Best Microgreen Growing Trays
Microgreen growing trays make growing anti-inflammatory and nutritionally dense microgreens a snap. Whether in front of a window or under lights, growing these teeny-tiny superheroes INSIDE your home is a fantastic way to give your family food security. They offer a big impact. These little vegetables can have up to 40 times the nutritional content of a standard full-sized vegetable.
Start with a Microgreen Growing Tray System
Starting the baby plants from seeds in a microgreen growing tray can assure even growing, excellent drainage, easier watering, and compact space management. The typical tray system takes up less than 2 square feet of counter space. This makes it a great and easy solution for small spaces.
It is possible to make your own tray system with an aluminum pie plate or rotisserie chicken container. However, utilizing a formal microgreen growing tray with a planting tray and a watering tray will enable consistency in growing. It better enables watering from below versus watering from above. When you water from above, it is easy to dislodge the seeds from the soil medium. Therefore, an undertray used for watering can help keep water evenly distributed on the seedlings and reduce the need to water as often.
How a Microgreen Watering Tray System Works
A microgreen growing tray system consists of two trays; a planting tray and a watering tray.
Planting Trays for Microgreens –
Planting trays have perforated bottom holes that enable water to drain from the soil within the tray. This also enables the uptake of water into the soil media. Holes should be evenly spaced and small enough to prevent soil from falling out, but large enough to uptake the water in an even fashion.
Trays that are opaque or transparent do not work as well as black trays. These greens grow more successfully in trays that exclude light from the roots. Planting trays can be used over again consistently without deteriorating.
Watering or Drip Trays for Microgreens –
Watering trays should be slightly larger and must allow the planting tray to drop in and nestle within the watering tray.
Often, watering trays will have ridges that enable the planting tray to keep slightly elevated in order to encourage drainage when necessary. Essentially, it allows extra water to drain away from the soil media.
Microgreen Tray Drainage Concerns
If you add too much water to your watering tray, it will overflow. This is because water is displaced when you place the planting tray. Critically, it is important to add enough water that the plants in the microgreen growing trays will absorb up into the soil media. Be careful to not add so much water to cause an overflow.
Proper drainage is important; having the plants soaking in constant water is not optimal. It is preferred to water well, then drain excess water off. In this fashion, you can water every day or every other day without displacing seeds nor over-watering.
A List of The Best Microgreen Watering Trays
Below is a list of my favorite microgreen growing trays which I am currently using right now in my own microgreen growing stations. These growing trays work very effectively as a part of a complete growing system with soil or a soil medium.
The reason I like these is that I have used them over and over with consistent results. They are dark and prevent light from reaching below the soil media level, they are easily washable for reuse, and the perforations in the planting trays have sufficient holes to enable uptake of water and proper drainage.
- 21.25” x 11” Botanical Interests Microgreen Growing Tray Set – Perforated planting tray, solid watering-drip tray, clear dome – http://bit.ly/3siA1X9
- True Leaf 10” x 20” Solid Watering or Drip Tray – http://bit.ly/3q5slWe
- TL 10” x 10” Perforated Planting Tray – http://bit.ly/2Lhji5G
- 10” X 10” True Leaf Solid Watering or Drip Tray – http://bit.ly/3oxFsij
- 5” x 5” Small Perforated Planting Tray by True Leaf- http://bit.ly/3q5pLPP
- 10” x 20” True Leaf Humidity Greenhouse Dome Covers – http://bit.ly/3ov6eYV
Dependent upon the specific number of planting trays, each fits easily within the larger watering or drip trays in order to water from beneath or afford strong drainage into the tray once the microgreens are watered.
Greenhouse Dome Cover Rules for Microgreen Growing
Dome covers effectively increase moisture and humidity in order to encourage microgreen starts. They are not necessary but can be helpful in certain situations. However, it is very important to note that once the seedlings begin to develop a leaf, the dome covers must be removed.
If greenhouse dome covers are not removed in order to let stronger air circulation occur, it is possible that seedlings will experience damping off. This disease occurs when fungus grows on an emerging seedling and causes it to rot and collapse. Essentially, damping-off pathogens can cause crown rot or root rot in healthy plants.
These trays make growing and harvesting microgreens a snap. Get started today!
A Video on How to Use Microgreen Growing Trays to Start Microgreens
If you would like a quick reference on how to assemble your microgreen growing kit and get gardening RIGHT NOW with these teeny-tiny brilliantly anti-inflammatory vegetables, watch the video below!
