The Importance of Proper Airflow for your Microgreens

Microgreens need two things to be able to grow… Can you guess what they are? If you said light and water, you’re close but not quite right! Although light will help your microgreens become greener and more lush, it isn’t necessarily needed in order for the seeds to germinate. What they do need though is water and oxygen or airflow! Without proper airflow, the chance of your greens failing to germinate or grow properly significantly increases, along with the possibility of mold.

Your microgreens need proper ventilation to help with the process of transpiration. This term is used to describe the release of water vapor through the stomata and it occurs during the germination cycle! During the soaking step, we recommend keeping the top layer of your Seed Quilt dry so that your quilt doesn’t get overly saturated - This is in part due to transpiration! If the top of your quilt becomes overly wet and you also consider the water vapor that the seeds are already releasing as they grow, it's easy to see how the quilt may fail due to excess water. In order to lower the possibility of excess moisture and to increase the airflow in your quilts, we perforated the top layer of our Seed Quilts to provide better ventilation for the seeds.

Peeling the top layer of your quilt at the appropriate time is also important in order to provide good airflow for your Seed Quilts. Microgreens vary in their growth cycles (peel & grow times) depending on the variety and those growth cycles can further fluctuate depending on the growing environment. For this reason, we encourage Hamama growers to be mindful of each individual Seed Quilt’s growth time and how much water is added to the grow tray.

Most of our Seed Quilts should start to germinate within 3-4 days, but a few varieties can take anywhere between 6-10 days. Our Growing Diaries & Difficulty Ranking blog post are great resources for detailed information and photos pertaining to each variety’s peel and grow times! This will give you a better idea of when to peel the top paper so that your seeds are able to receive the oxygen they need to continue to grow! If left covered for too long past the recommended time, it can lead to poor growth and even mold formation.

Some other ways you can increase airflow for your greens is by providing them with some extra ventilation such as a fan or air purifier to ensure they do not receive too much moisture. This is especially true for growers who live in a humid environment or who are growing during a more humid time of year! To learn more about how climate can affect the growth of your greens, check out this blog post.

Next time you start a new quilt, keep these tips in mind to ensure your seeds are getting everything they need for a healthy and full harvest!