Grow Microgreens Using Sand!?

Ever look around and wonder what you can and can’t use to grow Microgreens? It’s hard not to imagine the possibilities – even if it seems a bit odd. That’s why we decided to test out some "not so typical grow mediums” such as Sand to see if you could grow microgreens successfully… because who knows if you’ll ever be in the middle of the desert or stranded near a beach that just happens to have a bag of seeds laying around? – haha of course the chances of this happening are pretty obsolete…. yet it doesn’t make it any less fun!

To top it off, we also had the idea of what if sand could be a reusable grow medium for microgreens, since technically you can wash it out and then heat it to sterilize it... so of course, we couldn’t not test that out too!

Usually, you’ll find sand mixed into soils to help with increasing aeration, drainage and loosening up the soil for planting various vegetable crops. We’ve even tested out a local Dallas, Texas soil in the past for growing microgreens that was amended with sand, and it did a wonderful job. However, outside of being mixed into soil – you don’t see sand as a stand alone grow medium for microgreens… and that may be because of a few reasons which we discuss in this video.

However, before we get carried away - the results speak for themselves as you will see, and it was a fun way to grow microgreens without traditional soil! There are TIPS and TRICKS sprinkled throughout the video to help you have successful harvests if you want to try this too!!

We hope you enjoy and please let us know your thoughts below :)

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[Jezze]

About 50 years ago when I was in 4th grade, a farmer taught our class about starting seeds in sand. Of course, that was long before the micro-greens craze, but our starts grew quicker in sand than potting soil or plain ol' dirt from the playground, but as they continued to grow the more nutrient rich media allowed the plants to mature whereas the sand starts started to look sickly, so we transplanted them to potting soil and they caught up to the other plants in a couple of days. Placing your root mass in a coarse colander or 1/8th inch sieve over fine sieve or large bowl and running water through it might work to clean the sand out faster/easier. Plant matter stays in the colander; sand collects in the fine sieve...

[NatureZone]

Great video! Why not just boil the sand, strain it and let it dry?

[johnbagaas]

After harvest, It seems to me that reclaiming the sand might be a less messy process, and easier, if the whole works was dumped into a larger tote container all at once (so no grabbing small tufts one at a time and transferring them over to another container), or just placing the whole tray in a tote, as-is, and using the spray nozzle to loosen each handful as you go separate the organic from the sand... probably wouldn't take much water... basically all the water and "mess" would be contained in the tote... of course that's just a theory LOL... It really is an interesting idea to re-use the medium countless (free) times... great experiment. Thank You.

[craighard]

You could put a thin layer CoCo Coir over the top of the sand. As you said the water is holding well. Interesting growth.

[nathanjones]

Gold panning supply mesh screen, you can get ones that fit a bucket and just wash the sand through. thank you for showing this really great!

[hjezek]

Works surprisingly good !
1) does germination continue as good after several cycles of using the sand ?
2) did you consider adding some fertilizer to the water. Silica sand is as nutrient poor as it can get.
3) 30-60 min in the oven is a lot of time and energy and probably becomes cumbersome with a larger quantity of sand. Did you consider sterilizing with a conc. H2O2 solution instead ? That should get rid of (most) germs and doesn't leave any residues.

[tribalwind]

Very cool! The recycling and sanitizing process seems quite time consuming, how's it compare to mesh grow screens or trays?

[soriyaheng]

Thanks for your videos. I have a question. How can we eat or cook microgreens's roots? What will affect to our health? Regard

[dustinsmith]

30:00 That water has so many nutrients in it from what was added during grow and from what was leeched out from the roots/stems. I would have used it somewhere else in the garden.

[resolutekravmaga]

In aquaponics, you use a radial flow filter to separate the fish poop solids. It might be a great way to clean your sand after use.

Great video!!

[christinacyrus]

I thought of that but since I've seen no yet videos on it I assumed it was a no go. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! AWESOME!!! 😃

[andrewclark]

Awesome stuff! Love your videos. Can you recommend the specific sand product used or is it just generic course sand?

[rollingtexas]

I have used coarse (builder’s) sand for years. I use recycled styrofoam containers with 2-3 inches of sand to root pineapple tops. It works great. I have used it to root other plant cuttings as well. Haven’t tried it as a seed growing medium however. I will try that now.

[victoriajankowski]

pull the whole plant and rinse the sand from the roots, then trim the tops, less refuse in the sand, more plant harvested, just an idea!

[privileguan]

Interesting idea using sand as a medium.
@On The Grow Maybe it would help separating the used medium when put into a salad thrower (one to separate greens from water) but instead submerging the system 50-100% in water.
In my head it should whirl around the mixture while letting the sand sink to the bottom as opposed to the other parts mostly pushing gainst the walls or floating above.

[Teddy_Doloir]

Thanks for the experiment. Acording your long experience, which media is better ?

[AlbeeSoaring]

Very interesting. My mind is racing with ideas on separation as well as the drying and sanitation process to make it much faster.

[garymccord]

Gritty brownies Loved the videos a lot of work and great results,

[ahowlmx]

The sand idea is cool. Have you tried with the mesh tray?

[outsidethebox]

5 gal bucket filled with bleach water, strainer to filter roots and let sand fall to the bottom, let trays dry in the sun....time, water, and electricity cost money. You need to streamline the process over 50-150 trays.