Micro greens and indoor growing

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone here has any experience growing micro greens indoors.

I'm looking to start a small scale grow and I'm really interested in what has worked well for others.

Any advice or links to online resources that may help would be appreciated.

Edit: @dannyboy602 I know you have a little experience with this subject. Any input would be awesome, thanks.

What specifically do you want to know, Doc? How to, varieties, etc?

Thanks man. Yeah, varieties, seed wholesalers and such.

Just at the very early stages and looking to gather as much information on what varieties tend to sell well as possible.

I think we are going to target, independent grocers and local restaurants to begin with but as I say we are still just spittballing ideas at this stage.

Edit: These seem to be the most common varieties grown but I'm wondering how specific they are to certain markets and seasons.

arugula, basil, celery, cabbage, cilantro, endive, mustard and rainbow chard or kale.

I'm going to watch. I can't believe it. This year I suddenly realized I could grow 'cheap' plants with my expensive equipment. I have a tomato I am currently more excited about then my current seed run LOL! Who knew it was this fun. Anyway I really would like to know more about this, subbed.

Are you intending to go beyond sprouts? Sounds like you are going fairly big, so don't neglect the sprout market: alfalfa, mung and azuki beans
edit: and wheatgrass

also the various lettuces; red and green leaf...young lettuce is a gourmet seller here. Consider edible flowers, esp to restaurants

Singlemalt said:

Are you intending to go beyond sprouts? Sounds like you are going fairly big, so don't neglect the sprout market: alfalfa, mung and azuki beans
edit: and wheatgrass

Click to expand...

Yeah, was looking more at actual greens tbh. Cropping once they have there first set of true leaves but that is a great point. I could see sprouts being ideal for the grow space and conditions.

Singlemalt said:

also the various lettuces; red and green leaf...young lettuce is a gourmet seller here. Consider edible flowers, esp to restaurants

Click to expand...

Really good info, thanks. That is exactly the kind of road we are hoping to go down.

Edible flowers is an interesting option as well.

Im not of a veggie guy, so would also need some advice on the whole strain/varieties of lettuce. Edible flowers, I would've never thought of that, great idea...local restaurants would literally eat that up. Again, any ideas on strain/variety?

Do you have a greenhouse? What size area? Flowers will take some time

Flowers should be annual types: borage (blue, cucumber flavor); nasturtium, violets, etc

http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm

Singlemalt said:

Do you have a greenhouse? What size area? Flowers will take some time

Click to expand...

It's a small commercial unit that looks like it could be ideal.

From what I've read so far it appears that micro greens and sprouts are all harvested quite quickly. I'm going to have to immerse myself in the subject as at present my knowledge is limited.

I'll read that link. If I understand what's used in cooking then I should have a better idea of what the market looks like.

Long way to go but appreciate the help at this early stage. Thanks again.

Singlemalt said:

Do you have a greenhouse? What size area? Flowers will take some time

Click to expand...

I've been thinking of renting a space, so a reasonable size (for example, 43.66 sq.metres (470 sq.feet)). Good point on the flowers, but its still something I would definitely be interested in experimenting with (even if its just a small section). Thanks for your input, i've forgotten how valuable riu can be.

This will be fairly labor intensive...experiment, get your germ times down and then plant,harvest, prepping everyday

Good point. I may be underestimating how much work this would be.

As you say, we would have germ, prep, constant harvest and delivery of the product all to deal with.

Do you think this is something you could do while continuing to work a day job?

Depends upon how big the project is. You can do all experimentation prior to scaling up. But, you need to talk with potential clients, work out pricing, product expectations, then scale up to determine profit while keeping day job. I doubt you'd have time for a social life

I did a bunch of research mostly on youtube and had thought of doing something along the lines of a microgreens and quick growing, high value crop rotation thing for upscale restaurants and farmers markets. Sounds like you're thinking along the same lines?
Curtis Stone has a lot to say on the subject. His vids can be found on youtube. There are others also. I remember one guy saying he grows strictly microgreens indoors on 4x8 tables and each table yields about $300 every two weeks. Not bad.
Here's a guy who grows in a shipping container. I think he has a cool set up.
Anyway I'd start there.

I've tried a few trays of lettuce and arugula, the main thing for me was not letting the trays get too dry because they'll die fast which was kind of tough out in the hot summer sun.

These folks have an interesting system.