Microgreens growing tools: what you need and what you can skip
Yesterday I was sharing some tips about growing microgreens with my in-laws. They had just read a copy of my book, and the first thing they asked was what they had to go and buy.
The honest answer is less than most lists suggest. Growing microgreens at home, or for profit, takes three tools to start. The rest of what sits in my toolshed went in one at a time, each one bought to fix a problem I actually had.
Everything on this page is something I use. What follows is which three come first, and what has to go wrong before the other seven earn their place.
Key takeaway
Three tools do the actual work: a tray with drainage holes, a mister for the germination days, and food-grade hydrogen peroxide for the seed and the soil. The other seven on this page are problem solvers. You buy a fan when the air stops moving, a dome when humidity will not hold, a meter when you want to stop guessing.
Below, the three that come first, then the seven and the specific problem each one answers.
Before you pick the next crop
Which microgreens are worth your tray space?
You have just worked out which tools you can skip. Same question, one level up. A tray planted with the wrong crop costs you the same seed and the same shelf time as a tray that works. You just find out later.
The Edible Plant Catalog for Growing Microgreens is a spreadsheet, not a picture book. More than 200 edible species, one row each, carrying the light, temperature and watering that species wants. Sort it by whichever of those your setup limits you to and read off what is left.
Twenty-seven dollars for the file. That works out at about thirteen cents a species.
Results vary by setup, season and crop.
Which microgreens growing tools do you actually need?
Three. A tray, something to mist with, and food-grade hydrogen peroxide. You can grow a good crop with nothing else on this page.
Growing containers
You will need trays to put your growing soil in. The best type for microgreens are containers with holes in the bottom, because you want to water the plants from the bottom rather than over the top. My book covers why bottom watering matters and how to do it.
The containers I recommend for growing at home are the retro-style SOLIGT Extra Thick Heavy Duty 10 Pack Seed Starting Trays. These 10 by 20 trays are robust, reusable plastic and they last. The grid bottom drains well, so they work for other small plants too.
One thing worth knowing: the stand doubles as a cover for the first two days of germination, so you are not buying a separate lid.
You could buy plain plastic trays. These cost a little more and they go anywhere in the house without looking like equipment.
Misting bottle
You will need a misting bottle to spray water on your seedlings after you sow them. It is only used in the germination stage. After that you water from the bottom, or you water the soil.
The Ram-Pro Mister is my go-to. It holds 1.5 litres, about 50 ounces, with a thumb spray button and a brass nozzle. It took me a few tries to get the pressure right, so fill it at least halfway, then pump and spray.
Here is why it matters rather than a cup or a hose. Poured water floats the seeds and moves them off the spots you placed them on. A mister does not.
Food-grade hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is one of the better natural cleaners and disinfectants. Food grade is the important part, and it is not for drinking. You spray the seeds and the soil with it to knock back harmful bacteria before anything germinates.
Essential Oxygen Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide 3% is what I use to prepare soil and wash seeds. The 32 ounce bottle comes with an 8 ounce spray bottle, which is the one that lives on the bench.
I use it because it has none of the stabilisers in the brown pharmacy bottle. It is safe on hands and it does not burn the way some store brands do. We also use it on cutting boards, in the laundry, and on toothbrushes.
Which microgreens tools can wait until a problem shows up?
These seven all live in my toolshed and all of them get used. None of them went in on day one. Each answers a specific failure, and if you are not having that failure yet, the money stays in your pocket.
LED lights
I grow with natural sunlight where I can. That is not always possible, and a north-facing window in February is the usual reason people give up.
The two common artificial options are fluorescent tubes and LEDs. I converted the lights in my house to LED and the bill dropped by more than half, which is what pushed me to try them on trays.
A correction, because this page said the opposite for two years. It used to tell you to pick a blue-dominant light over red. The research does not support that. In a 2026 basil microgreen trial, the three spectra tested were all red-dominant or full spectrum, and the best performer overall was 65% red with 25% blue plus a little white and far-red (Balik et al., 2026). Nothing in that trial recommends blue over red. If you want the full picture, the lighting guide has the numbers per crop.
Barrina Plant Grow Lights are what I run. They are 4ft strips at 5000K, which is a daylight white rather than the purple you see on cheaper panels, and they link end to end so one run covers a shelf.
Timer
A timer only matters once you are running lights. Set it and the lights keep their schedule whether or not you are home.
The BN-LINK 24 Hour Plug-in Mechanical Timer is the one on my shelf.
Mini rake
You can always level soil with your hands or a gloved palm. A mini rake does it faster and gets the surface flatter, which matters more than it sounds when you are sowing evenly.
The KiiZYS 12-Piece Small Garden Tools Set is what I reach for.
Small fan
Buy a fan when air stops moving, not before. Stagnant air is what turns a humid tray mouldy.
The NexAir 7 inch Air Circulator is the one I use. Point it across the tray rather than straight at it. Air blown directly onto microgreens dries the soil faster than you can water it.
Temperature and humidity meter
A meter is how you stop guessing. It matters when you suspect a humidity problem, or when you have moved to a basement and a larger scale where the room no longer feels like the rest of the house.
The Inkbird IBS-TH1 is my choice. It reads 40 to 140°F and 0 to 99% relative humidity, and it pairs with a phone app so you can check the room without standing in it.
Humidity dome
If you cannot get humidity to 40 to 50%, a dome holds the moisture in for you rather than fighting the whole room.
The Living Whole Foods Plant Tray Clear Plastic Humidity Domes fit a standard 10 by 20 tray.
Spice shaker
Some people can broadcast seed evenly from a cupped hand. The rest of us load a shaker and get an even spread without thinking about it.
The Winco 10 oz Clear Snap-On Lid Dredge is clear plastic with holes wide enough for most microgreen seed. Which seed you are shaking changes the hole size you need, so check yours against the lid before you buy.
Wrap-up: what to buy first for growing microgreens
Buy the tray, the mister and the peroxide. Grow two or three trays with only those. The problems that show up are the ones that tell you what to buy next, and they are different for a kitchen counter than for a basement rack.
Tooling is one piece of a larger picture. If you are working out whether this becomes a business rather than a hobby, the business hub is where the rest of it sits.
Before you pick the next crop
Which microgreens are worth your tray space?
You have just worked out which tools you can skip. Same question, one level up. A tray planted with the wrong crop costs you the same seed and the same shelf time as a tray that works. You just find out later.
The Edible Plant Catalog for Growing Microgreens is a spreadsheet, not a picture book. More than 200 edible species, one row each, carrying the light, temperature and watering that species wants. Sort it by whichever of those your setup limits you to and read off what is left.
Twenty seven dollars for the file. That works out at about thirteen cents a species.
Results vary by setup, season and crop.
Microgreens growing tools: frequently asked questions
What size tray works best for microgreens?
A 10 by 20 tray with a grid or holed bottom is the working standard, because it drains and it fits every dome, stand and rack built for the format. The size matters less than the drainage. A solid-bottom tray of the same size will hold water against the roots.
Can you reuse microgreens trays?
Yes, and it is most of the reason to buy sturdy ones. Wash them between runs and treat them the way you treat the seed, with food-grade hydrogen peroxide rather than a household cleaner that leaves residue.
Do you need a grow light to start microgreens?
Not if you have a window that gets real light for most of the day. Light becomes the constraint in winter, in a north-facing room, or in a basement. Those are the conditions that make a light worth buying, not the crop itself.
What humidity do microgreens need?
40 to 50% is the range I aim for. Below it, germination slows and trays dry unevenly. Above it, with still air, mould arrives. That pairing is why a fan and a dome solve opposite problems and are rarely bought at the same time.
Is a temperature and humidity meter worth it for a home grower?
Only once you have had a problem you cannot diagnose. On a kitchen counter you can usually feel the answer. In a basement or a garage you cannot, and a meter turns a guess into a number.
Do you need a special trimmer to harvest microgreens?
⚠ ANSWER NEEDED. Highest-impression query theme reaching this page, 35 impressions across trimmer and cutter terms, and nothing on the site answers it. Tell me what you harvest with and I will write it to the 60-word budget.
References
Balik, S., Aldiyab, A., Temtek, T., İkiz, B., Dasgan, H. Y., & Gruda, N. S. (2026). Effects of LED spectral compositions on yield, growth, and nutritional quality of basil microgreens in indoor vertical farming. PLOS ONE, 21(7), e0352317. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0352317
