Microgreens: AG Spicy Mix

[pfunnyjoy]

Today I harvested my first grow of the AG Spicy Mix microgreens. I could have saved some for another day, but they smelled SO GOOD I didn't want to! Hubby got some to try and he liked them too! I ate them with scrambled eggs, a teaspoon of olive oil, some Himalayan pink salt and fresh ground pepper.




I sanitized the Harvest Elite and am going for round two of these AG seeds. The first batch was ready in 12 days.

The new batch is rolling with two different, non-Aerogarden, growing mediums. Aside from the AG felt being expensive, I've heard they often run out of stock, so alternatives are good.

Grow medium one is the Micro-Mat Minis Hydroponic Grow Pads for Organic Production wood fiber pad. Nice that this alternate is compostable. The downside is that it is not an exact fit, so some grow space in the tray will be wasted.

Grow medium two is On the Grow Silicone Reusable Grow Medium Microgreen Grow Mat that I recently discovered on Etsy. This, as I found out later, is basically a food-grade silicone dehydrator sheet, so I probably paid too much. Oh well! 

First, I cut the silicone to fit. I used a kitchen scissors and had it close first try. I didn't do anything fancy, just held the felt to the silicone mat and cut around it. It ended up a tiny bit large on one side and I trimmed it down.

Aerogarden felt media on the left, silicone grow mat on the right:


The Micro-Mat needed a couple corners clipped down:


The next step was seeding. I put the mats in, ran the pump to get them wet, then seeded with the recommended 2 teaspoons of seeds. This went very smoothly on the Micro-Mat side. I just tapped the teaspoon and carefully did my best to get the seed on the mat without losing them on the sidelines.

It went a little less smoothly on the silicone side. There, the seeds didn't stick, so I just had to do the best I could to distribute them. One issue, which I could see while running the pump, is that the silicone, not being absorbent, just floats up. Which may be a detriment in the AG microgreens system, though it presumably would be a non-issue in standard trays, where seeds would be misted from the top. Another issue, the very tiniest seeds did fall through! Others kind of stuck part way down in the holes.

When I was done, I misted the top of the silicone side, just to be sure the seeds all had similar dampness. Then I covered with the domes and proceeded to start a new garden.

Seeds sown on both media:


Now I wait.

[pfunnyjoy]

So far, so good. I wasn't sure if I'd wake up to dry looking seeds on the right, but it seems like they are getting enough moisture regardless of the silicone mat's tendency to float. I'm seeing signs of germination in both trays already.

The water bubbling has floated some of the seeds off the Micro-Mat.

[pfunnyjoy]

It's day 3. My fear I would need to mist the silicone mat side is over, it has NOT been necessary.

Germination seems pretty even between the two media. One item of slight difference is that the Micro-Mat is a little less even, there are a few taller greens on that side.

I changed the water yesterday, after two days. It didn't look like it needed it unlike my first grow where I changed at 4 days and the water was funky looking and smelly. Perhaps 3 days is the sweet spot.

I put a little pH Down in, just to bring my high pH (8.5) water within range, but I don't fuss with testing it. I also add 5ml of 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide when I change the water.

There were some seeds in the bottom of the reservoir, I assume most were from the silicone tray. But it wasn't enough to worry over.

[patlab]

It seems that you love microgreens as much as I do. I have two harvest always giving greens and one bounty which I rarely use because it’s a pain to set up. Anyway.. every now and then I go through all my seed packs, pull the greens that are old or that I will not grow again, mix them all together and have a great microgreen mix. It’s fun because you use up all those leftover seeds and you never know exactly what microgreens you’ll get! Saves money, too.

[pfunnyjoy]

Feb 22, 2024 11:31:26 GMT -5 patlab said:

It seems that you love microgreens as much as I do. I have two harvest always giving greens and one bounty which I rarely use because it’s a pain to set up. Anyway.. every now and then I go through all my seed packs, pull the greens that are old or that I will not grow again, mix them all together and have a great microgreen mix. It’s fun because you use up all those leftover seeds and you never know exactly what microgreens you’ll get! Saves money, too.

That's a great idea and one I'll definitely incorporate!

I've got a white tray from On the Grow on order, to see how that goes. I really need more than the AG kit has room for, as I can eat a tray at a time easily! I think the 7"x14" size will be a great size for putting around the Aerogardens. Ideally, I'd like to be able to have a cup of microgreens as a daily salad or addition to my eggs.

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 5
The greens continue to grow. Yesterday I added 4ml of AG nutrients, plus 5ml 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide, plus a small amount of pH Down when I changed the water. Today I removed the dome on the left side, will leave it on the right side one more day.

The left side (Micro-Mat) seems to be growing a little quicker, but both sides look nice, even if the right side (silicone mesh) seems a little slower for growth height. No complaints about either growing medium so far.

[lynnee]

It's really interesting to see how your microgreens are doing on the different mats, pfunnyjoy!

[Jeff]

Thank you so much pfunnyjoy for your detailed and informative post. I would love to see a follow up picture of the microgreens when they are ready to harvest. I am currently using cheesecloth as an alternative and I’m really curious to see how your silicone mat turns out. I am wondering after you grow the greens on the silicone mat how easy or hard it will be to remove the roots and clean it. Thanks again

[swimmom500]

I tried cheesecloth twice and it didn’t work. The first time I used several layers and then I tried again using 1 layer and still no luck. The only thing I have had success with so far has been the Aerogarden felt.
I see Park Seed has some made of Hemp that come in 2 different sizes. Has anyone tried these?

[pfunnyjoy]

Feb 27, 2024 12:06:59 GMT -5 Jeff said:

Thank you so much pfunnyjoy for your detailed and informative post. I would love to see a follow up picture of the microgreens when they are ready to harvest. I am currently using cheesecloth as an alternative and I’m really curious to see how your silicone mat turns out. I am wondering after you grow the greens on the silicone mat how easy or hard it will be to remove the roots and clean it. Thanks again

Don't worry, I do plan to update with pictures once they are ready to harvest. I generally harvest at the point true leaves start to appear.

No experience yet, but the videos I've watched suggest that it is quite easy to remove roots and clean the silicone. At least that's what I'm hoping!

[pfunnyjoy]

Feb 27, 2024 15:30:40 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

I tried cheesecloth twice and it didn’t work. The first time I used several layers and then I tried again using 1 layer and still no luck. The only thing I have had success with so far has been the Aerogarden felt.
I see Park Seed has some made of Hemp that come in 2 different sizes. Has anyone tried these?

I did see the Aerogarden Experiments guy using cheesecloth as an alternate. Personally, I didn't like the way it looked; call me fussy. And I wasn't convinced I'd like cleaning/sanitizing it afterwards.

So far the Micro-Mat mini (wood pulp) media seems to be doing very well. So I'd consider that a great alternative, and likewise for the silicone.

I just looked up the Park Seed Hemp mats and I don't see why those couldn't work nicely! However, they are a tad more expensive than the Micro-Mat minis, which cost me $17.59 for 48 on Amazon. The Park 5x5 Hemp mats run $19.95 for 40.

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 9 update
The Micro-Mat mini side (left) continues to have more growth and height, but the silicone mat (right) is only a step or two behind. It shouldn't be long before true leaves appear and the microgreens can be harvested.

The current state of the experiment suggests that if you want the fastest growth, go Micro-Mat mini. If you prefer a reusable option and don't mind waiting an extra day or two, the silicone mat should suit nicely. But I will update again after harvesting!

I think the silicone media might be more suitable for tray growing, where microgreens are weighted during germination, and also have a blackout period. I have a tray coming, so I may do a future experiment with that!



I'm liking the change of water at every 3 days. That's the point for me where the water starts to look and smell just a wee bit funky. I changed it again today, adding nutrients and hydrogen peroxide as usual.

[lynnee]

Have you harvested all of these yet, pfunnyjoy?

Have you tried cleaning the silicone mat?

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 14
I could have harvested yesterday or the day before, but got busy and didn't. Unfortunately, I forgot to check/adjust pH when I last changed the water (my tap water is pH 8.5) and I started seeing some pH issues at day 12, but thought I'd be harvesting at day 13, so didn't bother with a water/nutrient change or pH adjustment. The harm was already done. Then I didn't manage to harvest yesterday either.

So that's what's going on in these photos where some greens are looking problematic. Nevertheless, the greens were still tasty! I harvested and ate the left tray, then harvested the right tray and sealed it in a one-cup Mason jar with one of those Mason jar vacuum sealers for tomorrow.

Interestingly, the silicone mat side had mostly, though not entirely, caught up in height!

Side view:


Top view where you can see the pH drift damage all too clearly:


And eating them up with scrambled eggs, riced cauliflower, and some cilantro view:


Cleanup of the Micro-Mat was easy. Once the greens were cut, I just took the tray and dumped out the Micro-Mat in the trash. Supposedly it is compostable, so you could just as easily dump in a compost heap.

Cleanup of the silicone mat took 2 minutes or less. Most of the roots were pulled out very quickly, in fact, you want to be careful while harvesting as if you inadvertently tug, you'll pull up microgreens roots and all! Shortly after starting (over the garbage can), the silicone was 90% free of roots, and then I worked with it a bit more under the faucet with a drop of Dawn and a sink strainer in place, and boom, all clean. Works as advertised!

I've got the garden full of vinegar and am letting it run to sanitize the trays as well as the silicone mat. Ultimately, either media seems fine, but one is reusable with a tiny bit of extra effort to clean the roots and mat, the other is not. The Micro-Mat might give a tiny bit of extra yield, but it's pretty marginal.

[lynnee]

It's good to know that a bit of damage doesn't really interfere with the enjoyment of microgreens!

I'm so lucky--our tap water tests at 7.0 pH. The water comes from the same mountain sources that get bottled and sold as spring water, and is only tainted by the usual chemicals added to municipal water.

[pfunnyjoy]

Mar 3, 2024 19:52:26 GMT -5 lynnee said:

It's good to know that a bit of damage doesn't really interfere with the enjoyment of microgreens!

I'm so lucky--our tap water tests at 7.0 pH. The water comes from the same mountain sources that get bottled and sold as spring water, and is only tainted by the usual chemicals added to municipal water.

You are lucky!

I did notice that laying the silicone mat just in tray, no seeds on top, it was wanting to curl while I was sanitizing. I turned it the other way and put it in the other tray and it flattened out, but then when laying on the counter, wanted to curl at the edges again. Remains to be seen if this will be an issue for re-use, but I'll update if it becomes a problem.

I've got the Harvest circulating water now.

[pfunnyjoy]

Day 0
The Harvest Elite is back in action with more Spicy Mix seeds.

I'd meant to try some broccoli seeds I'd gotten for sprouting, until I got tired of the mess of getting the hulls out of the sprouts and stopped growing the sprouts. However, they were in the fridge, and I'd forgotten I'd need to get them out to come to room temp before opening the bag, so, spicy mix again it is!

Using silicone mats on both sides this time.

[pfunnyjoy]

Uh Oh!

Well, it remains to be seen how practical reusing the silicone is. I don't know if the vinegar did something to it, or what, but although it laid flat initially for reseeding, it developed major curl within an hour!

Previously used mat on the left, unused silicone mat on the right:


I didn't feel good about continuing, since some of the seeds would NOT be contacting the water, so I carefully lifted out the mat, put a Micro-Mat in, and did my best to distribute the now damp seeds across the Micro-Mat. The unused silicone mat on the right is laying perfectly.

I tried looking up silicone dehydrator sheets curling after being cleaned and found nothing. Same for looking up silicone grow media.

I put the sheet into some warm water to soak a bit then sandwiched it between paper towels and have a silicone mat on top to keep it flat. No idea if this will help. But if these sheets need to be flattened out each time after a grow, that might be just too much hassle!

Stay tuned. I guess if the sheet flattens out, I can try dipping it in water to see if it starts to curl up again. Otherwise, must wait until the current crop is done. I don't want to waste the seeds. If silicone is not a good bet as a reusable media in the AG, then stainless steel mesh might work. I know one gal on YouTube did that successfully!

[lynnee]

Mar 4, 2024 0:15:05 GMT -5 pfunnyjoy said:

Uh Oh!

Well, it remains to be seen how practical reusing the silicone is. I don't know if the vinegar did something to it, or what, but although it laid flat initially for reseeding, it developed major curl within an hour!

Previously used mat on the left, unused silicone mat on the right:

How strange!  You might try testing a small piece of new silicone mat by soaking it in vinegar.  I would think that heat might cause the mat to curl, but vinegar?  Maybe the microgreens roots caused the curl?  

[pfunnyjoy]

The suspect piece of silicone mat is, today, feeling normally pliable and laying perfectly flat on the kitchen counter. Where last night, it was curling no matter what. 

I have no idea if it has "memory" and may yet curl again when exposed to water. It is very strange! I will, naturally, eventually try it. And I won't be using vinegar the next time I sanitize these!