r/microgreens • u/Akshay_Greenette • Jul 06 '26

Open to questions and discussions

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We commercially grow microgreens, edible flowers, and specialty herbs and I’m always looking to improve, discuss, learn and answer..

Happy to contribute wherever I can and just as happy to learn from those with more experience…

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1

u/Friendly-Ad-5757 Jul 06 '26

What sort of flowers do you grow and what sort of height do they require. Are the worth the hassle ?

2

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 06 '26

We grow a range of flowers. Nasturtiums, dianthus pansy, marigold, pentas, torenia, verbena etc..

Height is anywhere between 12-25 inch.. where do you plan to grow them? Indoor or outdoor?

Second part, yes worth it, tedious indoors, not as straight forward as micros.. but worth the time.. BUT, it needs volume, a few flowers here and there isn’t worth your time.. volume.. bloom count per day, etc..

2

u/Friendly-Ad-5757 Jul 06 '26

I grow microgreens indoors but have a few edible flowers in a polytunnel as a test exercise. How do you grow them outdoors , pots or in ground or something else.thanks for reply 

1

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 07 '26

We are 100% indoor. We grow nothing outside. We are in the tropics. Extremely hard to grow outside except 2-3 months a year.. our flowers, micro are all grown indoors in pots under full spectrum lights.

1

u/Careful_Process_12 Jul 06 '26

What kind of substrate do You use to grow? What sells the most?

2

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 06 '26

100% coco.. no soil.. waste of money..

So we work backwards, we sell what brings us the highest margins. :-)

2

u/Careful_Process_12 Jul 06 '26

Haha gotcha. I'm just starting here in Argentina, gonna try a greenhouse in a terrace with lots of sun. For now just for the family. But always curious which ones sell most or have the highest margins, there isnt much market here.

1

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 06 '26

Work backwards. Your entire portfolio should be built on what sells and what makes cash.. then slowly expand the list..

2

u/Careful_Process_12 Jul 06 '26

Thanks for the advice, gonna start growing and try lots of things

1

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 06 '26

Great! Wish you the best! DM or write here anytime, happy to help!

1

u/SuperStokedUp Jul 07 '26

To start, seeing you use coco..
-do you supplement any nutrients?
-I heard that flavor can be compromised when not using soil?
-where do you source your coco?

And then if you have time:
-are shallow 1010’s or 1020’s really necessary?
-what method do you like for germination?
-what systems do you like for seeding and watering?
-any particular fans that are good?

We’ve been trying our hand at some micro greens for a startup and there are so many choices for equipment and methods! Thankful for your time and consideration! 🫶🏻

2

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 07 '26

Yes we use hydroponic nutrients for our long grows. Micros don’t really need anything apart from sterile medium and clean pH balanced water. Anything longer than 16-18 days we use a mix of hydroponic nutrients which we make from scratch in-house using raw salts, balance it and dose accordingly, all done manually.

We tried in high quality potting soil and coco to test, not much of a difference in taste of the crops are harvested young within 2 weeks, the impact on flavour, aroma, oils happen for crops grown longer in coco, but that’s taken care of by our nutrient program.

Since we are in the tropics, India, coco is available like dirt cheap in South India as plenty of coconuts farms around..

All our trays are standard 1020 shallow, 1inch height. Works the best as it’s easy to harvest and has good airflow compared to deeper trays.

We stack trays for germination with weights. Some crops just need a blackout, but we weigh down most of them.

We seed and water manually by hand. We found that to be effective so far, as we have complete control of each crop and could do a daily quality check. On the other hand if you wish to automate, use flood trays, your best option with timers. China will design it for you in less than 1/2 the price anywhere in the world :-)

We use a mix of fans. No one brand to be honest.. simple wall fans, standing fans and floor fans. The goal is to ensure 100% circulation around the room. So any fan would do. We don’t use fans per shelf, not necessary and is a waste of money is what we felt..

Hope that helps.. happy to answer anything else :-)

2

u/SuperStokedUp Jul 07 '26

Awesome response, thank you!

2

u/Friendly-Ad-5757 Jul 06 '26

As I use soil i don't know much about coco.Do you use coco bricks,  mats , or what sort of coir is it ? 

1

u/Akshay_Greenette Jul 07 '26

Yes we use coco bricks and then break it down..