Is Microgreen farming profitable?
Consumers prefer buying from their local producers, and microgreens are on demand. What does that mean? Small growers have the opportunity to start and expand their business. Among the newer crops to tryare microgreens. So, is microgreen farming profitable? I believe so!
Growing microgreens at home can be an enjoyable hobby and reward you for your efforts. Just spending an hour a day maintaining them, and by the end of the week or two, you will be smiling to the bank. Not only will you earn some extra cash, but you will spend time with family doing what you love. However, good business needs investment. You have to buy tools, seeds, and set up a greenhouse.
What’s Microgreen?
Before embarking on a microgreen growing venture, it’s essential to understand what they are. Microgreens are tiny edible plants older than sprouts but younger than full-grown plants. Immediately the “true” leaves develop, they are harvested. They are generally consumed as salad greens and can be from any plant that grows to maturity, for instance radish, mustard, or beet. The fun part, they take about two weeks to mature.
How Much Money Can I Make as a Microgreen Grower?
Well, it depends on your efforts. You can make a little or more. The crop cycle for microgreens is short, and commercial growers can make profits a couple of times within a month. As mentioned, microgreens take about two weeks, meaning a grower can harvest 20 times or more every year.
According to some growers, you can harvest about 5 ounces of microgreens from a 10”x20” single tray when grown on a tabletop. A pound of microgreens retails at $25. No other legal crop can beat microgreens in terms of profits unless marijuana is legal in your state.
Starting a Microgreen Business
For a business to be profitable, there must be a producer or seller, and a consumer or buyer. So, if you can grow microgreens successfully, you don’t have to classify it as a business until you have customers willing to pay cash for your microgreens. So, the most important thing before starting a microgreen business is doing researching and finding out whether you stand a chance.
What a loss it would be to invest your hard-earned money, time, and energy and eventually find no market for your microgreens? Before grabbing the opportunity, find out whether it’s profitable in your area and whether you are the right person for the business. Not every person can succeed in business, or you may not be able to devote yourself at that moment. However, when you are fully prepared and with a standby customer, you can go ahead.
How Much do You Need to Start a Microgreen Business?
Starting the business costs you nothing unless you meant what it would cost to do microgreen farming successfully. Microgreen farming is quite affordable. You will spend a few hundred dollars at most.
Growers can build simple hoop houses for less than $5 per square foot to grow their microgreens and use power-saving bulbs to keep costs down. Every successful grower knows it’s profitable activity, especially for urban farmers.
Who are the Potential Customers and How to Get Them?
Networking and finding people who can buy your microgreens before investing in indoor gardening is the best way of avoiding the stress of finding where to take them after harvesting. There are a bunch of channels you can use, one of them being social media, and of course, hitting the streets. There are restaurants and grocery stores in your city.
The first people to approach should be the chefs. Show them the products you have available, agree about prices, and leave them your contacts. The other people to talk to are your neighbors. You might find customers among them, or they could help spread the word and place individual orders. To grow your customer base, provide microgreen recipe ideas as well.
Your favorite grocery store could also help you sell your product. It can be a large chain or just a local grocery store, but they will likely support the idea if you agree how you’ll be sharing the profits. You can erect your own stand at the farmers market, and sell your harvest. If you’re lucky enough, you may land a wholesale buyer. Even though you will earn less per tray, you will sell them in bigger volumes.
What Do You Require to Start?
Tons of people across the globe are making thousands of dollars every week from selling microgreens. You don’t need specialized training or degree to get started. You only have to watch a couple of YouTube videos and read some ebooks, and you will be set to go. You’ll find out which tools and supplies are necessary to start on the right foot.
Microgreen Trays
Assuming you have a greenhouse, or a room to start your indoor gardening, and the racks or tables are all set, you should buy microgreen trays from Amazon. Here are our comparison of 4 microgreen trays If you’re growing your microgreens hydroponically, the trays shouldn’t have holes underneath. You can, however, use trays with holes if you are growing them in soil media, but put another tray without holes underneath.
Water Quality, Soil, and Lights
Tap water is not always recommended, but if you have no alternative, use a water filter. Rainwater is more suitable though. You can harvest the water for future use. When it comes to planting, you can use soil media, soilless media, or growing pads. If you plan to grow microgreens hydroponically, find out which micro are allowed. For the lights, don’t put too much thought on it, until microgreen farming becomes a hobby or a business venture.
Harvesting, Handling, and Storing
You need a set of scissors to cut the area above the growing media, or pull them out of that media and trim off the roots. If you aren’t going to consume them right away, no need to wash them. You can lay them out on paper towels to dry off after washing them. Be gentle when handling them.
Conclusion
Indoor gardening is profitable, especially if you focus on microgreens. Many farmers around the world have tried it and are making a killing. There’re no reasons whatsoever to prevent you from trying it out. Just make sure that you have customers on standby.