- In my previous video, I discussed the actual reasons
why mold forms in your microgreens.
But I never really talked about any of the solutions.
By the end of this video, you're gonna know my exact methods
I used here in my farm to prevent mold
from ever forming in the first place.
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I've been growing microgreens commercially for years
and I've dealt with my fair share of mold,
especially in the beginning when I first started.
I lost plenty of trays due to damping off, mold,
and fungus problems, but I've dialed in my business
so that way I never have to deal
with these mold problems any more.
I don't sanitize my microgreens seeds.
Mold never really forms in the first place
which is obviously the ideal scenario
so I'm excited to share with you right now on this video
how to prevent mold from ever forming
in your microgreens trays,
that way you never have to worry about this again.
There's actually no way to eliminate mold spores
because they're floating in the air around us
and we're actually breathing them in every single day.
Mold only causes problems when it replicates
and is allowed to thrive.
So the idea here is to limit
and control the environmental factors
that would cause the mold from forming in the first place.
The first step in preventing mold growth
is keeping your equipment clean.
Always sanitize your trays after each use
and sanitize your equipment on some sort of schedule
to prevent the buildup of mold growth.
Also, when deciding where to set up your grow room
in the first place, consider the past conditions
of that space.
If the space isn't clean or already has an excess buildup
of mold spores, chances are this will cause problems.
If the space is naturally hot, humid and lacking fresh air,
you might not wanna grow there.
Controlling your environment is crucial
when growing high quality greens and preventing mold growth.
Use a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down,
preferably between 50 and 60%
and make sure you have proper heating and air conditioning.
That way you can control the temperature.
I never let my farm get above 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
The most important environmental factor
in my opinion is air flow.
Even if your temperature or humidity gets a little too high,
air flow will keep those spores moving
so they can't settle and proliferate.
Keeping the air moving in your farm,
whether you have big fans that move it
through the whole farm or if you have small fans
that you have on your microgreens racks,
this will be a huge help in preventing mold growth.
Another way to encourage air flow without fans
is to use shallow microgreens trays,
instead of the deep ones.
This is gonna put the base of the plants up higher,
closer to the top of the tray which is going to encourage
air flow across the base of the plants
which is where microgreens' mold problems typically arise.
Take a second right now to comment below
and let me know what you've done specifically
to reduce mold growth in your microgreens trays
and in your grow room.
Your process of growing microgreens is also very important.
Dialing in your watering is probably
the most important skill and process to develop
when growing microgreens because overwatering
is going to lead to excess moisture
which causes mold and damping off.
I think that overwatering is probably one
of biggest and most common problems
that new microgreens growers face when it comes to mold.
Dialing in seed density also plays
a very important role here because too high
of a seed density is going to trap moisture
beneath the canopy in the microclimate of a microgreens tray
and it's also gonna prevent airflow.
Make sure to experiment with your seed densities
so that way you can find the ideal amount of seeds
to use for your setup.
Also, if your seeds don't germinate properly,
this is going to cause problems because the purpose of mold
is to break down dead plant matter.
Make sure to use high quality seeds meant
for growing microgreens that have high germination rates
and also make sure
to have proper germination procedures in place.
Lastly, let me mention this specific tip
that actually solved my problem with mold in my wheat grass.
All right, so seeds generate heat as they grow.
So even though the temperature might be around 70 degrees
in your grow room, the plants and the seeds
could be reaching temperatures in the 80s.
This, along with the necessity for moisture
during germination, can definitely cause mold problems.
So my advice here is to get your trays
out of germination as soon as possible.
The second I know that my seeds are rooted
into my growing medium, I remove them from germination
and put them out here under lights.
This way they're not in that germination phase
where there's high humidity, high heat and no air flow.
Now you have specific tactics you can use to prevent mold
from forming in your microgreens,
but what if you have other questions?
Join my Microgreens Support Group on Facebook.
That way you can get the help you need
from myself and other growers.
If you wanna know how to remedy mold if it does appear,
click this video, or click this video
if you wanna know what's it's really like
to run a profitable microgreens business.
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be sure to hit that Like button below.
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Thanks again and I'll see you next time.