Radish Microgreens - the perfect way to add a touch of freshness, nutrition, health, and color to your meals without sacrificing taste. Let's explore why you should consume more radish microgreens!

• High Nutrient Content: Despite their small size, radish microgreens are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as vitamin A, B, C, E, K, and potassium, which are crucial for overall health.
• Health Promotion: The nutrients found in radish microgreens can play a significant role in supporting the immune system, improving bone health, promoting blood clotting, and protecting cells from free radical damage.
• Ease of Growth: Growing radish microgreens is simple and requires minimal time and expertise. They can be easily cultivated at home with just a few materials and a little attention, providing a continuous source of fresh nutrients.
• Culinary Versatility: Radish microgreens add a touch of flavor and color to a wide range of dishes, from salads to sandwiches to main courses. Their culinary versatility makes them an ideal choice for enhancing your culinary creations.
• Sustainability: Growing your own radish microgreens can help reduce the environmental impact associated with the production and transportation of commercial foods. Additionally, it can promote a more sustainable and environmentally conscious lifestyle.

The Health Benefits of Radish Microgreens

Packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, these miniature greens offer a potent dose of nutrition that can support overall health and well-being. In this section, we'll explore the numerous benefits of incorporating radish microgreens into your daily meals, highlighting their role in enhancing health and vitality.

• High Nutritional Content: Despite their small size, radish microgreens are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• Immune System Support: The vitamins and antioxidants present in radish microgreens help strengthen the immune system, protecting the body from infections and illnesses.
• Promotion of Cardiovascular Health: Radish microgreens can contribute to maintaining heart and blood vessel health due to their antioxidant content and ability to lower bad cholesterol levels.
• Weight Management: With their richness in fiber and low calorie density, radish microgreens can help promote satiety and regulate appetite, aiding in weight management.
• Natural Detox: Radish microgreens contain natural compounds that can assist the body in the detoxification process, supporting liver health and facilitating the elimination of toxins from the body.
• Digestive Health Promotion: The fiber in radish microgreens promotes bowel regularity and digestive health, helping to prevent constipation and improving overall digestive function.
• Natural Anti-inflammatory: Some compounds present in radish microgreens have shown anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce inflammation in the body and prevent inflammation-related chronic diseases.

Based on this information, it's time to roll up our sleeves and start growing our own radish microgreens!

Radish Microgreens Overview

Must-Have Tools for Growing Radish Microgreens

Essential Materials:

• Seeds: High-quality radish seeds are essential for successful cultivation. Explore our seeds selection here. You can choose between Radish Chinese Rose seeds and Radish Spicy Purple seeds. Both varieties of radish microgreens are nutritious and versatile, they differ in appearance and flavor intensity, allowing for diverse culinary applications based on personal preference.

• Radish Chinese rose seeds produce microgreens with vibrant pink stems and green leaves, adding a colorful and visually appealing touch to dishes. They typically have a milder flavor compared to their spicy purple counterparts. They may exhibit subtle peppery notes with a hint of sweetness.
• Radish spicy purple seeds, on the other hand, yield microgreens with deep purple stems and dark green leaves, offering a striking contrast in color. They are known for their intense and spicy flavor profile, adding a bold kick to salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.

• Trays/Containers: You will need two trays—one deep tray with drainage holes to create an optimal growing environment, and another tray without holes to be placed underneath to catch excess water. Check out our selection here.
• Growing medium: Choose a nutrient-rich growing medium such as seedling soil, mix or coconut coir to support healthy growth.
• Lighting: Ensure your microgreens receive optimal lighting for robust growth. While natural sunlight is effective, for enhanced results, we recommend our T5 LED Microgreen Grow Lights. Engineered with a 6500K spectrum, these lights are precisely tailored to provide the ideal light spectrum for growing microgreens, guaranteeing optimal growth and health.
• Spray Bottle: A sprayer bottle is necessary for maintaining proper moisture levels during germination and growth.
• Humidity Dome: Use a humidity dome to create a moist environment during the germination stage, aiding in successful seed sprouting and early growth. Explore our selection of humidity domes here.

Optional Materials:

• Rack Cooling Fan: Enhance air circulation and regulate temperature for optimal growth conditions with our rack cooling fan. Additionally, you can control the fan speed using the fan speed controller, allowing for precise adjustment according to your specific needs.
• LCD Digital Thermometer Hygrometer: Monitor indoor temperature and humidity levels using our LCD digital thermometer hygrometer. This tool provides valuable insights into the growing environment, ensuring conditions are optimal for your microgreens' development.

The 6 Easy Steps & Processes

Now that we have all the necessary materials and information to grow radish microgreens, here is the step-by-step guide to growing them:

STEP 1: Prepare Your 1020 Microgreen  Deep Tray

Take your 1020 deep tray with holes and place the tray without holes underneath, so that they are stacked together. Begin by filling the upper tray with holes with soil until the surface is level and even - you can use a press or your hand to make the soil even and lightly fill any low areas.

STEP 2: Sow Your Seeds 

Evenly spread the radish seeds across the surface. Water the surface using a spray bottle, and add about a cup of water to the bottom tray to keep the soil moist throughout the germination process.

STEP 3: Germination Stage

Your radish microgreens will need about 2 - 3 days to germinate fully and become developed enough to be placed under sunlight or artificial intelligent lighting. Therefore, we recommend that you check your microgreens on a daily basis. Ensuring that they have the right moisture level. Lightly mist as well as bottom water your tray as needed.

STEP 4: Growing under T5 Artificial Lighting

Once the seeds have fully germinated means that they are now at their next stage of growth: seedling. Next, remove the humidity dome from the top of the 1020 tray or retrieve your 1020 tray from your designated dark space, and place it under an optimal, consistent light source. We recommend that you use T5 LED 6500K lights which provide you with sufficient lumens (1200-2200 lumens). Make sure that you also use a timer to program the amount of light your plants need. This will ensure they are able to photosynthesize throughout their lifecycle and can deliver the high level of nutrition that your body thrives on.

We recommend a minimum lighting duration of 10 hours. The average should be between 16-18 hours of light per day, ensuring consistent exposure to promote healthy growth. In theory, the higher the amount of light the seedlings receive, the higher the antioxident levels, as can be read in this scientific article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277075083_The_effect_of_light-emitting_diodes_LEDs_photoperiod_on_nutritional_quality_of_Brassicaceae_microgreens

The distance from your light source is also very important. If your light source is too far from your seedlings, they may become overly stretchy and thin. However, if the light is too close, they may not fully stretch beyond the top of your 1020 tray, making harvesting difficult and reducing yields.

Therefore, we recommend that you place the top of your 1020 tray between 22-25 cm from your growing lights. If you live in a sunny location, you can, of course, place your 1020 tray on the sunny-side of your house, such as on a window-sill or outside.

Temperatures should be similar to those in your germination room, but humidity levels will vary. As your seedlings continue to grow, they will not only require more space but will also continuously release moisture, increasing the relative humidity during the entire growing cycle. To reduce the chances of mold or similar quality issues, maintain your humidity level between 45-55% RH. There are relatively cheap, smart humidifiers available that help you maintain adequate RH. In addition, you can use a fan or ventilator to reduce moisture buildup and high humidity within your 1020  tray.

STEP 5: Harvesting 

When your seedlings have fully developed their first two-leaves (the cotyledon stage) they have become a microgreen! This typically requires between 5 to 7 days of consistent and optimal lighting. Your radish microgreens should have a height between 5 to 7.5 centimeters (2-3 inches), which also means they are ready to harvest if you are ready to eat that is. So grab a pair of scissors or a knife and start freshly harvesting.

The total growth from seed to microgreen harvest stage should be between 7 to 10 days.

STEP 6: EAT YOUR MICROGREENS! and Storage

After harvesting your microgreens, you can choose whether to consume them immediately or store them for later. Since we don't use any chemicals and our seeds are organic, they are perfectly safe to eat right after harvesting for maximum freshness and nutrition.

Especially if you're sowing your seeds in soil, we recommend giving your microgreens a quick soak or rinse. Then, pat them dry, and they will be ready for use right after.

If you prefer to consume them at a later time, take a container with a paper towel at the bottom and gently add your freshly cut microgreens. Make sure not to use a very tall container, as microgreens are sensitive to stacking and may spoil quickly if stored this way. Store your broccoli microgreens in the refrigerator (at 8°C) and consume them within 7-14 days.

Note that the paper towel at the bottom of your container is intended to absorb moisture during refrigeration, which will also increase the shelf life of your broccoli microgreens.

Microgreens growth tips

• Watering: Water the microgreens from the bottom tray to allow the soil to absorb the water.
• Monitoring: Use the optional LCD digital thermometer hygrometer to monitor temperature and humidity levels regularly. Adjust conditions as needed to maintain optimal growing conditions.
• Air Flow: Microgreens are densely seeded and therefore require airflow. Keep your microgreens in an area with good airflow. You can either keep it close to an open window or add a small rotating fan. Try to avoid keeping your microgreens in an enclosed space without any airflow.
• Waste & Recycling: If you are using soil, coconut coir or another biodegradable growing medium, simply start a compost bin or look for waste recycling centers, such as in the city of Amsterdam and Amstelveen where used soil is sorted and recycled. Note: If you want a quick tip to start your own compost, simply find a compost sack or container that easily fits your 1020 tray for smooth sailing. Once you have a few trays of composted soil, add worms from your surrounding area or find some tiger worms online. Within 3-4 months, you will have rich compost soil that you can use in your outdoor garden. We do not recommend using compost for microgreens, especially when growing indoors
• Food Safe Sanitizer & Quality Control Measure: Hydrogen peroxide is an effective natural cleaning agent used to sanitize your trays and equipment before and after use. Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as a quality control measure that controls your quality issue. When using make sure to opt for 3% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide or dilute as needed.
• Chef’s Tip: Most uncut or ‘live’ trays can be stored in a walk-in refrigerator for 1 - 2 weeks. Be sure to store them on the top rack to comply with food safety regulations. They will not continue to grow in the refrigerated walk-in but will stay alive and remain fresh until harvesting.

With these 6 simple steps, you'll grow vibrant microgreens that are sure to impress everyone at your table with their freshness and flavor!

Keywords: radish ; microgreens ; sprouts ; microgroenten ; healthy ; gezond ; how-to ; sustainability