Microgreens Frequently Asked Questions

Jul 19, 2021nate

If you’ve already taken a look at our dedicated blogs on what microgreens are, how to grow them, and how to cook with them and still can’t find the answers you’re looking for, then hopefully you can find it below! If not, feel free to drop us a message and we’ll get right back to you.

Can microgreens be grown outside?

Microgreens are a little delicate and like all young seedlings, they are better protected from the harsh world outside. The heat, sun, and wind can dry them out and their tender leaves are an easy target for pests to munch on. Fortunately, most microgreens do very well indoors as they like room temperatures (70°F to 80°F) and the partially filtered light that comes through a window. The best place to grow your microgreens is an indoor windowsill if you’ve got one.

If you are going to grow them outside there are a couple steps you should follow. First, make sure it’s not too cold when you are starting, as the seed will have trouble sprouting below 65 °F. Second, avoid harsh environments by setting up in a partially shaded area that is protected from the wind. Finally, if you see flies, caterpillars, or bugs, give them a thorough rise before eating (we don’t recommend using pesticides).

Will Microgreens Regrow?

Most gardeners are used to being able to pick a few leaves at a time from their herbs or greens and the plant will grow back just fine – it’s a great way to get the most out of your plants! While we wish this worked for microgreens, unfortunately most can only be harvested one time. This is because most microgreens only have one set of leaves, so after they’re harvested, there’s nothing left to collect the sunshine needed to grow back. However, there are a couple exceptions to this rule.

Microgreen shoots, like peas, beans, and lentils, are able to grow back a couple of times as long as you harvest them above their bottom leaf. The taste starts to fade after the first harvest, but you can usually get these to regrow once or twice with decent flavor and texture.

How long will microgreens last?

As we covered before it’s best to not cut and store your microgreens, but rather harvest them as needed, while they’re still growing. You typically have about a week before your first and last harvest, so if you can use them up in that time you’ll enjoy the freshest and healthiest microgreens possible. However, if you’ve gotten to the end and you still have some left, they will last another week or two given the right conditions. To properly store them, first take a folded paper towel and place it in the bottom of an airtight container. Then loosely (the delicate greens are easy to crush) place the microgreens in the container and seal it in the lid. Finally, place it in the bottom shelf or produce drawer of your refrigerator (away from the cool air vent where the temps tend to fluctuate).

Does Using Organic Microgreen Seeds Matter?

While Organic certification is far from perfect usually it’s the most environmentally friendly and least chemically instenvie option. When growing microgreens, using organic seeds is particularly important. Compared to growing “adult” plants, where you get a good harvest from just a couple seeds, growing microgreens requires hundreds of seeds that are very close to the edible part. This has a couple of important implications.

First, lots of seeds means lots of farmland to produce them – and by using organic microgreen seeds you are ensuring that more land is managed organically. Second, because you’re eating the plants so soon after they’ve sprouted, it’s inevitable that a seed will get mixed up in your harvest. We feel better knowing that when this happens that the seed was produced organically.

Want to learn more about Microgreens? Read our more in-depth blogs on the following topics :

And now that you know all there is to it, there’s nothing stopping you from growing your very own microgreens garden. Shop our beginner-friendly Microgreens Kit down below.