Not so good of a harvest last week, next batch is looking great

Last Weeks Harvest

In short we learned a lot from last week. We had two good trays of Salad Mix and 1 good tray of Rambo Radish. The weights we harvested out of each tray are listed below. I will be listing out our harvest amounts here for all of our individually packaged microgreens.

So what happened to the other trays

3 Black Oil Sunflower Trays

As I want this to be an informative blog and not hide the ugly stuff from people. We lost 3 of our sunflower trays to mold growth. The mold had set in at the same time germination started. All of the trays were mostly covered with the same stuff. So we scrapped those three right when I lifted the lid off.

Lesson learned from that set of trays would be to not soak the seeds for so long prior to planting. I soaked these ones for around 7 hours. The batch prior to this one I did not have good enough germination and was attempting to see if soaking the seeds for longer would help at all. The recommended soak time from the distributer is 4 hours. The germination rate was phenomenal this time however, as mentioned the mold was now an issue. I address this with the next planting. So far we have germination and ZERO mold. I go into my process I am attempting this time in further detail down below in the next section.

2 Rambo Radish Trays

These two trays were part of an experiment to see how long the trays would last before all of the plants wilted / tilted over. The germination has mostly been good with the rambo radish. This time was a little different since one of these trays only germinated around 50%.

I determined the bad germination was from not pressing the seeds enough into the soil and not wetting them enough prior to the dark period. This weeks radishes are looking amazing as well.

As for the “spoil” time it was around Day 10 when both trays started laying over. Each day was progressively worse with the center of the tray holding on to stay upright. On day 14 I went to check on them in the morning and the rest of them had laid down. These trays were chopped up and added to the compost pile.

In summary it was a good learning week. I understand a lot more about mold growth and germination rates and will continue to improve in the future. My microgreen adventure is just beginning and I am looking forward to sharing all of my lessons learned on here.

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Microgreens are growing better this week

This week under the grow lights we have nothing right now in terms of microgreens. That is going to change tomorrow though as all of our trays will be coming out of the dark period except carrots. I peeked at the trays to make sure we had germination occurring and there wasn’t any mold that I could see. Both of which passed with flying colors. All of the trays have germinated well. (Pictured Below)

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What’s growing?

_{Links for all seeds packs used are located at the bottom of the page.}

All of our microgreens are currently germinating or have germinated and are finishing the dark period. The carrots have just started to germinate and will take a little longer just due to the fact they are carrots and grow slower. The total grow time for the carrots is around 14 – 20 days. I am excited to give those a shot, from what i’ve heard they taste a little bit like a carrot and have the same texture as dill.

Sunflower seed process

I have setup a fairly simple process for my sunflower seeds, the mold is a major issue that I do not intend on having again. If it shows up i’ll figure out what went wrong and correct it.

Alright the process.

1. Soak seeds for 5 hours in not cold and not warm water.
2. Strain the water out using a colander or something similar.
3. Dump the seeds onto a paper towel and lightly pat them.
4. While the seeds are drying a bit prepare your tray.
5. Using around 4 cups of water in the bottom of it.
6. Then fill the tray with soil up to around 1/2″ from the rim.
7. Once this is done sow the seeds directly onto the soil.
8. Ensure the seeds are as even as possible.
9. Press them all firmly into the soil so it is completely flat.
10. Using your fingers disturb the seeds so they are all staggered but still in the growing medium. I kind of do a poking motion with all five fingers. Similar to the way you would never eat a cake unless your 5 years old.
11. Cover for 3-5 days and enjoy good germination and hopefully no mold.

My trays

Below are the two types of trays I currently use. I am exploring some alternate options right now. Some of which are running out of stock, it seems like indoor growing is becoming a popular thing.

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Herbs are starting to smell amazing

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Excited about the catnip

The catnip is going to be a good diverse plant we can keep. With the ability to harvest, dry it, and store it for a long period or sell it as a whole plant. On a side note did you know that catnip is an herbal remedy for an upset stomach.

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What’s in store for the future next week and beyond?

For microgreens you read about what we have growing right now, what I didn’t mention was the seeds that we have on order. This week we are getting Romaine Lettuce, Lettuce, Broccoli, and Dun Pea microgreen seeds. I am excited as ever to give these a shot and expand our catalog and hopefully attract more customers.

I want to get a few restaurant customers with returning orders on a steady schedule. I am still working on educating people in my community about the large benefits of eating microgreens. Being from a smaller rural community some of the “trends” don’t quite make it out here. With a little luck and help from the community our business will get through this tough time. For the time being i’m going to keep growing my greens.

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Seed Packs