Seeds for Microgreens

Seeds are the most important input into growing microgreens. My goal in growing microgreens at home is to grow highly nutritious food that can provides a broad spectrum of high quality micronutrients. I try to grow a broad variety of microgreens, preferably with different colors to cover wide spectrum of micronutrients. Our family consumes large portions of microgreens either in salads or in smoothies. I grow the microgreens with this goal in mind rather than to sell them to restaurants as exotic garnish.

Bulk of the microgreens I grow are neutral in flavor and can be consumed in large quantities and in any dishes.

I buy seeds from Mountain Valley Seed Company, which are sold on their site – True Leaf Market. The shipping is free above $45. I usually buy 1 pound packets for most of the small seeds, but for expensive microgreens, I tend to buy smaller packets first for trial and then go for the 1 pound package. 1 pound package will give you more than 50 trays. For large seeds such as peas or sunflower, I buy 5 pound packages. True Leaf Market also sells popular seeds on Amazon as well but the variety is smaller and the cost is slightly higher as well. I now pretty much order them directly from the True Leaf Market.

Neutral Flavor Microgreens

I grow and consume these microgreens in bulk. I usually grow a tray or two of each per week. For salads, these form the most of the salad and I add small quantities of flavorful microgreens to spice them up.

Cabbage – Red Acre

This is currently my favorite, it is easy to grow, have not had any problems with the mould. The greens have nice crispy, crunchy texture and have pretty purple color stems.

Broccoli – Waltham

These are very nutritious and easy to eat in large quantities. Very easy to grow and forgiving, I have not had any mould issues with these. I would highly recommend to start with these seeds if you are new to growing microgreens

Kale – Red Russian

This is also nutritious and easy to grow. It is easier to eat Kale in large quantities in this form. Very easy to grow, forgiving, I have not had any mould issues with these.

Kohlrabi – Purple Vienna

This is from the same brassica family as Cabbage, Broccoli and Kale, but now as well known. Very easy to grow, forgiving, I have not had any mould issues with these.

Amaranth – Red Garnet

These are exotic, delicate, bright red plants. These are more difficult to grow, I would recommend growing these after you the hang of growing other kinds of microgreens. The seeds quantity is also much less and if you are using the soil method, do not stack this in middle. Stack this on the top and use a tray on top as a dome for these to germinate

Flavorful Microgreens

I grow these in small quantity, I usually pick one of the variety for the week. Some of these take a longer time to grow, so I may start more trays but they will not be ready for couple of weeks.

Cres – Curled

These are easy to grow and are spicy. Try them out and see how many you want to mix with your salad

Radish – Rambo

These are the easiest microgreens to grow and have a radish flavor.

Leeks – Large American Flag

These have onion flavor and have small black shells which are edible, I do not try to remove them. I grow them using coco mat method and they take a little bit longer but you don’t have to worry about harvesting them as soon as they are ready. In my experience they stay for couple of weeks and can be harvested over time.

Fennel – Florence

These have a nice anise flavor that can be used both in salads or smoothies. The shells stay on the microgreens but I am not bothered by them. These take a long time to germinate and I put them on the top of the stack with a dome.

Basil – Genovese

These take a longer time to grow, but the effort is worth it. Just run your hand over the crop and smell your hand, it is divine. The microgreens are short, so be careful in harvesting, using the coco mat method makes it easy to harvest.