HOW TO GROW SPROUTS & MICRO-GREENS
Growing micro-greens or sprouts is simple, fast and really fun for the entire family. You can grow them right on your kitchen counter and with no special lighting. These amazing nutrient packed morsels can be ready to harvest in as little as 10 days.
While there are many ways to grow Micro-greens, both inside and outdoors, here are a few tips we have learned along the way. While we are not experts in the field of Botany, in our experience with growing Micro-greens we feel these to be the best practices for us. It doesn't take long to get the hang of it and it's really fun for the kids to learn.
Results yield and experiences may vary.
For this we recommend using mason jars, cleaned and sanitized restaurant to go containers, Dollar Tree dish washing tubs or any potting container you may already have around the house. Just be sure to sanitize them before use. You will want something that can be totally covered in darkness for a few days so if you need to, use two trays-placing one upside down on the other. You will need a dark space to place them aside for a few days. Under your cupboard works just fine so long as it is a warm and dark place.
See our video on YouTube for a how to on fairy elixir- The H2o method of sanitizing your garden containers.
Whatever container you choose, be sure to poke several holes in the bottom. The Magic Garden is currently using donated Denny’s Restaurant to go containers. We use 2 of them at a time for one planting. The first has wholes at the bottom to allow for water drainage and the second for cover and as a water reservoir later on.
LET’S GET GROWING
Place 1 teaspoon of small seeds into a clean Mason jar or glass. Place about 1 cup of water inside. (if you’re sprouting Adzuki beans or peas, use about ¼ cup water). Best Practices here is not to use tap water, use filtered water if possible. Bottle water works as well.
Let seeds soak overnight or for at least 12 hours
At the end of the 12 hours you will notice that the seeds may have absorbed a lot of the liquid, At this point they are ready to place in soil.
Rather than direct sowing these seeds, it is our best practice to poor the seeds and water directly on top of the soil, making sure that the seeds are evenly distributed. Either by hand or by using a square piece of wood or something stiff enough to handle it, lightly push the seeds into the soil so that they are embedded in the soil but not covered.
Your seeds should look similar to this once they are lightly pushed into soil.
Use a spray bottle and spray the seeds and soil until moist but not totally soaked.
Cover the container; make it as pitch black as possible. You can do this but placing another container of seeds on top of your finished seed tray. Or you can use a paper bag, black plastic...anything that covers your container and is able to keep out light for at least 24-48 hours. Again, the Magic Garden is currently using donated new to-go containers from our local Denny’s Restaurant. These are perfect because they come with a plastic dome, perfect for a mini greenhouse, and they are pitch black at the bottom. We use the first container for our seeds and a second container as a black out for the top. We are also currently using dish washing tubs we purchased at the dollar tree and the dish drain flat panels as toppers. Use your imagination. You can grow these in just about anything!
Leave the container alone for 2-3 days. On day 3 open the container and spritz again with water. Making sure you are covering your soil and seeds but again do not flood it with water, just a few spritzes will do.Cover the container back up for another 24 hours, making sure all light is removed from inside the container.
Day 4 results will look similar to this:
.
Shown above: Arugula Micro-greens
Notice that the sprouts or micro-greens look yellow,
don’t let this alarm you as they will green up over next few days.
Day 7-10
Shown above: Arugula Micro-greens
Within a few days of the sprouts being uncovered, you will notice the leaves will then begin to turn green. All plants need to sun to photosynthesize, once they hit the sun...the beautiful and lush greens will begin to pop up. Same with Red beats, rainbow shards and other such colored varieties. The stems may be of proper color but until they reach the sun, the colors may vary.
Our best practice was to place the seed trays in Dollar Tree dish washing tubs and rather than spraying the soil over the next day to 3 days, place the water in the dish washing tub instead. This will allow the roots to absorb the water through the holes you placed at the bottom of your seed dish.
Between day 7-10 your Micro-Greens are ready to eat. Cut sprouts from a few centimeters above the soil, wash well and enjoy.
Find yourself in your own creations at www.diyatthebhive.online Or Grow with us at
www.themagicgarden.online
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