In this guide, I document the exact steps that I took to successfully grow turnip microgreens. This occurred over a period of not more than 7 days from planting to harvest. One notable takeaway from growing turnip micros is that turnip germinates fast and easy. Really fast. I experienced a very very good germination rate which is every microgreens grower’s delight.
Turnip Microgreens Nutritional Benefits Data
Microgreens are big because of their nutritional value. Many people consider micros a legitimate healthy eating approach. There is a draw-back though with many microgreens. Research on their nutritional value remains scant. This will obviously change as micros continue to grow in popularity.
However, for that which is currently known which is certainly not for all micros, they are generally very very nutritious. Some microgreens pack 10x the nutritional value of their regular versions. This is generally the findings.
In all my digging up on turnips. I am yet to come across research that properly documents the benefits of turnip microgreens. For now we will just go by the known health benefits of regular turnips. We can imagine a 10x or so boost to regular turnip benefits as per the other generally known microgreens data.
Turnip brings to the table (pun intended) K, C and A Vitamins. Furthermore, when you consume turnip you are going to get minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc among others.
When it gets down to it, turnip nutritional benefits extend to the skin and hair, cancer prevention and also as treatment diet, diabetes and digestion among others.
Checklist for growing Turnip Microgreens
So what do you need to start growing turnip microgreens? Well, you need what is needed to grow most microgreens. Below is a quick checklist of what should be in place in order to successfully grow turnip microgreens:-
Microgreens trays (supplier)
Grow lights (supplier)
Soil sifting pan (supplier)
Turnip seeds
Water spray (optional)
Ziploc bags (supplier)
Kitchen scissors (supplier)
Seed Shaker (supplier)
Water for watering
Garden soil
Practical steps for growing Turnip Microgreens
The good news is that turnip micros are super easy to grow. In fact, I would easily recommend them as the go to crop for anyone new to microgreens. This of course alongside lettuce and sunflower microgreens.
The following are the necessary steps needed to successfully grow turnip microgreens. Take your time, understand each step and ready yourself for implementation with great results. Let’s go…
1. Get your Turnip microgreens seeds ready
Step one is to get your turnip seeds ready. Shown above are turnip seeds. The seeds are rounded in shape. Compared to basil seeds, which are tiny, turnip seeds are much easier to handle. They are not big. They are of good enough size to manage when handling them.
When growing microgreens, it is standard to use non-treated seeds. This eliminates the risk of food poisoning caused by treatment chemicals applied on the seeds.
Unlike Swiss Chard, for example, turnip seeds will not require any soaking prior to planting.
You can get suitable turnip seeds online or from your local garden supplier.
2. Prepare your Turnip microgreens growing medium
The next step is to prepare some soil for growing your turnip microgreens. Any garden soil will do, in my experience. Soil is my preferred medium for growing microgreens. This is an alternative to other mediums available out there.
While any soil will do, I recommend sifting the soil in order to remove debris. This produces a fine growing medium as shown in the image above perfectly suitable for microgreens. Such fine soil is super easy for microgreens roots to penetrate when it is wet.
3. Get a microgreens grow tray
Next stop is to get a grow container. You could basically use anything under the sun. All that container needs to have are drainage holes underneath. The container must also be not too deep nor too shallow.
Because interest in microgreens is booming, all kinds of grow containers are becoming available on the market. An option is thus to use a commercially sourced grow tray as shown above. Some have holes and others haven’t.
It is important to grow the microgreens in a tray that has holes in it for drainage. Microgreens despise water-logged or excessively moist conditions. They could easily develop destructive moulds.
4. Fill microgreens grow tray with sifted soil
The next step is to fill your grow tray with the sifted soil from step 2. Fill the tray with the growing medium leaving a few mm at the top to avoid an over-spill. Gently shake the tray to allow the soil to slightly compact. This avoids a sinking collapse once the soil is watered as we shall do in the next step.
5. Thoroughly water the grow tray filled with soil
Take the growing tray filled with the soil from the earlier step and water it. This will be the only time we water the tray until the turnip microgreens have germinated. Again, it is at this step that the drainage holes beneath the tray become very handy.
The way to water the soil in the tray is to place the soil filled tray in a bigger container than itself. Fill the bigger container with water. The water will begin sipping into the container with soil. After a few minutes the soil in the tray will be thoroughly moist. The watering is done.
This is a very effective and smart way to water microgreens even after germination as you shall see. It is commonly referred to as bottom watering.
6. Plant your Turnip microgreens seeds
Now that the tray is watered, it is time to move on to the next step. This is the planting stage.
You have an option to use a seed shaker or your hand. Densely and evenly spread your turnip seeds across the top of the moist soil. Do this by taking a handful of seeds into your hand. Carefully release the seeds out of hand while at the same time evenly spreading them. Your tray will more or less look as shown above.
7. Gently press the Turnip microgreens seeds into the soil
After spreading the seeds, press them into the soil. This is necessary to ensure good contact between the seeds and the moist soil. You can use your fingers to gently press the seeds partially into the soil.
Keep in mind that seeds are not to be buried under the soil. We just want some decent contact between the seeds and the soil. Furthermore, we are not going to cover the seeds with any additional soil
8. Put some weight over the tray and put away
The next step is to cover the seeds in the tray. In place of soil, we cover the seeds with a board as shown above. This board can be paper, wood or even glass. Its purpose is to encourage germination.
Thanks to this method, the germination rate can be expected to be high and evenly distributed. On top of the board you can place a stone or any weighty item. This is also useful in encouraging germination which is even.
After putting the board over the tray, store it away in a dark place until germination occurs. Ensure the place has good fresh air circulation.
9. After germination, place tray under artificial light source
Turnip microgreens waste no time in germinating. On day three after planting, you will observe rapid germination. Once most of the seeds in the tray have germinated, it is time to move the turnip micros under a light source. Remove the tray from the dark place and expose it to the light.
The fluorescent lights mentioned in the checklist come in at this stage. As shown here, the lights are suspended over the microgreens tray. My approach is to leave a distance of about 30cm between the microgreens and the lights.
Turnip microgreens and just about all other microgreens should not be left to sit in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight compromises the quality of the microgreens. In any case, direct sunlight is only available at certain times of the day. Add to it location and season.
Artificial light encourages rapid growth. It ensure continuous growth of the microgreens no matter time of the day or season. This shortens time to harvest. More importantly, the microgreens will grow tenderly with good flavor.
10.Water the microgreens
After the microgreens have germinated, apart from exposing them to the light, another important thing to do is to water them.
This will be our second watering of the tray. The first time around was just before planting the seeds. The watering technique that I use is shown in the picture above. It is as simple as a-b-c.
This is how to do it. (a) Take an empty tray or container and place your growing microgreens. As shown in (b), fill the bigger tray with water. The drainage holes under your grow tray will let water in from beneath. Within a few minutes your tray with microgreens will be thoroughly watered. Again, as mentioned earlier, this is the bottom watering method.
How often you water your turnip microgreens is really decided by your climatic conditions. In a hot climate, you may need to water at least once per day. In my case, I often find once every other day good enough.
Take note that microgreens should not be let to suffer moisture stress. This will compromise their quality. This is not a good thing especially for commercial growers supplying restaurants and so on.
11. Harvest your microgreens
Hooray!! There is no time like harvest time for any farmer or grower.
Turnip microgreens are ready for harvest at about 4 or 5 days from the day of germination. That said, when to harvest your microgreens is really your call. Admittedly, it is a subjective matter. The guiding principle, nonetheless, is that at the appearance of the third leaf, the harvest should happen.
Delayed harvesting may compromise quality as far as taste is concerned. Recall that microgreens are small plants en route to becoming seedlings. We catch them in between.
So with time you will develop your own harvest timing as prefered. That is the freedom of being a microgreens grower.
Harvesting is by kitchen scissors. Cut the micros close to the soil. The stalks are very much edible and must be included in the harvest.
Shown above is the tray after harvest.
12. Store your Turnip Microgreens
In most cases, there shall be excess microgreens requiring some short-term storage. This is after taking some for your immediate consumption. For this reason, there is a need to think through and have adequate knowledge about how to store your microgreens following harvest.
This is fact; microgreens have a very short shelf life. This applies not only to turnip microgreens but just about all types of micros. Once harvested, they must be stored in a refrigerator. The way to do this is to use an airtight container. Ziploc bags serve this purpose so well.
Even when placed in the fridge, microgreens insist on lasting only a few days. Each passing day, even when stored in the fridge, diminishes the quality of the microgreens. This makes day zero (day of harvest) the best day in terms of quality.
So this is how to grow turnip microgreens. Follow these simple steps and you should enjoy your own turnip microgreens in no time at all.
