Forum:

urban gardening

How to grow broccoli microgreens on grow mats- soil-free method

Posts: 59

posted 1 year ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Broccoli microgreens are one of the easiest and most rewarding greens to grow, and the best part? You don’t even need soil! 🌱

I recently started growing them on grow mats, and it’s been a game-changer—no mess, no fuss, and super quick. Grow mats hold moisture well, giving the seeds the perfect environment to germinate and thrive. Within just a week, you get vibrant, nutrient-dense greens packed with flavor and all the health benefits broccoli is known for.

If you’re curious about the step-by-step process and want to try it yourself, I’ve put together a video showing exactly how to grow broccoli microgreens on a grow mat.

Check it out here:

Rachel Lindsay

gardener

Posts: 1428

Location: Tennessee

943

I like...

posted 1 year ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I really liked your video. What a great idea for sprouts, I'm going to have to try something like that. However, I like to use all-natural materials. What suggestions do you have for sprouting with containers made of paper, etc.?

“If we are honest, we can still love what we are, we can find all the good there is to find, and we may find ways to enhance that good, and to find a new kind of living world which is appropriate for our time.” ― Christopher Alexander

Tereza Okava

steward & manure connoisseur

Posts: 4885

Location: South of Capricorn

2850

I like...

posted 11 months ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I just came across this post and remembered the packet of broccoli seeds in my fridge awaiting some sort of project.
I am not interested in acquiring growing mats (I'd have to import them, $$$$$$). I have seen several conversations in the Reddit on microgreens talking about using paper towels or commercial topsoil (used once and discarded to avoid contamination). Coco coir is another option but also $$$$$$ here (I guess we export it all!!). I wonder if something like loofa fiber might offer an alternative that I can grow myself, on a small scale at least.
I'm going to try with paper towels, I think, since those seeds aren't doing me any good in the fridge.

Jay Angler

master steward

Posts: 14868

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

9211

I like...

posted 11 months ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Tereza Okava wrote: I wonder if something like loofa fiber might offer an alternative that I can grow myself, on a small scale at least.
I'm going to try with paper towels, I think, since those seeds aren't doing me any good in the fridge.

I think it would be great to experiment with loofa fiber (assuming you're in an ecosystem that can grow loofas - alas, I am not! )

I would like some way to grow some Brassica family sprouts for my chickens as a winter "pick-me-up" but I have found soil a nuisance. Whatever acts as the base, has to biodegrade in situ, ideally fairly quickly. Any idea how quickly loofa would biodegrade outdoors in a wet environment?

Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads

oddball - sand badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

textiles - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

dimensional lumber woodworking - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by jordan barton

Food Prep and Preservation - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Leigh Tate

greywater and willow feeders - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Leigh Tate

Tereza Okava

steward & manure connoisseur

Posts: 4885

Location: South of Capricorn

2850

I like...

posted 11 months ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Jay, loofah takes a while to break down, and in my environment (tropical clay that swallows all organic matter almost instantly) that's saying something.... I'm constantly finding old loofah in the garden beds, somehow they often slip through the chipper mostly intact. I use them for baths and dishes, so we have quite a few....
The mechanics would involve slicing them, I think, and I'd have to start really small scale.
Soil, I was thinking that any "lost" soil could end up in the composting barrel with my bokashi as it ages, so it would have another use. Is it just messy, or is there more to it?

Riona Abhainn

pollinator

Posts: 1383

Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

163

posted 11 months ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I sometimes grow them in jars, I want to get more proactive about it, but I need to get new seed, what I have got too old so when I tried recently it didn't sprout.

Celtic/fantasy/folk/shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube.
Pop-up garden/vintage+ yard stand owner.

Tereza Okava

steward & manure connoisseur

Posts: 4885

Location: South of Capricorn

2850

I like...

posted 11 months ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Riona Abhainn wrote:what I have got too old so when I tried recently it didn't sprout.

Ruh roh!! I'm afraid to go look at the date on my seeds, but I bought them at my old coop on my last trip to upstate NY with my mother... prepandemic for sure, gulp.

Jay Angler

master steward

Posts: 14868

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

9211

I like...

posted 11 months ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Tereza Okava wrote:

Riona Abhainn wrote:what I have got too old so when I tried recently it didn't sprout.

Ruh roh!! I'm afraid to go look at the date on my seeds, but I bought them at my old coop on my last trip to upstate NY with my mother... prepandemic for sure, gulp.

It depends how they've been kept. I've had seeds that long, but they're kept in the dark in the fridge and seem to do better than expected. Some other seeds I'd harvested got hidden in stuff on my desk just since last summer, and so far, germination appears to be only 1/20... sigh... I *do* know better!

Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads

Jay Angler

master steward

Posts: 14868

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

9211

I like...

posted 11 months ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

A local fair trade coffee company sells their used burlap sacks for dirt cheap - but only if you buy about 200 at once! Luckily I use them with my animals, with lots of extra for various gardening projects.

So I have cut 2 rectangles for the bottom of 2 trays, sprinkled some very old leaf cabbage seeds, and we will see what happens.

I'll keep you posted...

Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads

Riona Abhainn

pollinator

Posts: 1383

Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

163

posted 11 months ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Mine came from my MIL, and weren't kept anywhere special, I have no clue how long she had them, but upon trying this ziploc bagful last month they're no good.. I'll go to the Wilco and get a big bag in bulk and go from there if possible, the locally owned nice garden stores will be too spendy for a huge bag of seeds for microgreens here.

Celtic/fantasy/folk/shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube.
Pop-up garden/vintage+ yard stand owner.

For your bravery above and beyond the call of duty, I hereby award you this tiny ad:

Learn Permaculture through a little hard work

https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp