- Hello, I'm Ekta Chaudhary,
scientist turned plant enthusiast.
My new Skillshare class just launched.
It is all about how to cultivate your own home garden.
In this video, I'm going to share some tips with you
on how to grow microgreens. (gentle upbeat music)
Microgreens, they're these tiny plants
that you can actually eat without cooking.
You can grow them in these food takeaway boxes.
All that you have to do is drill a couple of holes in them.
Here I have this container.
For drainage, we're going to make some holes in this.
(drill whirs)
(drill taps on counter)
Put about two to three inches of Coco Peat.
I prefer to use Coco Peat,
but you can also use the regular soil.
Now, the next thing we do is sprinkle the seeds.
Here I have fenugreek seeds.
It's actually a spice very commonly used in Asian kitchens.
If you don't have access to these seeds,
you can also visit any of the Indian stores, and they keep
these fenugreek seeds. (seeds rattle)
I have about 50 of them,
and we sprinkle them on the top.
Now we cover it up with about an inch deep layer of soil.
And we add water.
You can also spray water because it does not require
a lot of moisture. (bottle sprays)
You know, people often ask me that,
"Can you spray water on your plants?"
Well, you can spray water on your plants
to increase humidity, but always remember
that plants absorb water from their roots,
not from their leaves.
Therefore, it is very important to water your plants
in the root, but here, since there's no root
and there's no stem or no leaf,
all that we want is some moisture.
You can use anything.
Now you can keep this container on a windowsill
or just a desk.
Ensure that the light should be such
that either it should be falling on the plant,
or at least the area should be well lit.
A trick that'll work for growing microgreens
on your work desk, and if you want to keep it clean,
I use two pots.
So this is the first pot in which your plant is growing.
You have drainage holes.
You would see there are no holes on this.
So when I'm growing these microgreens,
let's say on my kitchen top, it won't get dirty.
You would not have muddy water running around.
For microgreens that you get from mustard,
this is another one you can grow from your Indian kitchen.
Get a couple of mustard from the Indian grocery store,
put them in soil, and you'll have these beautiful,
healthy microgreens.
(scissors snip) You can chop them off,
use them directly in your sandwich, or even your salad.
If you like some color in your microgreens,
I have here amaranthus
and beetroot.
So if you want to mix up colors in your salad,
you can use mustard for some spicy taste
and beetroot for some color.
One problem that you might run into
while growing these microgreens is fungus
on the top layer of the soil.
That happens when the moisture is too much in the soil.
Either there is no drainage hole for the water to escape,
or you're adding too much of water.
Again, for the care, like your indoor plants
and your flowers, touch the soil, and see.
If it doesn't stick to your finger, add water.
Otherwise, don't add water.
If the fungus continues growing,
you would see in a couple of days
that these stems (crunching)
will start drooping and the plant will die.
Because this is a plant that'll grow
within seven to eight days,
it is really important that you keep
a close eye on watching.
Apart from this, the soil is Coco Peat
and the sun has to be either three to four hours
directly falling on the plant,
or even a medium lit space will do well.
One way that I check that my microgreens are getting
good enough light is look at the length of the stem.
These are the healthy ones.
This is about one to two inch length of the stem,
but at one point it will become weaker and drop down,
and your microgreens won't work out.
That would happen when the light is not enough
for your plant.
In order to get enough light,
the plant starts investing energy into its stem,
and it starts becoming long,
so if you see that the stems are too long,
try again with a different batch
with better light conditions.
The second problem you may face with your microgreens is
that the seeds might not germinate.
In that case, my first guess would be that check
the quality of the seeds.
Whenever you buy seeds,
see what is the expiry date of those seeds?
If you open a packet of seeds,
try to keep it in a cool and a dry place.
If there's too much humidity,
the seeds are eventually going to lose
its germination ability, so first check
what kind of seeds you have.
If the seed quality is perfectly fine,
check the water frequency.
I know that I keep talking about watering,
and I'm obsessed with it.
The reason is that the number one reason beginners tend
to kill their plants is by over-watering,
so be very sure that you're not over-watering.
You're watering whenever the soil is dry.
Next up, we learn how to grow herbs at home.
(gentle upbeat music)
(uplifting upbeat music) Congratulations.
You have made it to the end.
If you enjoyed watching this video,
remember to check out the link below,
which will take you to my complete Skillshare class
where I go deeper into the beautiful world
of home gardening.
And while you're here, remember to subscribe
to Skillshare YouTube channel for more tutorials like this.
I will see you in my class. (uplifting upbeat music)