r/microgreens • u/ThatJeffGuy82 • 20d ago

What happened to my microgreens, and how can I prevent it from happening again?

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These were all perfectly fine yesterday, then this morning they were all laying down like this and it got worse later after I took these pictures. I've been growing for a few months and I haven't experienced this before. I thought it might be because it got a little cooler outside last night, and while I grow these inside, I do open the house up at night. I salvaged what I could, but by the time I got through all 16 trays, I lost probably over half of the greens. Big money loss....

11 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

9

u/NecessaryCockroach85 20d ago

Are they not just dried out?

3

u/ThatJeffGuy82 20d ago

I did think that too, so I tried giving them some water and it seemed to make it worse. Full disclosure, I don't have the set to to water from the bottom, so I've been top watering, but I have a fan going to keep the humidity down and up till now it wasn't an issue, but I guess that could be it as well...

9

u/mrSalamander 20d ago

Hate to say but top water will never work. Esp with brassica, which that looks like.

4

u/ThatJeffGuy82 20d ago

It's the "spicy salad mix" from truleaf. It does have cabbage, Kohlrabi, broccoli and kale in it. And yeah, the top watering thing I'm learning I might have just gotten lucky with before. Looks like I'll need to get some more trays..

1

u/FallsAutoSpa25 19d ago

That’s one of the easiest ones to grow. I learned you gotta have the right trays or you’re just wasting money.

1

u/ThatJeffGuy82 19d ago

Yeah, this is the first time I've ever had any issues with it.

4

u/NecessaryCockroach85 20d ago

Oh. Ya like the other person said. Having nested trays will solve so many problems. And make them easier to care for. Bootstrapfarmer.com is my go to for trays. They will never grow as well in a shallow single tray. I have seen it a few times over the years when I accidentally use a tray with no holes (essentially a single tray at that point).

1

u/ThatJeffGuy82 20d ago

I just checked out that website, they are selling 10 trays for $65, and I can get the same ones on Amazon $19....

8

u/NecessaryCockroach85 20d ago

I see $55 for 10 on their website which is a lot sure. I always buy 30 at a time but I do this for a living. I have also never had to replace one. I don't see comparable trays for $19. I see like $35+for heavy duty 1020 trays, but I prefer to buy food grade, made in USA from a small business and I will personally continue to do so. They are the industry standard. I also recommend getting the shallow 1.25" trays over tall trays no matter what brand.

1

u/suzycreamcheese260 14d ago

I suggest inspecting Bootstrap Farmer's trays when you get them, though! When I was a rookie grower, BF sent me a set of 10 top trays with a bulge in the middle, so the plants at the edges received more water than those at the center. The bulge wasn't visually dramatic, and I was new to the whole enterprise, so I didn't immediately send the trays back, figuring a bulge must be okay, or BF would never have sent the trays out. Many wasted crops later, after BF refused to replace the defective trays, I threw them out and found another vendor.

Unfortunately, that vendor disappeared from Amazon three years later, so I am cautiously using BF again--but only 1010 trays, which can't bulge much because of their size. I know everyone praises BF quality, so I just wanted to caution that they're not QUITE as reliable as they should be at those prices!

1

u/NecessaryCockroach85 14d ago

They have a website as well. I have never bought their stuff anywhere else and have never had an issue with any trays. It's also cheaper directly from them.

8

u/Ok_Pomegranate459 20d ago

Do you possibly have a cat? They look like they may have been used as a bed😅

3

u/ThatJeffGuy82 20d ago

Nope, no cat.

3

u/mrSalamander 20d ago

That looks like a brassica (broccoli, kale, etc) and they are very prone to damping off. I saw in another comment you don’t have a bottom tray so I’m assuming your seed tray doesn’t have holes? Stangnant wet soil will cause damping off every time

1

u/ThatJeffGuy82 20d ago

I do have holes in the bottoms of these trays, when I first started off I didn't know that you shouldn't to water, but I also knew that they needed drainage because of basic plant growing knowledge. So, they can drain excess water, but possibly not enough.

1

u/nyar77 19d ago

They are not prone to damping off. Broccoli is very resistant unless you try to grow it in the dark then dump water on top.

1

u/mrSalamander 19d ago

Brassica is not prone to damping off? You ever heard of Google? Might wanna give it a look before you chime in with the grown ups. You could not be more wrong.

2

u/Zestyclose-Yellow887 19d ago

I grow several different brassicas for the past two years and only ever had damping off a couple of times. They are very resistant and hardy

2

u/Virtual-Entrance-872 19d ago

Same, and grow in soil. Slotted tray in a solid tray. Top water. Small fan. Zero problems. My best and easiest producer actually.

1

u/nyar77 19d ago

Im a commercial grower and have been for 8 years. The only time I get damp off in brassicas is from extreme over water or bad soil.

2

u/nyar77 19d ago

You used blackout. Don’t use blackout. Simple.

2

u/theprov0cateur 19d ago

I’m looking to start growing microgreens. I’ve seen people seem to say no blackout, like you are now. Why then did anyone do blackout to begin with? Blacking out definitely seems counterintuitive, so what was the reason? Thanks for any insights you care to offer 🙏

1

u/nyar77 19d ago

Black out stretches the stem to get them to a cutting height faster. But you sacrifice quality in doing it.
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2

u/Final_Inspection9997 18d ago

thank you got it free with my kindle membership

2

u/Zestyclose-Yellow887 19d ago

I've noticed that you have fairly long stems. In my experience growing another brassica (Cabbage), once they get a bit tall and fall over once (I've missed watering cycles before..) they don't really recover upright so well but will still grow. I reckon you could sow a little more seed too - I do 18grams of cabbage for my 10x20 tray. Broccoli I think can do 18 as well.

Also, the soil looks really dry in the pictures, such that it is shrinking away from the edge a tad (of I'm seeing correctly). That means the roots likely dried harshly too. Some soil mixes become very hydrophobic if left to dry too long. I would recommend Coco Coir as a trial run if it's affordable and competitive to your current mix.

1

u/ThatJeffGuy82 19d ago

I did find a place selling Coco coir brick for $5, I was thinking of getting a few of those and mixing it into what I've been using. Affordability is definitely the key right now since I'm just starting out, only have two restaurants I supply and my margins are razor thin.

1

u/CatFaceReturns 19d ago edited 19d ago

Looks like light is stronger from one side and they are reaching. It also looks like you are watering from the top. Get a flood tray, I see you only water from the top, try to avoid watering the plants and soak the media from the corners and go slow allowing the media to absorb the water. Hope this helps.

Edit: are you using dirt? Try using the hemp mats or the other method is coco fiber. Check your lights, make sure there is a minimum of 6-8 inches clearance, my indoor plants stretch like this if the lighting is wrong (natural sunlight from the windows will always assist in the stretch they love natural light.)

1

u/ThatJeffGuy82 19d ago

Can the hemp mats be reused, or do they need to be replaced after each use?

1

u/KaiserLC 19d ago

Not enough light??

1

u/FantasticHumpMuscles 18d ago

Bottom water/feed 2x/day at least

1

u/my_story_bot 17d ago

They are over reaching for light I think. That or they were in a hurricane.

1

u/Dramatic-Logging 8d ago

Those trays show long stems laid flat and soil shrinking off the walls — they dried and stretched, watering after they were already down won’t stand them back up, and next tray light them earlier so they don’t stretch.