There is a popular trend among consumers in which they are seeking healthy alternatives to traditional, fatty salad greens. Microgreens are a promising alternative as they are very low calorie, high nutritional food. They are a relative newcomer to the market but have proven to be a hit with consumers when introduced. We want to help guide you in planting microgreens and growing them successfully.

It is important to understand the nutritional value of microgreens before planting them for consumption. Microgreens are low calorie vegetables that are grown on a leafy greens family, unlike other types of vegetables where the edible portion is large and concentrated in the leafy greens. This makes them harder to digest so the microgreen for salad should be consumed with caution. However, if you enjoy eating them, they are an excellent alternative and taste great!

When growing micro greens for salad use only one stem shoot, do not dig the container bottom. When choosing a container to keep in mind the amount of leaves you will need for a given salad. Typically microgreens take up to four hours to mature. After this time, all you need to do is remove the micro green leafy greens from the plant and rinse with clean water. All leftover microgreen will be your salad! To obtain the desired salad outcome, ensure to rinse the leaves thoroughly after removing them from the plant.

To be successful in planting micro greens for salad, consider using a variety of different plants instead of just lettuce. Lettuce is by far the most popular choice but it does not have the same appeal to diners as other green varieties. To add variety to your salad, try planting spinach, broccoli, radishes, turnips, chard or cucumbers. By using a wider variety of greens in your salad, you can produce an interesting look without having to compromise taste.

When growing microgreen for salad keep in mind that you should always prune off any dead or broken leaves. This will prevent your plants from forming a thick forest of microgreens. Pruning also gives your salad growing experience a beautiful appearance. In addition, healthy leaves on your plant mean increased nutrition for your salad guests.

When growing microgreen for salad, ensure to provide adequate support when they are growing. They will need strong support as their roots grow. As long as you give them good growing environment and adequate support, you will have great results. Your salad plants will reward you with tasty, colorful, healthy leaves.

Harvest and prune your plants regularly to help keep them healthy. Pruning encourages new growth. If you want a natural look, wait until the end of the summer before harvesting. The micro green color will fade during the winter. During spring, you should try to cut back new growth to promote blooming microgreens.

When choosing microgreen for salad, lettuce is a great choice. However, it is not recommended to use lettuce when creating a salad because lettuce has very narrow roots. Lettuce will only grow to a certain size which limits its volume and foliage. Instead, other common vegetables like spinach work very well when grown alone.

As much as possible, don’t overcrowd the salad plants. You should try to create an even layer instead of having too many leaves on top of one another. This will help in maximizing the amount of microgreen that can grow at one time. Keep in mind that most salad greens will grow to one inch per year. To maximize the amount of microgreens you can have, be sure to cover each leaf with at least one new leaf every few days.

Do you want your plants to grow diagonally? Then provide your plants with equally spaced leaves. Some microgreens can also grow diagonally. If this is the case, then be sure to provide similar spacing between the leaves for optimal growth.

There are many other benefits that you can get from growing microgreen for salad. Your plants will also be healthier since it is a natural soil conditioner. The leaves will also be cleaner and healthier than ordinary salad greens because they are smaller. You should also consider adding chives and basil to your salad mixture so that you can add the highest amount of microgreen into each meal.

To ensure that your microgreen garden produces healthy leaves, be sure to water them daily. Also, you should feed your leaves with a liquid fertilizer once a week. Keep in mind that microgreen tends to be an annual plant. So you should make certain that you do not cut the leaves until the first frost. You should let your garden stay put until the following spring.