. The reason for multiple articles is because seeding density is vital for both commercial and […]

What Are Mucilaginous Seeds? – 4 Tricks To Grow Them

Mucilaginous is a word you come across often when reading microgreen articles. Many microgreens have mucilaginous seeds, but what does this mean for the microgreen grower? This article will explain what mucilage is as well as how best to grow microgreens with mucilaginous seeds. The cover image to this article shows Genovese Basil seeds after they’ve been […]

Growing Cilantro From Seed – to Soak or Not to Soak the Seed

Growing cilantro from seed, either to grow out in your garden, place in containers, or as microgreens can be at times a bit frustrating.  Even for experienced gardeners or growers. This article will explore the first trick that many growers, gardeners, and garden bloggers talk about when planting cilantro seed.​ That trick is soaking cilantro seed before sowing […]

What Are True Leaves on Microgreens

Two frequently asked questions by people starting to grow microgreens are: “What are cotyledons?”, and “What are true leaves on microgreens?” Microgreen seed vendors and writers often forget to explain microgreen terminology before using uncommon words or phrases. We say things like “Harvest during the cotyledon stage” or “Wait until the first true leaves form before […]

Beet Microgreens – Does Soaking the Seeds Improve Germination?

Beet microgreens are often labeled as moderately difficult to difficult to grow. But their earthy flavor is well worth the trouble of growing them.  However, we haven’t found them hard to germinate or grow. Instead, we find preparing them to eat as the more difficult task due to the many seed hulls that remain on the […]

What Are Cotyledons?

The word cotyledon is often brought up when discussing microgreens and is usually followed by the question “What are cotyledons? Cotyledons are in essence microgreens. That being said, for many microgreens, you do wait until the first true leaves form before harvesting them; but still, the cotyledons are a large part of the harvestable microgreen. The green […]

LED Grow Lights for Microgreens, Do They Work? – Afraid Not

Based on the test results below, I’m afraid that LED grow lights for microgreens aren’t the answer for home growers. At least not affordable LED grow lights that most homeowners trying to raise a few trays of microgreens would buy. The test compares LED shop lights purchased at a box store to similarly priced, highly rated, LED […]

Calculating Microgreen Seed Density For Your Planting Trays

Calculating microgreen seed density might be the hardest part of growing microgreens.  Now, don’t get me wrong, you can throw any amount of seed on a soil medium and microgreens will grow. So you have that going for you, but not having the correct microgreen seed density can cause problems. Remember, if you are using Home Microgreens planting […]

Are LED Grow Lights Better than LED Shop Lights for Microgreens?

Obviously microgreens placed under a light source grow more vigorous than without light. Also, for an environmentally conscious home owner using LED lights are a no brainer. Especially when growing non-fruiting short-term vegetative crops like microgreens. However, is it necessary to use LED grow lights instead of say less expensive (per area lit) LED shop lights? Will the […]