How to grow radish microgreens is super simple. I grew these radish microgreens from scratch. I got to enjoy them in a salad mix just 7 days later. In this guide I will be showing you how I grew radish microgreens successfully. If you follow this guide you should be able to enjoy your own radish micros in no time at all.
Shown here are fully mature radishes with the tubers partially above the soil. The botanical name for radish is Raphanus sativus. Think about this. To grow a full fledged radish crop as shown above you need up to 70 days. Growing radish microgreens takes roughly 10% of that time. Not only that, microgreens are known to have many times more nutrients than the mature crop!
There are a number of radish varieties. These include watermelon radish, fresh breakfast radish, pink radish and malaga violet among others. This guide assumes you are planning to grow any of these varieties, especially the common types. I am pretty sure the method I used here will work on most varieties.
What you will need to grow your radish microgreens
All guides found on this website follow a common pattern. It is assumed that the reader is getting into microgreens growing for the very first time. The following is a list of items needed to grow radish microgreens.
This list is thus prepared with an absolute beginner in mind. Some of my readers have been growing microgreens for a while. In that case, some of the items are likely already in place and applicable when growing radish microgreens.
That said, I recommend that new growers prepare the following items to start growing radish micros:-
- Microgreens trays (supplier)
- Grow lights (supplier)
- Soil sifter (supplier)
- Soil
- Radish seeds
- Water spray (supplier)
- Ziploc bags (supplier)
- Water for watering
Practical steps to growing your radish microgreens
The following are the exact steps I took to grow radish micros. The images in this guide are the outcome of that approach. What you see is what you get.
To succeed, all you need to do is to follow these exact steps. In several days time, you should be enjoying your own radish micros just like I did (and continue to do). Whilst at it, I recommend you also look at my other guides. If possible also do carrots, lettuce, onion and spinach microgreens at the same. The benefits are a lovely microgreens salad mix at the end. It is very common to mix a variety of microgreens in one salad.
Let’s get started…
1. Get your growing soil ready by sifting
Get some ordinary garden soil to grow your radish microgreens. Some people talk of a special microgreens growing medium. I have been growing microgreens at home for many years. In all this time I have not found it necessary to use a special type of soil.
What I actually discovered is that any decent native soil type will do. This typically comes from your existing garden. Of course, if you have no access to such then you could use commercial growing mediums.
You want your soil to be free of any foreign particles and debris. Microgreens are tender and delicate. For this reason I try as much as possible to create a super friendly environment for them to grow in.
I run my soil through a sifter which leaves very fine particles. I actually use a baking sifter that would typically belong to the kitchen. Later on, this fine soil will offer no resistance to the roots as the radish microgreens germinate. Although I use a baking sieve, you may get soil sifters such as these ones.
2. Get your microgreens growing tray
The next step after getting your soil ready is to put it in a tray. Get a microgreens growing tray of any size, really. The size of the tray is up to you. This is informed by the level of production you are looking for. However, whichever tray size you use, it must have holes underneath.
Radish microgreens and many other microgreen types do not like to be waterlogged. The holes at the bottom of the tray will drain excess water from the soil. Commercial microgreen trays such as *this one* come with holes. If you are using a home-made tray such as a repurposed supermarket punnet, put some holes yourself.
Take the finely sifted soil and fill the tray to the top. Shake the tray gently to facilitate a bit of soil compacting. Leave about 1 cm at the top to avoid the soil over spilling.
3. Water the soil in the tray thoroughly
The next step is to water the soil in the tray. This is the only watering needed until your radish microgreens germinate. For this reason, we must water the tray really well.
There are two ways I follow in watering microgreens. The first method avoids disturbing the soil in the tray. This method uses a fine spray to water the soil in the tray before planting. You will need a garden spray that can be set to produce a super fine spray pattern for this purpose. You usually get this type of spray output by using a dial spray. Here is an example of such a nozzle sprayer.
The second method of watering aims to avoid disturbing the microgreens themselves once they have germinated. In this case, I avoid using a spray. Using a spray is also not good due to moisture which causes molding. Moisture encourages growth of fungal spores resulting in mold. Mold is any microgreens farmer’s worst nightmare.
To avoid the potential problems, I take a bigger container that can fit my tray. Fill it with water and then sit my microgreens in it. Water in the bigger container will move silently and gently into the microgreens tray. The holes under the tray facilitate this watering creating a smart watering system. This is what I show in the image above.
4. Plant your Radish Microgreens
This is how radish microgreens seeds look like. I recommend using non-treated seeds to avoid chemical contamination. To achieve this, specifically look for radish seeds sold for microgreens purposes.
The way to plant your radish microgreens is simple. Take the now watered tray and begin generously spreading the radish seeds on top of the soil. We want the radish microgreens to germinate densely. This is why we must spread the seeds all around the surface of the soil generously. When it is all said and done, your seeds should cover the entire surface of the tray as shown above.
5. Gently press the Radish Microgreens seeds into the soil.
This is an important step. It is important because we are not going to bury the seeds under the soil. The microgreen seeds will remain uncovered. However, what you will need to do is to gently press on the seeds.
Use the palm of your hand to softly press the layer of seed into the soil. The seeds should not be buried under the soil. They should instead just make good enough contact with the soil. This is possible because the soil is soaked wet. It will easily stick to the seeds being pressed into it.
This action also ensures the seeds take in the moisture of the soil. Mind you we are done with watering in step 3. The tray will not be watered again until after germination. After the gentle pressing in, the radish seeds will look as shown above in the growing container. The planting ends.
6. Cover your planted Radish Microgreen seeds and put away
Next, it is time to put the planted tray away. So you want to put the tray in a dark place with freely circulating air. Usually, I get a card board as shown here and cover the seeds in the tray. The card is indeed sitting on top of the seeds in the tray.
The gentle press on the seeds is good for germination. It facilitates faster and generally even germination of the seeds. In fact, the germinating seeds will have enough energy to lift the board. You could also put a stone or brick on top of the board if you wanted.
7. Move tray to light source after germination
In the tray above, the centre radish seeds took longer to germinate than the rest of the tray. This is about a day and a half after germination. This happens sometimes. The middle seeds eventually germinated and covered the middle of the tray.
You can expect your radish microgreens to germinate within 3 to 4 days. Once your radish microgreens have germinated some 85% to 95%, it is time to move the tray to a light source.
This is important. Microgreens should not be grown in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight is too strong for the delicate micro leaves. In addition, natural light may also negatively impact the flavor of the microgreens.
Grow your radish microgreens using an artificial light source such as fluorescent lights. These are examples of good grow lights recommended for growing radish microgreens and any microgreens in general.
The grow lights should be positioned between 15cm and 30cm above the microgreens. This height setting of the grow lights influences how the microgreens grow. They grow straight up towards the light source which is aesthetically pleasing. This also seems to have an effect on the rate of growth as the micros race towards the light.
Your microgreens tray will remain under grow lights until harvest. Your whole set-up should allow free flow of air. The radish microgreens in this guide were grown under a shed with open sides.
8. Water the Radish Microgreens
At the same time as you move the microgreens out to the light, they must also be watered. Our last watering of the micros was at step 3 above. Now that they have germinated and ready to grow, we must water them.
The image above shows what begins to happen when microgreens are not watered in time. The plants are falling over. This was my radish microgreens after going two full days without watering. Within hours of watering, the micros had completely recovered.
To reduce risk of mold, water your tray using the second method is step 3. Place your tray in a bigger container with water. Water will sip from the bigger container into the tray. It is an efficient smart way of watering your microgreens.
Depending on your climatic conditions, aim your growing radish microgreens once every two days. If the conditions are hot, daily watering may be necessary.
9. Harvest your Radish Microgreens
At day four after germination, your radish microgreens should be ready for harvest. When to harvest your microgreens is highly subjectives. Each grower goes by what they prefer.
Generally, the best time to harvest your radish microgreens is just before the third leaf develops. This ensures best flavour and tenderness. For some microgreens, appearance of a third leaf also turns the micros to bitterness.
You harvest your radish microgreens using kitchen scissors. Cut on the stem just above the soil. Radish microgreens do not regrow after harvest. You can let the soil dry and recycle it on other microgreens. This will make the sifting process in step one quicker. Shown above is a harvested tray.
10. Store your Radish Microgreens
The next step necessary is how to store your harvested radish microgreens. Storage may not be necessary if you harvest and eat them all at once immediately. However, when you have increased production you will need a good storage system.
Take note that radish microgreens taste the best at harvest. Like many other microgreen types, they degrade in flavour and thus quality as time moves. In fact, the latest to use your harvested micros is three days from the day of harvest.
I usually put my excess micros in labeled ziploc bags and store away in the fridge (not freezer). This is as shown here. If you grow your radish microgreens in a clean environment, you may not need to rinse them. You, however, still have the option to do so if you so wish.
So this is how to grow radish microgreens in ten simple steps. Enjoy your journey. And hey lay no blame on me if you get hooked!
