Microgreens

Microgreens are harvested young, which makes shallow trays and short growing cycles practical for beginners.

What microgreens actually are

Microgreens are ordinary vegetable and herb seedlings harvested at the first true-leaf stage, usually one to three weeks after sowing. You are not growing a plant to maturity, so container depth, root room, and season stop mattering. That is what makes them the most reliable indoor crop for a beginner.

Light: less than you think, more than none

Microgreens are a low-light crop, but they are not a dark-cupboard crop. Extension guidance puts them at roughly six to eight hours of light per day, which a bright windowsill supplies without any direct sun at all. Too little light produces pale, stretched, leggy stems — still edible, but a sign to move the tray closer to the window.

Trays, mix, and sowing

A 4 to 6 cm deep tray with drainage is enough. Sow far more densely than you would for a mature crop, cover for the first three to four days while seeds germinate, then uncover and give them light. Use a clean container and fresh mix; this is a crop you eat whole and young, so hygiene matters more than fertility.

Speed by type

Brassicas are the fastest. Radish and broccoli microgreens are often ready in seven to fourteen days. Larger seeds take a little longer: pea shoots and sunflower shoots generally run ten to eighteen days and need soaking first, and sunflower shoots need their seed hulls removed as they lift.

Watering and the usual failure

Overwatering is the main problem, and it shows up as fungus gnats or damping-off in a tray that never dries. Water from below where you can, keep airflow moving, and do not let a tray sit in standing water. A shallow tray can go from damp to dead in hours, so the drying-out advice used for potted plants does not apply here.