How to Grow Carrot Microgreens in 5 Easy Steps

The rabbits are onto something – carrot tops taste amazing! Well, at least carrot microgreens do. These young greens, fresh from the seed, have a mild carrot taste and delicate texture that you’ll love. They’ll add flavor to your plate and green to your garden.

Carrot microgreens are one of the slowest microgreens you can grow (if you want something faster, try radishes or mustard). Depending on the variety, it’s usually 15-25 days until harvest. However, that’s still under a month of growing, which is a great deal shorter than waiting for a mature vegetable plant. Plus, the unique taste and texture make this microgreen worth the wait.

Even though they take longer, carrot microgreens are grown just like most other microgreens. You’ll be able to reuse most of the supplies and continue growing microgreens of all sorts. For now, let’s go over how to get those fresh carrot microgreens.

Tendersweet Carrot

Our Rating

Tendersweet Carrot Seeds

Visit at Botanical Interests

Atomic Red Carrot

Our Rating

Atomic Red Carrot Seeds

Visit at Botanical Interests

Cosmic Purple Carrot

Our Rating

Cosmic Purple Carrot Seeds

Visit at Botanical Interests

What You’ll Need

You only need a few basic things to start growing microgreens. Then, you can plant, grow, and harvest your healthy treats.

Seeds

Start by choosing some good-quality carrot seeds. We recommend any of these:

• Tendersweet Carrot Seeds: A classic carrot with a sweet flavor and bright green microgreens.
• Rainbow Carrot Seeds: Big carrots in a range of colors. The microgreens are fresh, crunchy, and tasty.
• Cosmic Purple Carrot Seeds: Known for its purple outer shell with an orange center, like a chocolate. In microgreen form, this variety is packed with Vitamin A and antioxidants.
• Atomic Red Carrot Seeds: Sweet and crisp microgreens in this dark red carrot with an orange center.
• Calliope Blend Carrot Seeds: Crisp and tasty microgreens in this blend of colorful carrots.
• Carnival Blend Carrot Seeds: Another colorful selection with tasty green microgreens.

Because carrot microgreens are immature carrot plants, you don’t need a special type of seed. Some companies may market their seeds for microgreens, but any quality carrot seed will do the trick.

Carrots grow super tiny seeds, so make sure you have enough to cover the whole surface of your growing tray.

Containers

You’ll need a shallow container with holes for drainage plus another that’s the same size or larger without holes to cover. Standard growing trays are perfect, but if you need to buy, we recommend Epic 6-Cell Seed Starting Trays and Germination Domes & Bottom Trays.

Growing Medium

A fine growing medium is perfect for these tiny seeds. A seed-starting mix is ideal, or use a combination of potting soil and rehydrated coco coir, which has excellent moisture-holding capacity and good drainage.

Grow Lights

It’s tempting to save money by skipping the grow light. However, if you want to get quality microgreens, you shouldn’t. Each microgreen crop needs to grow directly below the light source to ensure optimal flavor and even growth. While sunlight gets the job done in a pinch, it usually results in leggy, lackluster microgreens.

We recommend the following grow lights: the Small Epic Seed Starting Grow Light or the Standard Epic Seed Starting Grow Light.

Extras

Kitchen scissors or pruning shears will be handy for harvesting. A misting bottle for watering is essential.

How to Grow Carrot Microgreens

Follow the steps to get the best results for your microgreens. Also check out the common problems discussion for any issues you may find.

Step 1: Plant

Start by grabbing your seed-starting soil and tray with drainage holes. Fill the grow tray almost to the brim with soil, thoroughly water, and smooth out the surface. Then, spread the microgreen seeds all across the tray.

Try to cover the entire soil surface without letting the microgreen seeds overlap. This is no small task with such tiny seeds, so we recommend using a salt shaker to disperse them.

Gently press the microgreen seeds into the soil so they’ll stay in place. The seeds will start absorbing water from the soil and begin germination. If you’d like, you can add a heating mat underneath the growing tray. The ideal soil temperature for germinating this plant is 75°F (24°C). 

Step 2: Cover

Once the microgreen seeds are planted, induce a blackout period so they can grow. Grab your second, holeless tray and place it on top of the growing tray. It should block out all light for the microgreen seeds. If needed, place a weight on top of the tray (up to five pounds).

Carrot seeds will germinate and start to grow in four to seven days. It’s important that you keep the tray covered the entire time. The soil should have enough water that you won’t need to add more during the blackout period.

Step 3: Grow

About four days after the microgreen seeds are planted, peek in to see if they’ve sprouted. When at least 80-90 percent of the seeds have grown small, white shoots, you can remove the cover tray.

Place the growing tray about one to three feet below the grow light and turn it on for about 12 hours a day. You should also remove the heating mat if you used one.

The microgreen sprouts will turn green and grow towards the light. While they’re growing, water the soil consistently. The carrot microgreens will demand more water the more they grow. Instead of reaching for the watering can, microgreens should be watered from the bottom up.

To water the carrot microgreens, you’ll need the second tray again. Fill it with an inch or two of water and set the microgreen growing tray in it. Let the growing medium soak up the water for about ten minutes and then remove it. This method keeps the leaves on the microgreens dry and protected from bacterial growth.

Step 4: Harvest

Most microgreens are ready to harvest right after their cotyledons unfold (cotyledons are the first, premature leaves grown). Carrot microgreens, however, can move to the next stage without losing their great flavor and tender texture.

You can wait to harvest until they grow their first true leaves – the feathery ones we associate with carrots. However, the microgreens do need to be harvested before full bunches of leaves grow.

Use your sharp kitchen shears to cut the microgreens just above the soil level. You can harvest them all in one go or stagger the cuttings over the next week or two. Carrot microgreens don’t successfully grow back after harvesting, so compost the soil and wash and reuse the trays.

Step 5: Store

To keep your microgreens as fresh as possible, don’t wash them until you’re ready to taste them. Store the microgreens in a sealed bag in the fridge (like salad). They’ll stay fresh and ready to use for about five to ten days.