#LittleLifeHacks
How to grow microgreens using takeout trays and reusable mats

Summary
For growing microgreens, you need a source of seeds, containers, water for misting, and some place with natural light, like a window sill or table under some windows. Yes, there are some growing containers/kits for sprouts and microgreens available commercially and I still use those in part. But I’ve settled on a way to do this effectively so I can have microgreens in more or less constant production.
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Suggested materials
Source of seeds (mail-order like SproutPeople, health food stores?)
2 takeout trays of the same size for EACH crop of microgreens
1 mister/sprayer for water only
“Loofah mat” to cut to size for the bottom of the tray (can be found on Amazon) or
Hemp mat to cut to size for the bottom of the tray (can be found on SproutPeople)
Cotton gauze sponges, 4 x 4” non-sterile
Empty glass yogurt jar as a weight (optional)
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Takeout trays and reusable mats
Have a few takeout trays with lids or know someone who does? Folks might already use them for leftovers, & when I began to catalog the trays here at home, I had quite the size assortment of black plastic rectangular trays. I set aside ones that were about 3 x 5”, & some that were 4 x 6” -ish. Thinking ahead, for every tray of microgreens you are growing, have TWO of the same size trays, you will be using one of the two as a ‘cover’.
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Get the measurement of the BOTTOM of a tray, because you are going to cut a mat to go inside the tray and you want the mat to sit comfortably in there.

You can buy sheets of hemp matting, which is biodegradable, from at least a couple of sources and likely more; see below. But it turns out I have contact sensitivity to the hemp matting—that was a huge disappointment to me.
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But, by way of an interesting series of events, I found a product that is sold as a “loofah” shower mat that can be cut with scissors and trimmed to size. (I would love to find the same kind of “loofah mat” that is real sponge, but haven’t managed yet.)

I ordered a ~16 inch by 36 inch mat, and have been cutting it into the sizes that I need for the bottom of the takeaway trays.
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Size matters—just ‘be gauze’
I started using the tray system above for my microgreens but I ran into issues with smaller seeds sifting down into the mat. I hit on one addition and that’s gauze sponges, the non-sterile 100% cotton 4 x 4” 8-ply ones, and they are pretty inexpensive. Take a single sponge, unfold it once and stretch it out over the mat. That will, when wet down prior to sprinkling on the seeds, keep the seeds on top of the mat.
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Recently, I’ve even unfolded a second gauze to line the tray under the mat, then the mat, then the single unfolded sponge on top. That seems to help with “cleanup” later.

Setup, adding seeds, and covering the seeds
Once you have the trays with sponge-mat-sponge on top, and you wet it down with a mister (highly recommended and dedicated just for water, you can get cheap ones at a hardware store) or careful addition of water dribbling from the faucet, you can add the seeds.
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(If you have considerable standing water almost submerging the mat, tip the tray to pour some of it off into the sink first.) I keep my seed stocks in the frig; carefully sprinkle on 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp of seeds, 1/4 of a tsp at a time (be sparing), then carefully mist so that the seeds and sponge are really moist.
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Here’s an important next step: take the other tray, rinse it well with water inside and out, and nest it in the seed tray so it covers the seeds. That provides light protection and helps keep the seeds moist. I even have one more tip, which is to put an empty glass yogurt jar inside the top tray to weight it down a bit. It’s to encourage the seed roots to grow ‘down’. Park the whole caboodle at the window or a shelf near the window.
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Twice a day checking
Twice a day, remove the upper tray & spritz the seeds, return the lid and jar. Once you can see that the seeds have sprouted & are trying to lift the lid after 2-3 days, retire the jar & after another day or so, remove the upper tray. When you start to have a nice carpet of sprouted microgreens, switch to watering the mat by running a dribble of water into the tray, tipping side to side to make sure it gets wet, then pouring off most of the excess.
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The misting becomes counter-productive if you have so many greens that there’s not good air circulation. The twice a day checking continues for as long as you are growing the microgreens.
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Harvest
I use kitchen shears to cut the harvest close to the mat, leaving about 3/8 - 1/2 " of stem above the gauze sponge surface. If I’ve let the greens grow for longer than 6 - 7 days, I might leave 3/4" of stem to be sure to avoid any white fuzz that may have grown in damp conditions. I may harvest all at once, or over a couple of days because I like to chow down on fresh microgreens. I have stored them in the frig for a day or two, but I think they are better fresh.
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Cleanup
After harvest of the tray, at the sink peel the bottom gauze off the mat, like peeling a banana, then work to peel the top gauze off the mat bit by bit so you pull away the stems that grew through the mat. If you have a composter that can handle the cotton gauze and the microgreen residue, you can add the refuse to the composter. Otherwise, chuck it in the bin and wash the mat thoroughly.
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I spend a small amount of effort to pull away any roots and stems, let the mat soak for a bit in soapy water, and then…I put it in the washing machine with our dishtowels and microfiber cloths. Air dry after the wash. Trays can be washed in the dishwasher if you have one or by hand if not.
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Notes
If you are able to handle hemp sheets, those are not reusable and you get a single crop per your trimmed hemp mat. That helps with cleanup and again, if you have a compost bin, the hemp can go right in. At the SproutPeople site on the supplies page, you can see the 4 crop tray set I have to use for even smaller size crops, sometimes a single small tray nestled in a takeout container. And yes, I have 4 x 4” mats for those little trays too.
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If supply chains get snarled again, and you can’t get fresh lettuce and have no garden, this may be the way to go. Breakfast today was a tray of microgreens with a few cherry tomatoes!
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Sources

Gray Loofah Mat on Amazon

Shower Mats Non Slip without Suction Cups, 15.7× 36 Inch, PVC Loofah Bathroom Mats, Loofah Mats for Shower and Bathroom, Quick Drying, Grey

Seeds, HempSheets, Sprouting Kits

https://sproutpeople.org/
https://sproutpeople.org/growing-sprouts/
https://sproutpeople.org/sprouting-supplies/

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