After Seeing This You Might NOT Want to Grow Microgreens 

This is more rewarding than being a working robot at an office .

Im producing 135 trays a week out of my 12x30 grow room in my basement by myself.

This is a great video. So much to learn about the techniques, logistics and economics of small to medium scale microgreens production!

How many people in the NYC-5 boroughs are looking at this and thinking;, “ I could try this”. I can never tell if this is a great “ new idea for this area” or a flooded market. Awesome content! Super appreciate the knowledge. Thank you.

Wow Diego, this is one of the best and most informative videos ive ever seen. Thank you 👍

Excellent video! You ask all the right questions and cover indepth. Thanks for sharing ❣️

That's so great that Sonoma Farm shared all their knowledge. I was never thinking about doing this commercially (just for my own food) but found it very interesting.

Hey Diego, if you are ever in Belgium always welcome at our farm. We are seeding over 1.000 trays a week and are automating a lot of stuff. Last week with the holiday we sold over 230kilos of microgreens mostly to retail.

Our plan as to what to do with excess that can't be 'sold' or bartered out, is more valuable to us as chicken/hog feed, and even the cows as a treat. With that said...grow excess knowing you can be ready instantly to snag a huge, sudden order...or just have chicken chow for almost free. Rotate greens likely to hit a peak price and feed them to the chicks if you guessed wrong. Sort of a win win without the frustration when you your wrong.

Great questions and attention to process details..... Thanks

never saw a greens harvester before thinking about going into this area. The vid helped me think out my business plan.

Great video thank you guys so much for sharing really appreciate it

great video , I watched the whole thing ! It makes me want to grow micro greens

This was a great video; thanks Diego! I'm considering leaving my career as a product experience manager to produce microgreens instead. I appreciate that this video focuses on some of the challenges and not just the margins.

What is up with your algorithm man?! You should be at 500K Subs with all this value!! Come on RU-vid!! Keep it up brotha!

This is fkin golden diego. Thank you! Im at half their production atm so it helps for me to fill any gaps I may have.

I kind of noticed the nature of the biz after a few grows. Good to highlight that in this video. However: 90% of jobs are repetitive, it just depends on what you favor.

The more I hear, the more inspiration I have. Lets do this baby!

lots of details. Thank you!

Excellent, thank you!

$1800 ÷ 125 = $14,40 Per tray. Pretty good return considering its wholesale and no expense on delivery etc

great operation and great people!

Keyword for success “Automation” love it 🤓🌱

Nice work on the grow let's get it

this video made me want to go plant another tray lol microgreens will be the future.

Great video, great stuff to think about here!

Nice job. Good choice of question

Rent? Insurance? Taxes for profit business? Any business trying to compete with a subsidized operation like that, would need a massive size to break even.

Any business you have that delivers a product is for the most product systematized. If you want a normal life.. you need to hire people ... and even then you’ll have full days. As an entrepreneur micro greens are looking very attractive.

Great video Diego! Great job Luke, Thanks for the info.

Really enjoyed this video. Lots of excellent advice!

Whoops, my bad, resolution is fine--sorry. Lots of great stuff here, thanks for taking the time to cover so much.

Right on Diego, my old home town!

Something that I've always been interested is using business structure to maximize revenues. Most farms seem to be for profit(sole proprietor up to corporation). Its interesting to hear Geoff Lawton in one of your vids talk about the benefits of being a non-profit. This particular farm is a non-profit. Seems to be an unexplored area of farming. Not all states have laws in place to allow for them, but cooperatives can offer amazing benefits to farmers as well. In my senior thesis, analyzing (agriculture/utility) cooperatives in Hawaii, the financial advantage cooperatives gained was in having no tax obligation. Some of them paid above average wages for the area as well. How many homesteads and small farm are currently using business structure to reduce their tax obligation?

Great video. Thanks

Do you know what makes a farm a farm? A FARMER!

And you make chickens happy! I see some reds, coocoo marans, welsummers, buff orphingtons and are those silver laced welsummers? Good job keep up the good work.

Very interesting video, thanks very much. I am often surprised that the flood and drain system isn't more popular as basic biology tells us that the roots are for water absorption and the leaves are for CO2 absorption. Most plants can use very little water effectively through their foliage (most less than 5% as opposed to 95% by roots) and as mentioned in the vid increases the risk of mould and fungal infections tremendously especially in crops like microgreens that are so dense.

I really appreciate your questions and analysis-very thought provoking and hence more informative than just the "basic" type of question. The Sonoma Farm guy said that one of his major expenses was the soil. I'm wondering if growing hydroponically would be any cheaper. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Thanks for your personal integrity in presenting this information. Some of the main microgreen RU-vid guys are not telling the whole story. Especially those guys who are selling grow kits or books.

very informative.

what do your wholesale customers look like on the high-end scale of trays they take per week vs the low end? Let me rephrase that I have just started growing microgreens and I am still learning and looking towards selling them in the future; like 9 months so I can get more shelves going and different crops. As of now, I have 2 working shelves with only a total of 3 broccoli trays every 4 days for harvest. I calculated I can produce 8 harvests on a long month, so 24 trays of broccoli per month. I will be experimenting with radishes in January after I have bought 2 more selves for production. I am curious when I should be able to afford a wholesale customer based on your lowest quantity customer vs your average vs your high quantity customer. I don't want to pitch a wholesale customer without having the needed growth I can afford. Sorry for the long comment I just felt I needed to explain my situation. Thank you for your time.

Good information...!!! Mahalo

Look at all that space above those plants you could put like 20 more rows but you’ll need some more lights. I think it will work out economically 🤔pretty sure about that

he has a pretty sweet deal. The non-profit pays him and the laborers. THEN he gets to make profit from what he grows in the farm, all because he provides the non-profit with the microgreens as well. What an insane trade off.

Different angle on the title of this video......BUT, still want to grow em! 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

They're delicious

How cold does the fridge have to be to slow it the growth.

Love microgreens

would it be better to use coconut cull as soil to help with mold an bacterias as i want grow microgreens. any info from anyone will be respected

I appreciate your asking the questions about the economics of the system for this grower. I would like to know how much the 'suppliers' pay for their product (15 or 20+ dollars/tray) and what do they charge for that unit and who do they sell to. The reason for this question is are the current system of food production profitable to the top end distributer? Which I think it is. If someone were to understand the the big picture then the farmer and distributer may really need a profit sharing system to really make it possible for the farmer to make a living. I live in Iowa now and a large percent of farmers (soy and corn) have jobs as well as farm their land. They also have to meet short falls by taking loans out on their land. The current system is probably not sustainable for the farmers but the people that set the commodity price for farmers and price for restaurants and food markets seem to always make a profit. It has always been messed up in America. and can that be corrected? Like the fellow from Belgium down the list below sells to retail.

Thank you for the real info on microgreens! get video

Quick question why do you not sell them directly to end-users and make maximum profit?

best micro green video ever

Where does one purchase the hand held cutter the guy used?

What would the cost be for the greenhouse and irrigation setup? Thanks for the video mate. Cheers

I know this is a very late comment but hopefully it'll get a reply: What type of 1020 trays are being used so that you can bottom water? I've so far only seen trays w/ no holes in the bottom of them.

How much is the Sunflower trays worth?

I saw a guy who grows all his microgreens on coconut fiber pads. There's no cutting he sells that whole sheet to the customers and it has a better shelf life than cut greens. That's the way I'd do it for sure if I did this.

Thanks for the video.. what are those white cloths for?

One thing I've heard about electric harvesting tools is they don't get as clean of a cut as a knife, leading to shorter shelf life. I wonder if this is the case with the harvester in this video or not.

Grow your own food

Maybe a uv wand passing over them vs peroxide...worth a try with supply chain issues or cost.

Just watched the whole video. No, I definitely am going to want to grow. Thanks for the tips and ideas! 👍

FYI. Hydrogen Peroxide is great, except that the growth of salmonella explodes with it. If you decide to continue using it. A 35% (or 70%) peroxide with an injector works very well.

Link to the flood trays he uses? I havent found one that holds 4 trays as of yet would love a link

These are easy to grow for individual use. I would expect a lot of people to start growing for themselves. Everything is readily available online to plant a few trays for personal use.

I love it

u mentioned misting table and then flood table....what is a FLOOD TABLE???

I am growing my microgreens in two sizes of small round recyclable trays (clear drip trays for pots). It takes more love and care but I feel it ends up being worth it because they are more profitable for the amount of space they use. I am selling them alive at the farmers market for $5 and $8 per tray. I use a ground coco coir fiber as the medium and don’t use any hydrogen peroxide anymore. They are true organic hydroponic plants. No nutrients, fertilizers, or chemicals used during the whole process. I’ve only seen mold starting in a couple trays and those I will dump, clean the tray, and start a new crop in them. Everything is grown on a wire shelf rack under T5 fluorescent lights in a spare bedroom. Depending on the size of the rack, with 4 foot racks each shelf has potentially $188 of profit per crop, minus supply costs which are under $1 per tray. I have a variety of different plants on each shelf and avoid cross contamination because they are in their own trays and watered by hand. I’ve tried the 10/20 trays and it seems they are more useful for wholesale deals, so I’ll go back to that if I ever start supplying restaurants or whoever else for wholesale amounts.

You mean you aren't making 20 grand a month on 1/4 acre...😂😂😂😂😂 ( nice video..)

Is the peroxide used to prevent mold? What is the mix ratio. Great video.

Is that 24 oz container or 24oz of product?

Utilize vertical easily with a football stadium design for the seating... Instead of people in the stadium thousands and thousands of trays... Trucks can roll into the infield for easy loading and unloading... Cart could be used in the walkways between the levels and then you have to use artificial lighting at night to make it absolutely flourish 🛐📈

Very different production to the hydroponics on shelves with grow-lights that I've been watching. I think I prefer the hydroponics but I'd love to see someone making their own nutrient solution instead of just buying this input - and also, I'd love to see someone growing their own seed supply in their garden.

Food grade peroxide?

Sad to see more plastic clam shells. Live cut seems a great alternative.

Ya hippies....sometimes you gotta go to wrk and actually work! I've been in and out of farms for years and the ones who dont succeed are the ones who forget it's not just farm- fun....its farm-buisness too.

1800 a week with that big space seems low since some are doing that with a few shelves and 200sqft

I can't wait

I've often wondered how much outdoor farmland is required to produce the seed bank required to sustain this kind of operation.

Who are the wholesaler

I have a pricing question. Perhaps someone could help. I keep hearing that you can get 20ish dollars for a 10x20 tray. I have been making about 8 per of broccoli and radish. I checked at a local CSA that sells the same and my price is slightly higher per oz. Is the 20 dollar estimate on the high end or did I misinterpret something? Been selling at farmers market for 8 weeks and have sold out of everything 6 weeks.

Selling to distributors means you earn less because they buy in bulks and the price is much lower than selling to a restaurant. I guess this is how it goes when you go big time. And doing this over and over is much better than doing over and over what I'm doing now

Is that 1 cup of 'food grade' hydrogen peroxide that you're mixing with the one gallon of water?

Is micro greens the only way to make a profit ? Every time I go to the farmers market, there are half the farms selling them. That’s ok , but I like diversity in my foods. Also greens in general are everywhere at the markets. Please make some videos that are non greens . Thanks in advance

New to this, is there any videos on the advantages and disadvantages to green house vs grow lights for micro greens?

I noticed the micros were not washed before packing. It is my understanding that FDA requires the washing of micros. I am confused or I am misinformed. Any comments! Nice video, thanks for sharing!

How did covid affect this operation?

This guy😂 "don't grow microgreens, cuz it's not just sitting around, and you actually have to do something when harvesting. I watched one video and thought this was gonna be laying around job, but it's not. That's why don't grow microgreens!"

Hate to burst your bubble but Botanicare ebb and flow tables eliminate all the problems you have, while you’re trying to reinvent the wheel lol

i hope this market doesn't go the way of Storage Wars, Amazon arbitrage and private label - when too many people do it as a business there is no profit

Seems like it could only be profitable if you have a strong market and you grow your own seed.

so why cut and not deliver live?

i think 120 trays a week should be making alot more then 1800.00 a week. making your own soil, instead of importing soil will save money. 120X20per tray is 2400.00 im not here to micro manage but, improvements could be made to up the profit for sure.

I thought an operation like that would do well over 100K? I am still learning...

Are all these guys just reformed weed growers?

Well that's it, I'm done. I don't want to grow no more. I'm joking. Thanks for sharing.

Isn't this way of farming uses up a lot of seeds to produce only little food?

That harvester is now 685 usd.