- One of the biggest pain points I hear about
when it comes to doing farm chores
and farm tasks is sanitizing trays.
I've been able to keep this process really quick,
simple, and efficient.
So stay tuned because I'm about to share with you
how I'm able to do this
even at a larger scale, without any frustration.
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When I first started my microgreens business
there really weren't that many trays to sanitize.
'Cause I was operating at a small scale.
It was the beginning.
But then after about a year,
I was going through a lot of trays each week
and I had to figure out a good way
of getting them sanitized between each use.
Today I'm doing well over a hundred trays per week
and I have no problem sanitizing them,
so I'm happy to share with you right here in this video
my process for doing so.
Sanitizing trays is important
because these microgreens crops are grown so dense
and so close together.
It creates an environment that's prone to mold growth
and fungus that can actually ruin your whole crop.
Additionally, you want to be keeping
your farm equipment clean and sanitized,
not only for the wellbeing of your crops
but for the safety of your customers as well.
By sanitizing your trays and equipment frequently
you're taking proactive measures to reduce the risks
of not only fungus and mold growth,
but also potential harmful pathogens like E. coli
and Salmonella that might've snuck into your farm.
So I think this is always a good idea.
With this being said
I do see some farmers just going a little bit overkill
with the cleaning and sanitizing of their microgreens trays
and they're creating inefficient processes
that don't necessarily work as you scale your business.
Scrubbing, bringing them outside, hosing them down.
These might not be necessary
for keeping your farm safe and operational.
What I do is really quite simple
but before I show you comment below
and let me know your process for sanitizing your trays,
let me know if it has not been a problem.
Let me know if it's annoying you.
I've heard of a lot of different processes
and I wanna hear yours as well.
So what I do is I fill up a two liter pump spray bottle
with 20 milliliters of a product called ZeroTol.
Both of these by the way
are linked in the description below
so you can see exactly what I'm using.
And what this does is it creates a dilution
of this ZeroTol product,
which is essentially a food grade and OMRI listed
for Certified Organic Farming, hydrogen peroxide.
So once this solution is made up in your bottle
just be careful in doing this by the way.
The way ZeroTol comes, it comes in a concentrated form
which is actually a really caustic chemical.
So if you get this on your hands in it's concentrated form
you're actually gonna get a chemical burn.
So be sure to be very careful when you're using this stuff,
wear gloves and all that good stuff.
So after that's made,
I have one of my super racks that's in here.
I actually put red tape on it
and that's become the designated dirty super rack.
So after we dumped the trees out into the big toter bins
it goes onto the dirty super rack
because the toters actually come out of my farm
to get dumped at a compost site.
And because they get removed from my farm
and that whole thing, I label them as unsanitary.
So if the tray is touching that toter
as we're dumping the tray out
there's potential for it to become contaminated
and I don't wanna risk anything.
So I use these super racks for a lot of different things
including harvesting and moving trays around
like out of germination, under lights.
So I wanna keep those racks specifically clean.
And then we have this one rack for the dirty ones
where right after dumping into the toters
we're gonna load it onto that dirty super rack.
So when this dirty super rack gets
a decent amount of trays stacked on it
that are ready to be sanitized.
I move that rack close to a clean super rack
and I just take the trays off one by one.
And I spray them down with the spray bottle
with the diluted ZeroTol solution in there.
And I spray down the top of the tray
and the bottom of the tray.
And this is actually not just one tray, but a tray set.
So is this the best
and most thorough way to sanitize your microgreens trays?
No, but when you're running a business
you have to keep your systems and your processes efficient.
So I've found that by using this process
it's kept fungus and mold from being a problem.
And all the important parts of that tray
are being sanitized.
I think this is a process that's simple enough
yet thorough enough, where it gets the job done
and works for the farm
and running a successful and profitable farm operation.
So ideally you would wanna be scrubbing down your trays
with probably a scrubber and maybe a little bit of detergent
to clean the tray before sanitizing.
But in my opinion, like I just think it's a little overkill
like we're farming.
So if there's a little bit of soil stuck to that tray,
it kind of just gets combined with the
next use of that tray.
And on goes to the cycle of life.
When I think about outdoor farming
that's way more potentially dangerous than indoor farming.
There's a lot more variables outside
and it's not like we're going around,
sanitizing the ground or anything like that.
Again, I think this process is kind of
it's about finding a balance here.
Now, if you were super concerned,
maybe you could sanitize the top and the bottom like I do.
And then once a month, or twice a year,
or once a quarter, you do like a really thorough scrubbing
of the trays by themselves top and bottom
and give them like a nice thorough clean.
That seems like a great idea and a great process to me.
And then if I was going to improve
my process even further than that
and potentially improve the efficiency as well.
What I would do is I would be
I think this is probably the best way to do it.
I would be filling up a big like sink
with diluted sanitizing solution.
And I would be putting in a big stack of trays
right in there.
So not only are we getting a thorough soak of sanitization,
but it's also gonna be a little bit faster.
'Cause you don't have to sit there sprang each tray
which by the way does not take up much time at all.
It has not been hindering to my efficiency here in the farm.
So not only are you getting that nice thorough soak
but a lot of those looser particles
are probably gonna kind of just fall off
and then you're getting the top and the bottom of the tray
and hopefully going a little bit faster.
So yeah, that's about it.
I've showed you guys how I sanitize my trays.
I've shown you how you can potentially improve that process
without really killing yourself in the farm.
And I think the overall consensus of this video
is really to have proper processes
in place that are a happy medium
and a good balance between safety and sanitation
and keeping your farm efficient and your systems efficient.
So now you know how I sanitize my trays
fast and simple as well as
a few different ways you can improve on this process.
But my YouTube videos aren't the only place
where I'm posting this valuable content.
Definitely follow me over on Instagram
where you can see a whole bunch of other stuff that I post.
And it also gives you the opportunity to DM me
right on that platform.
Watch the videos below to learn
where to buy the best trays for microgreens,
or watch the other video to learn all about
the different seed supplies and equipment
that you need to run your business.
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with anybody you think it may help.
Thanks again, and I'll see you next time.