broccoli calabrese microgreens
from sowing to harvest
introduction
Growing your own broccoli microgreens is a great satisfaction that will fulfill your taste buds while boosting your nutrition.
In this simple guide, I list all of the steps you need to take to grow broccoli microgreens, from sowing all the way to harvesting.
Let’s jump right into it!
what you need
materials
- Two reservoir trays (without holes)
- One growing tray (with holes)
- One reusable fine mesh medium
- 22g of Broccoli seeds
- Watering hose or spraying bottle
- Light source
optional materials
Fan/ventilator
experience
- Difficulty: Easy
- Care per day: Between 2 to 10 minutes every 12h
- Average expected harvest: 115 g
preparation & sowing
preparation
- Place a reservoir tray. This tray holds the water — picture 1.
- Place a growing tray on top of the reservoir. This tray allows roots to find water underneath — picture 2.
- Place a mesh on top of the growing tray to hold the seeds — picture 3.
- Mist the mesh with water. It will help your mesh attach better to the tray, and the seeds adhere better to the mesh — picture 4.
cover
- Cover the seeds with the last available reservoir tray to form a three tray stack — pictures 1 & 2.
- The top layer works as an emulator of soil, retaining water and humidity and keeping light away from the seeds.
- Approximately every 12h, we will spray water on the seeds, so they stay moist throughout germination.
day by day
From now on and only during germination, we will check the seeds every 12h.
We need to spray water on the seeds every 12h to guarantee they have enough humidity. Otherwise, they risk drying out, and they won’t germinate properly.
To water your seeds, lift the top tray, mist your seeds, cover them again and come back in 12h.
day 1
day 2
Most of the seeds have already germinated and are looking for water.
You will see some white hair-like formations coming out of the tiny roots. These tiny hairs are roots seeking water.
day 3
Your tray starts looking full all of a sudden. Remember to keep your roots moist enough.
The stems have started developing more, and by now, they could be 1-2cm long. Soon the roots will peak through the holes of the middle tray and reach the bottom tray.
day 4 - exposure to light
Today, we remove the top tray and expose the microgreens for the first time to light.
Your plants should be exposed to light anywhere between 12h to 16h per day. We like to do 12h of light exposure. Set a timer to remember to turn the lights on/off, or better yet, use a smart plug to control when the lights are on/off digitally.
Make sure the microgreens are in a place where there’s decent airflow, so the conditions for mould are less favourable. The fan (if you have one) will work to help with the airflow and reduce the chances of catching mould. It is not a problem if you do not have a fan.
Don’t panic if you see tiny, hair-like formations; these are the roots seeking water.
From today, we will only add water to the bottom reservoir tray every 24h and not spray on the microgreens anymore. Be sure to add enough water to cover the cavities (valleys) of the bottom tray with water.
day 5
Today, our microgreens have been under light for 24h, which is why they change colour from bright yellow to green.
Check the water level on the bottom tray and adjust accordingly to refill the cavities (valleys) of the tray.
day 6
Remember to check the water levels on the bottom tray every 24h and adjust accordingly.
day 7
By this point, you will see how the leaves of the seedlings start opening up, creating the microgreens we want.
day 8
day 9
day 10
day 11
By now, most of the seedlings are open. We will harvest the full tray tomorrow.
day 12 - harvest
From today we can begin harvesting our broccoli calabrese microgreens.
To harvest, we will separate the mesh from the tray and then cut the microgreens with either a sharp knife or scissors.
- Separate the mesh from the tray by grabbing a corner of the mesh with your fingers and lifting it until is no longer attached to the tray. Some roots will break, but the microgreens will stay in their place.
- Place the mesh with the microgreens on a flat surface and lift those that may have bent — picture 1.
- Cut your microgreens with a knife or scissors about 1 cm from the mesh. Be careful not to cut through the mesh so you can reuse it — pictures 2 & 3.
- Place the microgreens in a sealable container and store them in the fridge to keep them fresh as long as possible.
- Our harvest yield averages 115 g of broccoli calabrese microgreens.
cleaning and disinfeting
The last step is cleaning up the mesh and the trays. Remember to disinfect everything properly before using them again; otherwise, you risk getting mould on your microgreens. We disinfect our material by spraying water at a 10:1 ratio with a 3% stabilised hydrogen peroxide.
In this video, you can see how we use and clean our meshes to reuse them.
wrapping up
I hope you enjoyed the process of producing your broccoli calabrese microgreens! If you have any questions, advice, or remarks, please let us know at hola@ohnene.be or contact us via our contact page.
Do you want to share your experience with us? Share your progress on Instagram and tag us at @ohnene.be.
Thank you for your time!
join our Facebook group
Feel free to join our Facebook group where microgreen growers located in Europe can get advice and learn from each other: European Microgreens Growers.
Other microgreen growing guides
You can check our microgreens grow guide page with all the key figures for each crop we grow.