Welcome to the weekly oh! nènè microgreens update, where we talk about the latest information on our microgreens journey. We started experimenting with microgreens in March 2021 and found the process fascinating. As we discover the wonderful world of microgreens, we feel inclined to share with you our progress.
A stable temperature
As we mentioned last week, we bought a heater that we are using in our grow room so the temperature is steady and our microgreens can grow without problems. We managed to find a stable environment with around 22 °C and relative humidity of 54%, which is ideal for our microgreens.
The electricity cost
Due to using an electrical heater, we are using way more energy, and we knew this would be the case. Our worry is then how much energy are we using? And, how is this going to impact our finances?
Let’s get a bit technical. Last week, we used an average of 12.04 kWh (kilowatt-hour), a standard unit used to calculate electrical consumption. Before using the heater, we were using about 2 kWh per day. So we had an increase of 10 kWh a day.
Our electrical bill tells us the cost of 1 kWh, which is about €0,056, so it means that we were spending about €0,112/day, and now we are spending €0,674/day or about 500% increase.
At the moment, this is an expense that we consider necessary, so we are ok with it. What’s important is that we can run our operations most sustainably, financially and energy-wise.
Growing on mesh
As we see the results of our microgreens growing on meshes, we realize how different the process is. For example, because we do not use coconut coir, the seeds are lower in the tray, so when we harvest, we lose a bit of the stem that we would typically get when using coconut coir. It is not a big deal, but something to consider.
A significant upside of growing on stainless steel meshes is that we do not need to use any “dirty” medium, so our microgreens are as clean as they can be. The root structure is easy to see and appreciate, and we can easily spot mould and humidity problems.
Microgreens update
Last week, we started a bunch of new microgreen trays after our pause, and now, we are getting some of the results.
Red Cabbage, Broccoli Calabrese, and Radish China Rose
Our three trays using stainless steel meshes grew very well. The Red Cabbage was slower than expected, maybe because of the mesh.
The Broccoli Calabrese and the Radish China Rose are growing well, and we still need to wait a couple of days before we harvest to see the results.
Rocket and Cress
Our rocket and cress microgreens did well. We managed to snap the pictures we needed, and we are happy with the results!
The cress, in particular, didn’t grow super well, and we think it may be the density of the seeds. We tried with 16g seeds when sowing, but we want to try again and increase it to 20g instead. If you are curious, you can see how our cress microgreen page.
Thank you for your time, and until next week!
