Microgreens Growing Guides

Vegetable and herb seedlings harvested at the seedling stage, usually one to three weeks after sowing. In Australian supermarkets they are sold as micro herbs. You eat the stem and leaves; the roots and the growing medium stay behind in the tray.

No. Sprouts are germinated in a jar of water, kept in the dark and eaten whole, root included. Microgreens are sown on a growing medium, grown under light, and cut above the medium at harvest. They are handled differently and taste quite different.

Most varieties in these guides are ready in 7 to 21 days. Radish is the quickest at 5 to 10 days, broccoli 7 to 14, sunflower 8 to 14 and pea shoots 10 to 14. Herbs take longer: basil 15 to 25 days and coriander 14 to 21.

When the first pair of leaves has opened and the stems stand roughly 5 to 8 cm tall. A few of the slower herbs, coriander and basil among them, are usually left until a first true leaf appears above those seed leaves.

Yes. Every guide here uses a soil-free medium, either a germinating mat, coco coir or rockwool. Soil-free is cleaner indoors and makes harvesting easier, because there is no grit to rinse out of the leaves afterwards.

Most seeds stay covered and dark for the first two to four days, until the majority have germinated and the seedlings start lifting the cover. Uncover them then and give them light. Leaving the cover on longer is the most common cause of leggy, pale stems.

Usually not. Brassicas such as broccoli, radish, kale and mustard are a single harvest, so you resow after cutting. Pea shoots are the common exception and will often give a second, smaller cut from the same tray.

Raw is the normal way to use them, in salads, on sandwiches or as a garnish. Rinse them before use as you would any leafy green.

You can, but heat wilts them within seconds and they lose the texture that makes them worth growing. Add them at the end, off the heat, rather than cooking them through.

A supermarket punnet is cut and packed days before it reaches you and keeps for a few days in the fridge. A tray on the bench is cut minutes before it is eaten, and you choose the varieties, including ones the supermarkets do not stock such as mizuna, mibuna and amaranth.