Microgreens
As always at this time of year I have started off my micro greens. Although most of my garden is looking good, the summer lettuces are about to finish and my aromatic herbs, basil and coriander, are dying off. Hopefully with the garden centres about to open again I can fix the lettuce problem but it will be too cold for the aromatic herbs now so I have sown an Asian microgreen mix that germinates very quickly even outside. I also have put in a red cabbage and mustard mixture which isn’t too far behind the Asian Mix and in a day or so the peas will be through and once that happens it is only a few days before there are plenty of pea shoots to add to dishes.
When I sow the micro green seeds I cover them very lightly with potting mix or soil and give them a good water. In the past I have used glad wrap to cover them to make a warm, moist environment, however, this year I didn’t want to do that and was wondering just what I could use to make the little hothouses when I thought of the plastic wrap on The Press and I found that the weekday plastic cut along one of the short sides exactly fits over a medium pot. If you manage to create a warm environment and water the seeds in well then there is no need to disturb the pots until you see the seedlings appear, the condensation will keep the moisture at a good level without you having to do any further watering.
Once the seedlings appear then it is easy to cut off the top of the plastic to open it up so the seedlings get some air but are still protected. Once I open the pots up I start to give the seedlings a very weak solution of Thrive every few days until they are big enough to start using.
I have been using Mr Fothergill’s seeds from Bunnings but there are many companies putting out micro green seeds now. I like Mr Fothergill’s seeds because they have a mixture in each pack so you get more choice but I have used Kings seeds very successfully as well. Just make sure you use proper microgreen seeds as they haven’t been treated and as you are using the little leaves very close to their source then they could be contaminated by any treatment that might have been done.
If you have any questions then send me an email and I will help if I can.
First one is showing The Press hothouses.
Second is Asian mixture after a week, top cut of plastic.
Third is red cabbage and mustard mix after a week, top cut off plastic.