Best Microgreens to Grow in the Fall: Our Fall Picks

October 21, 2026

Fall is when microgreens look their best all year. The colors of the season, deep reds and rich purples, are already sitting on the crop list, and growing indoors means the weather outside never decides your harvest. Here are our fall picks grouped by color and flavor, plus how to start each crop in its own tray, stagger the grow times, and build your own blend on harvest day. We also cover what cooler months do to germination and growth, and how to grow microgreens in a pumpkin for a table centerpiece you can harvest from at dinner.

Pumpkin microgreens growing in pumpkins, a fun fall DIY project

Quick Answer: The Best Microgreens to Grow in the Fall

Our fall picks are the reds (Swiss chard, beets, red garnet and bicolor amaranth), the purples (Mammoth Red Rock and Red Acre cabbage, purple kohlrabi, Purple Reign kale, purple sprouting broccoli), the cozy flavors (black oil sunflower, Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas, purple shiso), and the spicy kick (Barbarossa mustard, Rambo radish, Red Sango radish). Grow each crop in its own tray, count back from your harvest day to set the sow dates, and blend the trays together when you harvest. Expect slower germination and growth when your grow space runs cool.

Fall Microgreens at a Glance

Reds

Swiss chard
Beets
Red garnet amaranth
Bicolor amaranth

Purples

Mammoth Red Rock cabbage
Red Acre cabbage
Purple kohlrabi
Purple Reign kale
Purple sprouting broccoli

Fall Flavors

Black oil sunflower
Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas
Purple shiso

Spicy Kick

Barbarossa mustard
Rambo radish
Red Sango radish

Extra Fall Accents

Celosia
Red veined sorrel

Find most of these seeds at True Leaf Market and Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Always buy seed sold for microgreens or sprouting.

Our Fall Microgreens Picks by Color and Flavor

Everything below is a crop we love for the season. Seed amounts and days are starting points from our grows since 2018, so use our Free Tray-Specific Microgreen Seeding Guide for exact rates by tray size. Microgreen Tracker also does this for you. Its crop library carries a recommended sow weight, days to harvest, blackout days, and presoak hours for each crop, and it scales the sow weight to whatever tray size you pick.

Reds: Swiss Chard, Beets, and Amaranth

Swiss chard and beets bring the magenta, pink, and ruby stems that look like fall on a plate. They are the slowest crops on this list. Chard is ready in about 12 to 14 days in our warm grow space and can take 18 to 21 days in a cooler room, so fall is when to expect the long end.

We skip the presoak on chard and beets. We ran soak time tests on chard and the soak did not help, so we seed the tray, add a second thin layer of medium over the seed, and press it down by hand. Cover the seed, do not bury it. Hard seed hulls stay attached without that layer to push through. Beets follow the same process as chard. Grow both on soil or the coco coir we use, not on reusable silicone grow medium. A heat mat helps in cool months. In our chard test, a heat mat at 78F roughly doubled germination speed. Our Swiss chard microgreens guide covers the full method, including the weight, the single day of blackout, and bottom watering.

A harvested handful of beet microgreens with bright red and pink stems at On The Grow

Red garnet and bicolor amaranth are the other reds, and red garnet is one of our favorites for its vibrant color. It looks a little like monster hair, with a sweet, earthy flavor and a light beet scent. Like the other red microgreens, it tastes like red. It is a delicate crop, so a tray weighs less than a broccoli or sunflower tray. Our red garnet walk through tray came in at 108 grams. Bicolor amaranth uses the same approach.

The seed is tiny and the process is gentle. We skip the soak and seed about 15 grams, roughly a tablespoon and a half, on a 10x20 tray of coco coir. Keep your hand moving so the seed does not drop in clumps, then mist from a little distance with a pump sprayer. Amaranth does not like a lot of water or cold, and both lead to damping off, so go light. It needs little to no weight, so an empty tray on top works, or 5 pounds if you prefer. In our walk through, roots showed on day 2 and germination was even on day 3. We flipped the top tray over as a dome for one day of blackout, then moved the tray under lights on day 4 and started bottom watering with about a cup of water. By day 6 we were giving about two-thirds of a cup twice a day.

Amaranth also grows on reusable silicone grow medium. The seed is small enough to slip through the 1.2mm holes in theory, but we have confirmed it grows there when a heat mat is set to 75F during germination. Lightly mist the medium before seeding so the seed sticks, and expect seed to fall through or germinate unevenly without the heat mat. The same heat mat setting helps on soil or coco coir in colder months. We also have a separate walk through on a reusable medium in our Video Library.

Purples: Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Kale, and Broccoli

The purple brassicas are the easiest group on the list. Mammoth Red Rock and Red Acre cabbage, purple kohlrabi, Purple Reign kale, and purple sprouting broccoli all land in roughly 8 to 12 days (broccoli 8 to 11), need no soak, and work on soil, coco coir, and 1.2mm reusable silicone grow medium. Red cabbage can stain the silicone naturally, and it does not affect how the medium performs. Our red cabbage microgreens guide uses the same method that works for Mammoth Red Rock, and our broccoli microgreens guide covers the purple sprouting variety we use in most of our videos. In our tests the purple stem color showed most in coco coir trays with low nutrients.

Dense red cabbage microgreens canopy with vivid purple stems, grown on a reusable silicone grow medium

Want to see it start to finish? Watch our red cabbage seed to harvest tutorial below, or browse the rest in our free Video Library.

Fall Flavors: Black Oil Sunflower, Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap Peas, and Purple Shiso

These three are the cozy, hearty flavors of the list. Black oil sunflower is nutty and thick, ready in about 8 to 14 days, and it wants a heavier weight (5 to 10 lbs) during germination. Rinse the seed before planting, and see our sunflower microgreens guide for the no-soak method.

Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas are sweet and crunchy. They take an 8 to 12 hour soak, the same 5 to 10 lbs of weight, and they grow best on a mesh tray with no medium. Reusable silicone grow medium can be used, and the 1.7mm large hole version is the one to pick. Pea roots are aggressive, though, and they can tangle into the mesh and make removal difficult, so no medium is best. Our pea microgreens guide has the details.

Close up of dwarf grey sugar snap pea microgreens

Shiso is the wild card. It comes in green, purple, and Britton types, and the Britton is beautiful. Mandi grew the green variety in our walkthrough, and the first thing you notice is the smell. Rub your hand through the tray and it smells like candy, sweet with a light, soapy note. The flavor is fresh and close to hyssop, near licorice but fresher, which suits soups, roasted vegetables, and tuna salad.

We grow shiso on coco coir, and soil works well too. We have not tested it on reusable mediums in a while, so we cannot say how it does there. Here is how our green shiso tray went:

Seed about 15 grams, roughly a tablespoon and a half, on a 10x20 tray. Mist from a distance so the seed sticks, then give one heavy watering until the medium is saturated.
Stack a second tray on top with a 15 pound paver. The weight evens out germination and helps close up the seed holes. Shiso germinates slowly, and we first saw it on day 3.
Remove the weight around day 6, then flip the tray over as a dome for a day or two of blackout. Shiso starts short and then stretches, and the blackout buys a little height.
On day 8 we moved it into light and bottom watered with about a third of a cup of Ocean Solution water. It does not need much water at this stage.
Harvest day was day 11, and the tray weighed 96 grams (3.4 ounces). That is lighter than a brassica tray because shiso is a delicate crop. Taste before you harvest. It should be sweet, not bitter.

Shiso does not root hard, so some medium comes up when you harvest. Flick the harvest a little to shake it off. We grew green shiso, and purple and Britton types can take longer. Seed suppliers list them at up to about 25 days, so check your seed packet and start purple shiso early.

Spicy Kick: Barbarossa Mustard and Radish

Mustard and radish bring the heat. Mustard takes about 7 to 12 days and does best on soil or coco coir. Radish is our fastest, most forgiving crop at 6 to 10 days, and Rambo and Red Sango are two of the prettiest. Rambo germinates a touch slower than other radishes, and Red Sango can stain silicone naturally, which does not affect performance. Harvest radish when the true leaves start to peek through, before it turns bitter. Our radish microgreens guide is the place to start.

Dense rambo radish microgreens with purple and green leaves viewed from above

Spicy crops work best as an accent. Blending them with milder broccoli tones the heat down, which we cover in the blend section below.

Two Extra Fall Accents: Celosia and Red Veined Sorrel

Celosia brings magenta, feathery color in 12 to 16 days, though the tiny seed makes for a slow start. It does best on soil or coco coir, and like amaranth it also grows on 1.2mm reusable silicone grow medium with a heat mat set to 75F. Our celosia microgreens guide walks through the soil method.

Red veined sorrel is a tart, lemony accent with crimson veins, and it asks for the most patience of anything on this list. Use it as a small accent, not a base. Here is what we and other growers suggest:

Seed: no soak. We list 5 to 8 grams for a 10x20, and some suppliers suggest as little as 3 grams. Sow a thin, even layer where the seeds do not touch or overlap, since overlapping seed is a common cause of trouble.
Medium: soil or coco coir are the standard choices. Sprinkle the seed, add a very thin layer of medium over it, and pat it down firmly for good contact. It also grows on 1.2mm reusable silicone grow medium with a heat mat set to 75F during germination.
Germination: it is slow. Keep it dark, warm, and moist under a tray with a light weight or a dome. Suppliers list sprouting anywhere from 3 to 10 days, and a cool room adds more time.
Light and water: once uncovered, put it under lights 8 to 12 inches above the canopy for 16 to 17 hours a day. Bottom water, and avoid wetting the surface, which can invite mold and pests. Too little light gives pale seedlings.
Harvest: we list 14 to 21 days, and other growers list 17 to 28 days or up to 30. Harvest while it is young. Young leaves are tangy and citrusy, and they turn more sour and bitter as they mature. One grower guide suggests harvesting before plants pass about 2 inches tall. Sorrel does not regrow, so sow again for another harvest.
Faster option: Epic Gardening notes that the Red Panda variety is ready one to two weeks sooner.

Keep harvested sorrel dry, wrap it in a paper towel, and refrigerate it. Rinse right before you eat.

Where We Buy Seed

We default to True Leaf Market, and Johnny's Selected Seeds is our backup. Always buy seed sold for microgreens or sprouting, never bird seed or untreated bulk seed. Our microgreen seeds page has the full breakdown.

Why We Start Each Crop in Its Own Tray

A single mixed-seed tray only works when every crop shares a timeline. We grow a mustard, radish, and broccoli triple tray because all three finish in about the same window. The fall list does not. Chard takes up to 21 days while radish is ready in 6 to 10, and the presoaks, weights, and mediums are different too. Separate trays let each crop get exactly what it needs, then you combine them on harvest day.

Presoak: peas 8 to 12 hours. We skip the soak on chard and beets and plant them under a thin layer of medium. Brassicas, radish, mustard, amaranth, shiso, and sorrel go in dry.
Weight during germination: 3 to 7 lbs for most crops, 5 to 10 lbs for peas and sunflower, 15 lbs for chard and shiso, and a light weight or dome only for amaranth, celosia, and sorrel.
Reusable silicone grow medium: 1.2mm works for cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, and radish. Amaranth, celosia, and red veined sorrel also work with a heat mat set to 75F. Sunflower does best on the 1.7mm large hole reusable silicone grow medium.
Soil or coco coir: chard, beets, shiso, and mustard, plus amaranth, celosia, and sorrel if you would rather skip the heat mat.

Soil grows usually need no added fertilizer. Coco coir and reusable silicone carry no nutrients of their own, so we feed those trays with Ocean Solution 2-0-3 at 0.5 oz per gallon, pH 5.5 to 6.0. For the full list of which seeds work on silicone, see our seed compatibility guide and the reusable grow medium hub, and order the size that matches your tray.

How to Stagger Grows When Crops Do Not Share a Grow Time

Pick your harvest day first, then count back from the slowest crop. Using the longer end of each range, here is how we line them up:

About 21 to 28 days before harvest day: red veined sorrel.
About 18 to 21 days before: Swiss chard and beets in a cool room (14 days or less in a warm one), and purple shiso.
About 14 to 16 days before: red garnet and bicolor amaranth, and celosia.
About 12 to 14 days before: black oil sunflower and Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas.
About 10 to 12 days before: cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, purple sprouting broccoli, mustard, and green shiso.
About 8 to 10 days before: Rambo and Red Sango radish.

If a tray finishes a day or two early, harvest it and store it unwashed in the fridge until blend day, then rinse everything right before you eat. Label every tray with its crop and sow date so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. Our tray clip labelers were designed for exactly that.

When you are juggling five or six sow dates, this is where Microgreen Tracker earns its spot on our shelf. Pick a target harvest date and it counts back from each crop's days to harvest to tell you when to sow, then sends push notifications to your phone for watering and harvest day. Stage timing can be overridden per crop or per tray, which helps when cool weather slows a shelf. You can read more in Meet the Microgreen Tracker.

Slower Germination and Growth in Colder Months

Our grow space stays around 75 to 80F, so we see the fast end of every range. In a cooler room, a garage, or a drafty windowsill, expect the long end and sometimes a few days past it. We hold 65 to 75F during germination, and anything cooler slows seeds down and makes them uneven. In our grow trailer we aim for 67 to 75F in winter, and on the first 30F nights the heat could not keep up and sunflower germination suffered until we added a small floor heater.

Judge by the tray, not the calendar. When you see more plant than seed hulls, it is ready for light. Our weight to blackout guide shows what that looks like.
Add a few days of buffer to every sow date, and use a heat mat around 75F for the slow, tiny-seeded crops like amaranth, celosia, and sorrel.
Water less often. Cool air dries the medium more slowly, so check the bottom tray first and skip a watering if water is still sitting there. Over-watering plus cool temperatures is a recipe for damping off.
Keep air moving with a small fan above the canopy, and keep dome vents open during germination.
Use lights as the days get shorter. Windowsill grows turn leggy, so run lights 16 to 17 hours a day, 8 to 12 inches above the canopy, at 5500 to 6500K. Our grow lights and setup hub has the full setup.
If a tray comes up but never reaches full height, temperature is one of the usual suspects. See why your microgreens are staying short.

Build Your Own Harvest Day Blend

Harvest each tray, then combine them by the handful. As a starting point, use equal parts of the mild crops and about half as much of the spicy ones, then taste and adjust. Here are three blends we like for fall:

Deep Purple Blend: Mammoth Red Rock cabbage, Purple Reign kale, purple sprouting broccoli, and purple kohlrabi. These four share a timeline, so this is one blend where mixed seed in a single tray is an option.
Autumn Kick Blend: Rambo and Red Sango radish with Barbarossa mustard, softened with broccoli and finished with a little red garnet amaranth for color.
Soup Topper Blend: Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas, black oil sunflower, and red garnet amaranth, with a few leaves of purple shiso.

Close-up of a harvested microgreen blend of red cabbage, red kale and purple sprouting broccoli

Grow Microgreens in a Pumpkin Centerpiece

A pumpkin makes a fun, seasonal planter that doubles as a table decoration you can harvest from at dinner. It is a great project to do with kids too. Here is the quick version, and our full pumpkin microgreens guide has every step.

Choose an organic pumpkin and slice an even lid off the top so it sits back in place later.
Scoop out the seeds and insides like you would for carving.
Fill with soil, leaving about a half inch gap at the rim. For a large pumpkin, fill most of the way with clay pebbles first, then top with soil.
Sow seed densely on top, about 1/2 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon depending on the seed and the pumpkin.
Mist generously. Because the pumpkin is perishable, we mist with 2 tablespoons of 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide per liter of water to help prevent mold.
Put the lid back on, move the pumpkin somewhere with minimal light and good airflow, and mist 2 to 4 times a day without over-watering.
After about 3 to 5 days, when you see more plant than seed hulls, move it into light. Harvest in roughly 7 to 14 days.

Mandi of On The Grow holding a pumpkin with pumpkin microgreens growing out of it

Quick, forgiving crops from this list, like radish or a purple brassica, are a good fit. Compost the pumpkin afterward.

Fall Food Ideas for Your Microgreens

Add microgreens fresh at the end, never during cooking, and rinse them right before you eat. Mild crops work almost anywhere, and spicy crops are best as an accent.

Butternut squash or pumpkin soup: finish the bowl at the table with pea shoots or sunflower.
Roasted sweet potato or squash grain bowls: top with the Deep Purple Blend and a little radish for heat.
Chili or tacos: sunflower and broccoli add crunch, and radish adds a peppery finish.
Sandwiches and wraps: swap lettuce for microgreens on a turkey sandwich or grilled cheese, with mustard or radish for a kick.
Breakfast: scatter broccoli, kale, or radish over eggs or avocado toast right before serving.
Pizza: add radish or arugula after it comes out of the oven.
Italian tuna salad: mix about a quarter cup of shiso into tuna with mayo, rinsed capers, and a little lemon, then pile it on a toasted English muffin. Mandi tried it for the first time and loved it.
Eggs or potatoes: a few leaves of red veined sorrel add lemony tartness.
Dessert: red garnet amaranth pairs well with chocolate. Try it on brownies with a little almond whipped cream.

Homegrown red cabbage microgreens topping grilled chicken, tzatziki and apple cider pickled onions on lavash

For more ideas, browse our microgreen recipes hub or grab the 36 Easy and Unique Microgreen Recipes cookbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best microgreens to grow in the fall?

Our picks are Swiss chard, beets, red garnet and bicolor amaranth, Mammoth Red Rock and Red Acre cabbage, purple kohlrabi, Purple Reign kale, purple sprouting broccoli, black oil sunflower, Dwarf Grey Sugar Snap peas, purple shiso, Barbarossa mustard, and Rambo and Red Sango radish. They cover the colors and flavors of the season.

Do microgreens grow slower in cold weather?

Yes. Germination slows and gets uneven below about 65F, and trays take longer to reach harvest height. Expect the long end of each crop's range, add a few days of buffer, and consider a heat mat during germination.

How do I make a blend when the crops have different grow times?

Grow each crop in its own tray, count back from your harvest day using each crop's days to harvest, and combine the trays by the handful when you harvest. Mixed-seed trays only work when the crops share a timeline.

Can you grow microgreens in a pumpkin?

Yes. Hollow out an organic pumpkin, fill it with soil, sow seed, and mist with a food-grade hydrogen peroxide mix to help prevent mold. Most crops are ready to harvest in 7 to 14 days.

Can I grow these fall microgreens on a reusable silicone grow medium?

Many of them, yes. Cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, and radish work on the 1.2mm, and sunflower does best on the 1.7mm. Swiss chard and beets should go on soil or coco coir. Amaranth, celosia, and red veined sorrel work with a heat mat set to 75F. Peas grow best on a mesh tray with no medium, since their roots tangle in the mesh.

Final Thoughts

Fall is the perfect excuse to grow a little color. Start each crop in its own tray, count back from harvest day, give cool trays a few extra days, and blend them together when the trays are ready. If you want to keep every sow date and harvest day in one place, Start My Free 7-Day Trial of Microgreen Tracker. It works in any phone or desktop browser and installs to your home screen, and nothing is charged until the seven days are up.

Ready to start growing? Pick up the Beginner's Guide to Growing Microgreens PDF, grab a 7x14 Microgreen Tray Kit, or browse our reusable silicone grow mediums. Want the complete training? The Microgreen Masterclass covers everything we have learned growing microgreens since 2018, and our Learn page has free resources for every level.

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Happy growing!