General Guidelines
- Keep everything clean – your hands, punnets, medium and the surroundings.
- Good air circulation prevents molds. Use fans to lessen humidity.
- Maintain temperature at 25C to 30C.
- Check your plants for medium dryness twice a day.
- Wet the medium but not soaking wet.
- Should you see molds forming, expose the plants to sunlight but take care that they don’t burn.
- Sunlight is the best source of light. If it’s too hot, provide a little shade.
- If you have grow lights, use them as you please. T5 LED lights 65k kelvin , 2600 lumens are suggested. Not a requirement if only for personal consumption.
- Harvest time is usually around 8 to 14 days, depending on the type of plant.
- Relax and enjoy your microgreens.
Materials needed:
- Punnet – the planting tray. Yo Greens punnets have a good drainage system and dome cover for greenhouse effect.
- Medium – can be cocopeat, soil, tissue. We use sterile cocopeat because of its high absorption characteristic and we sterilize it to make sure there are no pathogens.
- Seeds (on Yo Greens small punnet approx. 2.5g for small seeds, 5 g for medium sized, 15g for big seeds or beans; double the quantity on big punnet).
- Spraying bottle for misting.
- Flat tray or plate.
- A pair of scissors (on harvest day).
- Plate or bowl (on harvest day).
Day 1-3: Setting Up and Top Watering
- Wash punnet with soap and water then wipe to dry with clean cloth.
- Fill around 50g of sterile cocopeat(also called the medium).
- Do your best to gently flatten the medium evenly. You may use your hand or a flat surfaced object. Pinch chunks of cocopeat to loosen.
- Put the seeds into a shaker or a dry cup and slowly pour them on the medium.
- Check that the seeds are side by side and are not overlapping as this may cause molds.
- Use a spray bottle to mist the seeds and the medium until wet but not soaking wet.
- Cover the punnet with the punnet dome.
- Place the punnets in a dark place or cover them from the light.
- Repeat #’s 6 to 8 for the first 3 days, twice a day.
Day 4-6: Bottom watering and Black out
- Remove the punnet dome and set aside for future use.
- Get a flat tray or plate and fill water just about the amount the punnet holes can take in water for the medium to absorb. This will only take a few seconds or until the medium becomes dark brown but not soaking wet
- Place the punnets on a clean surface or tray to drip
- Cover with tray for black out
- Repeat #’s 2 to 4 until day 5 or 6. Note that if they are tall and yellowish, they’re ready for the light.
- On day 5 or 6, place the punnet under the light for the next 12 to 16 hours. If you’re using natural light, at least 8 hours is fine.
Day 7 – 14 until harvest time
- Get a flat tray or plate and fill water just about the amount the punnet holes can take in water for the medium to absorb. This will only take a few seconds. You may gently feel if the medium is already wet.
- Remove from water. Take note that the medium must not be soaking wet.
- Place the punnet on a clean surface or tray to drip.
- Repeat #’s 1-3 until the harvest time.
When will I know if it’s harvest time?
For the first 7-8 days, you will always see the first 2 leaves (cotyledon) developing. Once you see the third leaf starting to emerge or when you see the seed hulls have shed off, then harvest time will be in the next 2 to 3 days. This usually happens between day 8 to 14.
How to harvest?
- Use a clean pair of scissors.
- Cut the stem just right above the medium so as not to include the coco coir.
- Put the microgreens on a clean bowl / plate.
It is best to consume the microgreens on harvest day.