How Many Times Can You Harvest Microgreens?

Microgreens Benefits

Microgreens rank among the simplest, smallest, and yet most nutritious and delicious plants you can grow. There are many rewarding aspects to starting these quick-growing plants for yourself, but perhaps the best thing about microgreens is how easy they are to grow at home. Not just at home but indoors, even right next to your kitchen sink.

You don't have to wait for a spring thaw. You don't have to wait for the oppressive heat of summer to pass. You can grow them at any time of year—whether there's a chance of frost outside or not—because you grow microgreens indoors. That means they're not affected by the weather. The only thing that matters is the environment you create for them.

Microgreens are ready to harvest in just a matter of days and can grow entirely under artificial light. I'm a big fan of microgreens as an indoor gardening project, and I love the look of a tray bursting with tiny green leaves. I grow them in my basement—proof that you can grow sprouts and microgreens just about anywhere.

Grow your own microgreens whenever you need that garden-fresh flavor.

Learn more about the pros of growing microgreens at home.

Can microgreens regrow after cutting?

To harvest microgreens, you'll simply cut each baby stem above the soil line. Unlike with sprouts, you won't eat the entire plant, just the stems and leaves, because the roots will be covered in growing medium.

Here is, in my opinion, the biggest negative to growing your own microgreens:

These plants are a single-use deal, a one-and-done crop.

Many of us gardeners grow accustomed to dealing with herbs and lettuce plants that are cut and come again or tomato plants that give us clusters of ripening fruit for weeks. Those plants only produce more for us after we harvest from them. The idea, then, of cutting plants at the outset of their lives and preventing any future growth can be a little disturbing, maybe even heartbreaking.

We're drawn to plants that we can keep alive for a long period of time, plants whose entire life cycles we can enjoy, and microgreens are not those plants.

Regrowing microgreens is not worth it

Microgreens are young plants, and many won't be able to handle the shock of having their leaves cut so soon, though some microgreens are better at regrowing than others. In order to regrow, you'd have to leave at least an inch of the shoot (the young stem) and the young plant would have to have established good roots already. Even then, the flavor could be affected and their growth could be slowed.

I find it's best to start fresh with a new batch of seeds each time.

After I harvest from my microgreens tray, I dump the soil and spent microgreens seeds into my compost pile and start fresh with a new batch.

At least it's not a complete waste. The roots of those microgreens and their used growing medium will go into the compost pile, where they will turn into organic, nutrient-dense matter that will nourish future plants to come. It's the circle of the garden.

Learn to Grow Microgreens with Gardenary

For more tips on growing your own microgreens, download our ebook, The Complete Guide to Growing Microgreens. You'll learn which trays, soil, and LED lights are best for growing microgreens, plus tips to plant, tend, and harvest your baby plants indoors. We've also rounded up our favorite supplies for growing microgreens and put it in one convenient kit for you to buy. We're trying to make it easier than ever to set up and grow your own microgreens.

Thanks for being here and helping to make gardening ordinary again, however small the harvests may be!