So I am stumbling down the micro greens block again. I insist that it work because it ALWAYS did before! I know that I am not supposed to accuse them and say that word ‘always’ but they really do deserve that word! So anyway I threw out the others because they weren’t growing and as I did that I also assumed that anyone who sees these later, like wherever the trash goes, will see these seeds growing there. This is how I know that these plants can get extremely big. when I used to grow them in dirt, because I read on their website that they don’t (they actually soak them and I balked at that idea), some of the seeds fell into the cracks of my pavers that are placed incorrectly without the black weed blocker and they grew as large as kale is at the store! Can you believe that?!? But I was afraid of where that had been so I never ate it. Anyway I can’t find the special papers that came with my micro greens growing kit. It was only maybe 17.00. I normally try to not buy official things like that because I want to see if I can figure out a different way that will lead to the same successful endeavor. This time I gave in. So I am using coffee filters!! They work so much better than the special papers that come with it! You can wet them down and they become totally flat! They suck themselves right to the plastic. You can actually hear them doing that. Then I misted it again and poured in the seeds so that they will stick evenly and then I misted it again. I used 4 coffee filters. And I think they are soooo much cleaner than the papers were! Then at the end when you want to harvest them a person only has to pick up each filter instead of the whole darn thing. Then I put on press and seal plastic wrap. I hope that they grow THIS TIME!
So these are already sprouting and it’s been 2-3 days. Just mist it throughout the day and put the plastic back on. In my opinion the paper has to be porous enough to take in water and stable enough to not break like some types of paper. I had thought about parchment paper but that is too slippery for the seeds to stay in one place and the water would not be absorbed by it because it repels water.
More have sprouted today and they are yellow. I am going to keep misting them and I will keep the plastic over it until 80% have sprouted. Then I will take the plastic off. This is not an exact science. Make sure to watch and make sure that they don’t seem too swampy. If they are dump the water out of the bottom tray because it’s not getting enough circulation. Some people grow micro-greens with a lot of circulating water under neath the top tray. This works because the circulation of the water creates oxygen and other gases for them to be able to not get slimy. Then after you take the plastic off they will become green because they will be able to make chlorophyll, chlorophyll is green. The plant uses the sun to make this food for itself.
I wanted to mention that whatever you use for the papers to grow the seeds on make sure that it is some sort of food-grade item. You might see what coffee filters are made of and find something at the pet store or fish section of a pet store and use something from there. Please DO NOT DO THAT. Those might have chemicals that would be used for something other than food for people. Coffee filters are food grade and are regulated as such. Make sure that whatever you use it’s a declared food-grade item.
Here they are now
And for proof that this works here are some s the last group that I did several months ago, frozen for smoothies. No dirt and all of the roots attached. Yes I know they are not that beautiful in this frozen state but they are great for smoothies when I actually do it!
I am back to square one with these. Somehow the seeds got ruined, I think. I bought them last year. I will just have to buy another bag. There are so many kinds! They are fun to try. Maybe I didn’t store them correctly??
This is when I grew them in dirt a couple of years ago.
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