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LET IT GROW!
Growing Microgreens Indoors this Winter
BY PEGGY RICCIO
Now that winter is coming, you can still grow your veggies—
just indoors. Growing microgreens is a fun, cheap way to grow highly nutritious
vegetable seedlings for sandwiches, wraps, soup and salads.

What are Microgreens?
Microgreens are the shoots of edible,
tasty plants, requiring very litt le
space and minimal cost. Microgreens
diff er from sprouts. With
microgreens, the seed germinates in
a growing medium and after one or
two weeks, the “micro” stems and
leaves are cut down to the soil level
and eaten. Sprouts are seeds grown
in a moist container and after a few
28 December 2018
washingtonFAMILY.com days, the entire sprout—root and
seed—is harvested.

How to Grow Microgreens
You only need to purchase the
growing medium and the seed.

You should be able to reuse plastic
containers commonly found at home
such as grocery store clam shells for
berries or Chinese food containers.

• Step 1: Poke a few holes in the
container for drainage.

• Step 2: Fill the container with 2
inches of bagged, sterile, soilless
growing medium, not soil from
the garden. (The mix specifi cally
made for starting seeds works
best.) • Step 3: Once the container is
fi lled, water thoroughly.




Radish seeds before
Now, it’s time for the seed.

The best seed for microgreens
germinate quickly and produce
tasty shoots and leaves. There is
no such thing as a microgreen
seed; microgreen is really a stage
in which you harvest the plant.

However, you may fi nd seed
packages sold as “microgreens”
because the package is a mix with
similar germination rates. Popular
seeds are kale, mizuna, mustard,
radish, carrot, cress, arugula, basil,
onion, chive, broccoli, fennel,
sweet pea, celery, bok choy and
Asian greens. Individual packets
are available at the local nurseries,
but for bulk orders and a wider
variety, search online for providers
like High Mowing Seeds, Johnny’s
Selected Seeds, Kitazawa Seed
Company or Botanical Interests.

Because plants germinate and
grow at diff erent rates, it is best to
use one type of seed per container.

• Step 4: Cover the surface with
your chosen seeds and press
the seeds down with your
fi ngers to put them in direct
contact with the moisture.

• Step 5: Place the container on
top of a tray to catch the excess
water. Cover with another
Radish after 5 days
container to increase the
humidity level and warmth.

(Tip: Always label containers
with the plants’ names and
keep records so you learn how
soon you can harvest and what
you like to eat.)
• Step 6: After the seeds
germinate, remove the cover and
provide light via grow lights,
fl uorescent tubes or a south
facing window. If you do not
have a very sunny window, you
may have to rotate the container
for the stems to grow straight. If
the top level of the soil dries out,
water by either misting the top
or putt ing the container in a pan
of water so the water is absorbed
via the bott om drainage holes.

• Step 7: When it’s time to harvest,
hold a section and cut straight
across with scissors a centimeter
above soil line. You can cut what
you need, wash and use right
away. Or, you can cut all of it,
wash, dry and refrigerate in a
plastic bag for a few days.

Keep in mind that the fi rst set of
“leaves” you will see will not be
the true leaves. They will be the
cotyledons or the seed leaf within
the embryonic seed. If the plant
grew outside for the mature fruit or
vegetable, these would eventually
shrivel and disappear. For many
microgreens, you can harvest at
this stage because there is plenty of
fl avor in these “leaves” and stems.

For example, you can harvest
radishes at this stage because you
will taste plenty of spice and the
stems will be crisp.

With some plants, you might need
to wait until the second set of
“leaves” appear, which will be the
fi rst set of true leaves. For example,
you will want to harvest cilantro
at this stage because you get more
fl avor in the true leaf.

Growing microgreens is fun and
easy. The more you determine
the fl avors you like, the more you
can set up a system where you are
sowing seeds on a weekly basis to
feed your family nutritious and
colorful vegetables year-round.

Peggy Riccio is a horticulturist and
garden communicator who manages
a website for people interested in
gardening in the D.C. metro area.

Visit her website at pegplant.com and
follow her on Twitt er, Instagram and
Facebook at @pegplant.

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