What are microgreens and How to grow them at home?

Microgreen Farming: Microgreens are tiny plants, larger than sprouts, grown to just an inch or two in height, and then harvested. The nutrients and flavor of microgreens have much more powerful than fully grown plants, making it perfect for garnishing and sour, peppery addition to salads. 

Material required to grow microgreen at home: 

• Growing Trays

• Growing Medium

• Certified Organic Seeds

• Sunlight

• Watering can

• Labelingand notebook

Stepwise guide to grow microgreens at home 

• The first step is to fill the tray/container with soil. The roots of microgreens don’t reach deep; 3–4-inch soil height should be good enough.

• Once the soil gets ready, microgreen seeds should spread on the soil surface. The spacing between the seeds need not be uniform. You can sprinkle the seeds on the surface.

• Now cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil and gently pat the surface so that seeds will get settled well in the container.

• The next step would be making the soil humid with water. Spray the water over the soil surface to make it moist adequately but do not flood it with water.

• Container/tray can be kept at room temperature for 2 days until germination occurs. Then select a sunny spot to place the plant, where it can receive a good amount of sunlight for at least 3-4 hours a day.

• Sprinkle a little water over the growing greens twice a day. In 3-4 days, you will observe small leaves growing over the soil with little shoots at the bottom.

• After a week, you will be happy to see your container full of healthy microgreens. Once the plant reaches 2-3 inches taller, they are ready to be harvested. You can wait a little longer if you prefer a little taller.

• Microgreens are easy to harvest; you can take a pair of scissors or a sharp knife and cut the microgreens, holding them straight from just over the roots.

• After harvesting, you just wash the microgreens, and they are ready to serve on your plate. 

• Microgreens provide the best nutrition when consumed fresh; you can dry them and wrap the same in the paper for later use.

Do microgreens regrow after harvesting? 

Not all types of microgreens regrow after harvesting, but many do and can cut several times. 

Pea shoots tend to regrow after harvesting. To increase the chance of degrowing, make sure to cut them just above the lowest leaf. 

What is the minimum investment required to grow microgreens business? 

You can start a microgreen business with very minimal investment and time. You can start with just Rs 5000, and the business would only require a couple of hours of your time. You can quickly profit from Rs 1500 per month [3 times your investment], with just 15-20 days. 

The more you invest, the more you can earn. 

Microgreens are generally safe to consume raw if grown properly. Microgreens can make you sick through food-borne illness that happened if improper seed is used[with pesticide, fungicides, or coatings], unsuitable growing conditions lead to mold growth, unsafe handling practices introduce pathogens.