How to start your own microgreen business? In this article I will show you how to grow your own microgreens for sale. Microgreen business is a great alternative for farmers and homemakers who do not want to spend a lot of money on commercial seeds and plants. With microgreens you can get delicious, fresh and healthy vegetables at home for much less than you would pay in a grocery store.
One of the best selling things about eating microgreens is that they taste great and you get lots of antioxidants from the sprouts. You will also get plenty of minerals, vitamins, and trace elements from the plants as well. You may be asking, how to start your own microgreen business with sprouted plants. The first step is to get some good information about how to sprout your plants so you can have your own garden. There are several books available that will show you everything you need to know.
Next, you will have to learn how to cultivate and harvest your plants. This is where you’ll find a difference between growing micro greens and other vegetables. When growing vegetables like other types, you harvest the plants every few days, but when growing microgreens you have to harvest them every day. Harvesting them allows you to ensure that there is enough food left over for you to sell to your family at home or at your local farmer’s market. Harvesting them daily keeps you from over harvesting and reduces the amount of microgreens you have to get rid of at the end of each growing season.
Microgreen farmers who do not harvest their plants often take a cutting knife to the leaves on the plant and leave them on the ground overnight. They then return the next morning to pick up and shred the leaves. After they have removed all the dead and broken away from the young roots, they then store the cuttings in an airtight container. They will typically use these cuttings the next growing season in order to grow new plants.
Once you have gotten all the growing trays, pots, and plants in place you will be ready to begin growing microgreens. To start with your seedlings, you will need to purchase a few starter growing trays. These are small baskets that are made specifically for growing trays with seeds in them. They come in a variety of sizes, but one that will hold a reasonable volume of seedlings should be just fine.
After your microgreen seeds have been planted, you will want to water the sprouts well and keep an eye on them. Once the first set of leaves begins to appear you can lightly water the sprouts, this will encourage germination. When the first set of leaves appears, you can lightly mist the sprouts with a garden hose, this will also encourage germination. As the plants begin to grow they will fill up the remaining space in your germinating tray, and you will have to refill it again. After a couple more growing seasons you will have several sprouts growing on your plant blanket.
During the third growing season your microgreens will begin to sprout leaves, and when this happens you will want to put the seeds in a cheese cloth and transplant them directly into the garden. Make sure to place the germinating cloth over the top, and after they have sprouted, remove the seeds germinate from the cloth to place into the bottom of the growing trays. The microgreens will then begin to take firm hold as they are covered with the growing medium. They will continue to produce tiny seeds until late summer. At that point you will have several sprouts growing on your very first seed starting mat.
After your initial crop has grown to a reasonable size you can use the remaining microgreens to add to your alfalfa and red clover fields, or any other areas of your vegetable garden that are being used to feed a variety of local birds and animals. Many people choose to place these types of fields in their backyards, because alfalfa feeds a large percentage of the local deer population. These two choices are perfect for growing micro greens in the fall and winter, before the plants begin producing leaves. The bright orange colors of the microgreens provide much needed nutrients to local wildlife and provide a great addition to your organic vegetable garden.