Mastering Microgreens: Your Comprehensive 7x14 Tray Kit Guide

Did you know you can grow microgreens without any soil or soil like medium!? This is a huge benefit to those who want to grow in apartments, homes or even businesses that do not want to create more mess.

And this is the experience that comes with our newest kit, which is one of the first reusable grow medium grow kits for microgreens!

 

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Our new Kit contains:

(x2) Silicone Reusable Microgreen Grow Medium

(x1) Scraper – Tool For Cleaning Medium Quickly

(x1) Clear Humidity Dome

(x1) White Mesh Tray

(x1) White No-Holed Reservoir Tray

View Kit on our website (Click Here)

If your curious to learn more in depth about the Silicone Reusable Microgreen Grow Medium, please be sure to check out this blog post! -- > (Click here)

Benefits Of This Kit

First lets dive into a few of the benefits of this kit before we dive into how to grow Microgreens using it!!

1. The grow medium is reusable, as well as pre-cut to size. Meaning, you can reuse it again and again, as well as no hassle with having to cut the medium to fit the tray. You can also still use Soil or even Coco Coir & other grow mediums in the trays.
2. The white trays look STUNNING on any countertop, window seal, or even grow rack!
3. You can grow a substantial amount of microgreens using the trays (similar to the large sized sprouting trays we sell).
4. The clear humidity dome is not only meant to trap in the humidity, but it can also be reversed on top to act as “weight” on top of the seeds during germination! And yes – it makes contact with them perfectly!
5. White trays also fit into our countertop Grow Light unit that we sell separately!
6. Easy to use, easy to clean!

Basic Steps For Using Kit

 

STEP 1:

To get started, choose your grow medium. You can either use the silicone grow medium provided with the kit, or we suggest using a seed starting soil or coco coir with these trays. After you have selected your grow medium, place the white mesh tray so that it’s sitting in / on top of the solid white tray (just like we do with 1020 trays). Place the clear dome aside for now.

 

STEP 2:

 

Place a single sheet of the Silicone Reusable Microgreen Grow Medium evenly on top of the white mesh tray. Then lightly mist the silicone with water to prep for seeding (avoid pooling water)! This will help the seeds stick when you drop them.

If using a soil or Coco Coir medium instead of silicone - fill the white mesh tray up with the grow medium until it's about ¾ full (~2 cups).

STEP 3:

Now that your tray has been prepped, choose your Microgreens seed. We suggest using some of the strong, fast growing varieties for your first grows, like Broccoli, Collard, Kale, Radish, Peas and even Beans!

Then, We suggest about 1-2 tablespoons (~15-30grams) per tray with smaller seeds like Broccoli, and 3-6 tablespoons (45-90 grams) if using larger seed like peas, sunflower, or beans.

Once you have your seed measured, using your hands or a seed shaker, try to evenly distribute all of the seed across the grow medium.

STEP 4:

After seeding, use a spray bottle (we suggest these types) to generously water the seeds and grow medium until wet, but not over-watered! Too much water can cause a lot of issues such as mold, damping off, and slow growth.

When watering the Silicone Reusable Microgreen Grow Medium, you should not have areas of large pooling, however, you may see areas with small droplets that form.

 

STEP 5:

Once you have watered your seedlings, place the humidity dome upside down on top of the seeds so that the dome is making contact with the seeds. This will act as your “weight”, while also trapping in the moisture. Then place the Tray in a dark area or on a dark shelf (avoid light). Mist 2x per day – Morning & Evening – Or as needed. Optional: You may also want to add 2 cups of water to the bottom tray to help the roots and seeds remain humid for germination.

STEP 6:

About 2 to 4 days later (for most crops), your microgreen seeds will germinate and should be starting to push the dome up themselves. At this point, you should no longer see many seed hulls; instead, it will look more yellow from the plant leaves showing through, rather than the dark seed coatings. Once you confirm that your crop is 75% germinated, move to the next step.

STEP 7:

Now it’s time to lightly mist your microgreens as usual, then take the upside-down clear dome, and flip it over to create the actual dome, and place it on top of your mesh tray. You’ll then place your tray onto the shelf with lights, and in roughly 1 to 3 days the microgreens should grow tall enough to push the dome up some. This is thanks to the humidity & heat.

Tip: Beware not to leave them in the humidity dome for too long or you’ll have a lanky crop, which topple over, and they won’t be appealing to the eye. The goal is to only slightly stretch the stems for easier microgreen harvesting.

STEP 8:

Once the crop is ready to come out of dome, remove the clear dome, and set it aside.

If you haven’t already, fill up the base reservoir with 2 cups of water. You can add fertilizers to the water for more vigorous growth, if you are growing on a reusable grow medium or coco coir.

When filling the reservoir tray up with your bottom-water, make sure you fill it until the roots touch the water! You can determine this by filling it in partially, then allowing the white mesh tray to sit normally for a moment, then slightly invert the mesh tray to check for any water droplets on the mesh or roots. If you don’t see any, it needs more water. (You can also feel the water “holding” the tray as you try to lift, it will create resistance like a weak magnet.)

If you used a grow medium such as soil, do not add any nutrients hydroponically, you’ll want to bottom water with regular water, or you could stunt the growth and/or cause tip burn! However, if you used coco coir or a reusable mesh, you could boost the growth of your microgreens by bottom watering with hydroponic nutrients (optional)! To do this we use a 3-gallon food-safe bucket, and mix our nutrients of choice, then PH-balance our water after mixing in the nutrients. For instance, if we’re using OceanSolution™ 2-0-3, we will mix it at the ratio of 0.5oz. per gallon of water, then PH-balance the water to the 5.5-6.0 range for microgreens.

EXTRA TIPS-

Remember to really pay attention and make sure that you DO NOT overfill the tray with water. It shouldn’t have puddles of water forming where the seeds are; just enough to touch the bottom of the mesh and emerging roots.

You’ll check your crops and bottom-water levels twice a day. You want to make sure that the medium is not very saturated. If the grow medium becomes very saturated, skip one watering for the day to allow it to dry out in-between watering’s. But if you notice that the medium is dry and / or crops are looking sad and are beginning to wilt or fall over, add a little more water as they may not be receiving enough.

HOW TO GROW VIDEOS FOR THIS TRAY KIT-

HOW TO CLEAN KIT & SILICONE:

To clean the trays and humidity dome, wash with a food-safe soap using hot-warm water. Do not put the trays or humidity dome in the dishwasher, as it may warp them. The silicone can be washed by first using a food-safe soap & hot-warm water to lather and rinse using your hands. You can also clean it by making a paste with 1/4 cup of baking soda & warm water. Dip the silicone into the paste and let it sit for 5 minutes before rinsing. We also suggest following up your wash with a Natural Silicone Safe Sanitizing before reuse, such as:

Option 1) Sink filled with Hot water & Dish-soap, soak for 20 mins.

Option 2) Boil in water for 2-3 minutes.

Option 3) Equal parts Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide to Water soak for 5 mins - 24hours.

Then rinse off with hot-warm water before allowing medium to dry.

Finish:

Watering is really the key to success when it comes to using these Trays with & Silicone Grow Medium to grow microgreens – It’s good to keep in mind that with these trays, you’ll need to check the water level every 2 days.

Once you overcome the watering difficulties (if you have any), in 7 to 14 days (for most crops) it will be time to harvest your microgreens and you’ll be able to apply any learning's you had while using these trays to successfully use them to grow microgreens every single time with ease!! Now that we have used them often, we never run into issues anymore and they have become another one of our favorite trays to use.

Tip – If you’re curious about learning more on how to grow microgreens, be sure to check out our book “Becoming a Microgreen Master” – it has a great section that goes more into depth on buying the right trays plus tons of great tips to get you growing like a pro right away!

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this blog and we wish you the best success in all your grows!!