Before I started gardening year-round, I longed for fresh food during winter days and realized I needed to learn how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens. Sprouts and microgreens are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they’re different stages of growth, produced in entirely different ways. Radishes are quick crops to begin with, but when you pick up on how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens, you’re giving yourself all the nutrition and crunch of a radish in just a week or two. It doesn’t matter if you have a sprawling mansion or a college dorm room, you only require space enough to hold a canning jar or take-out container. In this article you’ll learn the difference between radish sprouts and microgreens and how to grow them, including needed supplies, the growing process, harvesting and storage, and other tips.

Why you need to know how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens 

Starting out, my motivation in learning how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens was because I wanted easy access to fresh food. While that’s still a good reason to grow them, I’ve since learned they’re packed with vitamins and nutrients. For example, radish microgreens are richer in calcium and omega-3s than regular radishes. These tiny vegetables are also full of flavor and make great toppings for tacos, sandwiches, wraps, and salads. And if you’ve ever priced microgreens at the farmers market or sprouts at the grocery store, you know growing them yourself is a more economical way to eat your greens.

What is a sprout? 

When a seed germinates, you might say it “sprouts,” and that’s exactly what a sprout is: a seed that’s been soaked in a jar of water and germinated. We eat sprouts after germination but before they get their first leaves. The entire sprout is edible, seed and all. Plus they’re ready to harvest in just a few days, making for a quick winter meal pick-me-up and a great activity to do with kids.

What is a microgreen? 

Microgreens are slightly more mature versions of sprouts. We eat these after they’ve gotten their first leaves, with stems a couple inches tall. Depending on the variety you’re growing, you’ll harvest between a week and three weeks after germination. While sprouts are typically grown in a jar or sprouting kit, microgreens are grown in trays ranging in size from a small yogurt container to flat like you’d find at a plant nursery. You harvest microgreens by cutting them at the base of the growing medium. We don’t eat microgreens seeds.

A step-by-step guide to growing radish sprouts and microgreens

In this part of the article, you’ll understand how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens at home. These two processes are completely different, and you can choose which works for you, or you might try growing both!

How to grow radish sprouts 

If you’ve read Tara’s article about growing sprouts, you already have some idea of how to grow radish sprouts. Each type of sprout has its own ideal germination conditions and timeframe, but the general idea is the same: gather your supplies, soak your seeds, rinse and drain, and enjoy your harvest.

Supplies you’ll need:

It’s likely you already have most of what you need to start sprouting radish seeds. Here’s your supplies list:

• A sterilized jar or sprouting container
• Cheesecloth or a sprouting screen
• A rubber band, jar ring, or other means of securing the filter to the container
• Radish seeds labeled for sprouting

An alternative to putting together your own sprouting kit with these materials is to purchase a sprouting kit so you’re sure you have everything you need.

Step 1: Soak the seeds 

A key element of sprouting is keeping the seeds in a moist environment. You can soak them right in their sprouting container or first in another bowl. Follow the recommended measurement on your seed packet to determine how much seed to use. This should measured in ounces or inches. If there are no recommendations, start out with a 1/2 inch to 1 inch of seeds in the container. Use twice the amount of room-temp water as you have seeds.

Step 2: Place in a sprouting container 

If measuring your seeds separately, transfer them to the sprouting jar. I like using a glass jar to watch the sprouts as they develop. To the jar opening, secure a piece of cheesecloth or sprouting screen, which is a lid with small holes. You want to keep out contaminants, and this filter will be helpful in draining and rinsing the seeds. Keep the jar out of direct sunlight.

Step 3: Rinse and drain daily

After soaking for 12 to 16 hours, drain the water, rinse the seeds with fresh water from the faucet, and thoroughly drain again. Turn the container on its side or upside down to aid in draining. After that initial soak, you want the seeds to be moist but not constantly sitting in water. 

Set a reminder for yourself to rinse and drain the sprouting seeds twice a day until your radish sprouts are ready to harvest, in 5-7 days. Because of this rinsing and draining routine, you may find the best location for your sprouting jar is on the counter near the kitchen sink.

Step 4: Harvest and store 

When your radish sprouts are 1 to 2 inches long, they’re ready for your plate. If you leave them in the sprouting container for too long, you can end up with mushy and moldy sprouts, which you would have to throw away. 

To harvest radish sprouts, just remove them from the jar and give them a final rinse in cool water, then run them through the salad spinner to remove excess water as well as remaining seed hulls. Keep uneaten sprouts in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.

How to grow radish microgreens 

Growing radish microgreens requires a bit more setup than growing radish sprouts. One difference is you need a sunny window or a grow light, because you’re growing tiny plants. Another difference is you need a growing medium that can support the tiny plants. I’ll go over these requirements below, along with how to soak the seeds, provide water, and harvest.

Supplies you’ll need:

Before you begin, get together the materials for growing radish microgreens:

• A growing tray
• A drip pan to catch draining water, if your trays have drainage holes
• Growing medium. This can be sterile soil mix, coconut coir, or a fiber grow mat.
• Radish seeds labeled for microgreens

Microgreen grow kits are available from many garden retailers, if you’d prefer to have everything delivered to you at once.

Step 1: Soak the seeds 

Some microgreens seeds do best when soaked before planting. Radish seeds don’t require soaking, because they have a tender seed coat, but soaking them in a big bowl for a few hours before planting may speed the germination process.

Step 2: Spread the seeds on the mat or growing medium

This part of growing microgreens requires you to forget everything you know about proper plant spacing. Microgreens grow in a mat, like grass in a lawn, so you want the seeds to create a densely packed single layer. Use a potting mix, or look for a fiber mat. Sometimes these are called hydroponics mats or microgreen mats, and they might be made of hemp, jute, coconut coir, bamboo, or another biodegradable material.

Step 3: Keep them watered 

Growing microgreens is essentially starting hundreds of seeds all at once. They’re thirsty, and they need water to germinate and start their growth. Don’t allow the microgreens seeds to sit in water, but water them 2-3 times a week to make sure they don’t dry out.

Step 4:  Provide light 

Microgreen seeds don’t need light to germinate. In fact, try to keep your radish seeds covered or in a dark place, like a cabinet or closet, until most of the seeds germinate. Once the radicles start reaching for the sky, put the microgreens tray in direct sunlight or under a grow light. 

Don’t worry about warmth. Radish microgreens will grow well at room temperature. Be sure the area has air-circulation to reduce the chance of mildew in the tray.

Step 5: Make your harvest 

Radish microgreens are fast growing and should be ready for harvest in a week or 10 days. You can start trimming and eating them at any time, but you might wait until they’re 2 or 3 inches tall. Use a serrated knife, scissors, or herb snips to cut straight across, using care to keep the blade out of the growing medium.

I like to harvest as needed so they’re as fresh as possible. Alternatively harvest and keep microgreens wrapped in a damp paper towel in the refrigerator for a few days. Rinse them in a strainer before adding them to your meal.

More tips on how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens year-round

While this article just covers the basics of how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens, you can really dive deep into the best ways to do it. Here are a few more tips for the most success:

• Your water source is important. Use only potable water.
• One important detail in how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens is in seed sourcing. Start with seeds that are labeled for microgreens or sprouts. These haven’t been coated or chemically treated, and they’ve been tested to be free of pathogens, like salmonella.
• If you decide you’re really into these growing techniques, save money by purchasing microgreen and sprout seeds in bulk packages.
• If your microgreens or sprouts are at all slimy, moldy or otherwise off-looking for -smelling, throw them away and start again.

You might look at how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens as a wintertime fresh-food hack. More than that, you can consider it a small-space food-growing hack, a time-limited home-gardener hack, and a hack for packing more nutrition into your food. With so little setup required, growing microgreens or sprouts is straightforward for everyone from beginner gardeners to advanced.

Now that you know the difference between radish sprouts and microgreens, you can decide which growing method you want to try. I recommend trying both and seeing which technique suits you best. Either way, you’re growing something that makes your meals more interesting. 

From here, you can experiment with other varieties, like broccoli, clover, and alfalfa sprouts and as well as a rainbow of microgreens. Gather your seeds and a couple supplies, refer back to this article for the process, and enjoy your year-round, small-space harvest.

Now that we know how to grow radish sprouts and microgreens, check out these related articles:

• Grow sunflower microgreens
• Step-by-Step pea sprouts and shoots
• A quick video on growing microgreens