Introduction
If you’re looking to start growing microgreens for profit, this list cuts through the noise. These are the exact tools, trays, lights, seeds, and suppliers I used to build Piedmont Microgreens from a garage to 350+ trays/week. If you're just getting started, don't overthink it — buy this stuff and start growing.
We also created a nicely formatted PDF, if you’d prefer to view it that way.
The Microgreen Farmer’s Starter Kit
What to Buy
01 Grow Structure
6-Tier Wire Rack: ~$100–130 | The backbone. Adjust shelves 10" apart for 5 working levels. Top shelf for storage.
02 Lighting
4' LED Shop Lights, 6-Pack (22W): ~$34 | Two per shelf, zip-tied underneath. All six chain together off the power strip.
Outlet Timer: ~$12 | Set 16 Hrs ON / 8 Hrs OFF. The power strip plugs into this.
Power Strip (6-Outlet, 15A): ~$15 | The six lights plug into this, then the strip plugs into the outlet timer. Rated 15A so it handles the full load without issues.
UV-Rated Zip Ties (100 ct.): ~$11 | For securing lights to shelf undersides. UV-rated so they don't get brittle.
03 Growing Trays (1020)
Trays with Holes, Premium (Top Tray): ~$4–5 ea. | Thicker, more durable. Worth it if you plan to scale. Bootstrap is the standard for commercial growers.
Trays without Holes, Premium (Bottom Tray): ~$4–5 ea. | Holds the water. Pairs with top tray for bottom-watering. Order equal quantities.
Trays with Holes, Budget (Top Tray): ~$2–3 ea. | Fine to start. Thinner and more prone to cracking over time, but gets the job done.
Trays without Holes, Budget (Bottom Tray): ~$2–3 ea. | Pairs with budget top tray. Order equal quantities of each.
04 Growing Medium
Promix BX Compressed Bale: ~$63/Bag | My preferred substrate. Consistent, sterile, holds moisture well. One bale fills ~65 trays.
FoxFarm Happy Frog Potting Soil: ~$23/Bag | Solid alternative if you can't find Promix locally. Available at most garden centers.
50-Gal Garbage Bin + Mixing Paddle + Drill: ~$90 / $50 / $18 | For breaking up compressed bales. Bin on wheels so you're not bending over all day.
05 Germination Weights
Concrete Pavers: ~$2–4 ea. | 8–12 lbs per stack. Most standard pavers fall in this range. Use one medium paver or two bricks per stack.
06 Watering/Planting
3-Liter Pitcher: ~$11 | For hand-watering small setups. Fill from your kitchen sink or a spigot and pour 300–500mL directly into the bottom tray.
Garden Hose Nozzle with Shower Setting: ~$8 | Any basic nozzle with a Shower setting works. Attach to your existing garden hose or utility sink spigot.
Retractable Hose Reel (82'): ~$250 | Upgrade option for larger setups. Saves you fighting a coiled hose every day.
07 Harvesting
Harvest Knife: ~$18 | Comfortable grip, stays sharp. Cut about 1" above the soil line.
Digital Kitchen Scale: ~$10 | Reads grams and ounces. Tare function is essential for consistent pack weights.
08 Packaging
24 oz PLA Deli Containers + Lids: ~$216/Case | My go-to for restaurants and markets when I was starting. Compostable, clear, professional. Order base and lids separately.
Hinged Deli Containers: Budget | Budget alternative for early customers and markets.
Thermal Label Printer: ~$100–150 | Get this once you're making sales. The Brother QL-820NWB is what I use. Cheap per label, looks professional, no ink required.
09 Delivery
Insulated Delivery Bag: ~$10 | Keeps product cold during transport. Essential for restaurant and market deliveries on warm days.
10 Seeds
Radish, Triton or China Rose (5 lb): ~$30–40 | Start here. Fast, forgiving, sells well. ~40g/tray. 5 lbs = ~56 trays.
Pea, Field or Speckled (25 lb): ~$81 | Popular seller, great beginner crop. Heavy at ~300g/tray. Buy in bulk. 25 lbs = ~37 trays.
Broccoli (5 lb): ~$50 | High-margin, nutritionally popular. ~18g/tray. 5 lbs = ~126 trays.
11 Farm Management Software
Microgreen Manager: Free to Start | Crop planning + order management built specifically for microgreen growers. Enter your crops and orders. It tells you what to plant, when to plant, and when to harvest.
Free Calculators: Standalone tools, no account needed. Figure out tray counts, pricing, and seed amounts before you ever sign up.
Tray Calculator · Price Calculator · Seed Density Calculator · Microgreen Manager
Estimated Total Cost
Starter Budget: $876 – $958 | Budget trays, 30 trays, starter seeds, 1 case of packaging
Serious Grower Budget: $1,325 – $1,407 | Premium trays, retractable hose, thermal label printer
Estimates based on prices at time of writing. Excludes software, website, and business registration costs.
What You Likely Already Have
You don't need to buy everything from scratch. These are items most people already have at home that work perfectly well when you're getting started. Use what you have. Upgrade only when the volume demands it.
Home Refrigerator: Perfect for storing harvested microgreens before delivery. Most crops stay fresh for 10+ days at 36–42°F. Don't buy a commercial fridge until you're running 100+ trays/week and your home fridge is full.
Kitchen or Garage Table (Harvest / Planting Surface): Any flat, cleanable surface works for seeding and harvesting. A $12 folding table from Walmart does the job. Save the stainless steel harvest table for when you have a dedicated farm space.
Garden Hose with Adjustable Nozzle: If you already have a hose and a nozzle with a Shower setting, use it. The retractable reel is an upgrade for when the daily untangling drives you crazy.
Home Printer (For Invoices): A basic inkjet for printing invoices is fine.
What NOT to Buy (And Why)
These are things I see beginners buy all the time that either don't help, create more work, or become a waste of money at scale. Not everything on this list is universally bad — some make sense eventually. But if you're just getting started, skip them.
01 Blackout Domes / Humidity Domes
Sold hard online. In reality they add cost, storage space, extra cleaning, and an unnecessary production step. Stack-germination works fine without them. I grow 350+ trays/week and never used them.
02 Hemp Fiber Mats / Alternative Grow Substrates
Fine for hobbyists. At commercial scale they're not as reliable or consistent. They don't buffer moisture as well and add complexity. Start with Promix. Switch later if you have a specific reason.
03 Drum Seeders / Plate Seeders (Under 100 Trays/Week)
Under 100 trays/week you'll spend more time cleaning these than you save planting. Pint containers and a kitchen scale are faster to set up, faster to clean, and cost $10 total. Revisit at 150+ trays/week.
04 Specialized Horticulture LEDs / Full-Spectrum Grow Lights
Microgreens don't need expensive full-spectrum lights. The $34 shop light 6-pack is what I use at 350 trays/week. Don't overspend here until you're bigger and want to start experimenting.
05 Drip Systems / Ebb-&-Flow Tables (Early Stage)
Appealing in theory, painful in practice at small scale. They require calibration, cleaning, and constant adjustment as your crop mix changes. Hand-watering 50 trays takes 15 minutes. Automate after production is locked in.
06 pH Meters, EC Meters, TDS Meters
Useful in hydroponic systems. In a soil-based microgreen operation at beginner scale, they're a distraction. Use tap water. If you have consistent problems, then investigate. Don't buy solutions to problems you haven't had yet.
07 Indoor Grow Tents
Cramped, hard to water, and terrible for air circulation. A wire rack in a spare room or garage works better and costs less. You can't scale a grow tent.
Keep Reading
Five posts from the Microgreen Manager blog to read alongside this guide.
- How to Start Growing Microgreens for Profit with Less Than $1,000: The companion post to this guide. Goes deeper on setup, cost breakdowns, and the exact steps to get your first trays in the ground.
- The Exact Order I Would Learn to Grow & Sell Microgreens If I Started Over: A sequenced roadmap for the crops that matter most when you're just getting started.
- The 3 Best Microgreen Varieties to Grow for Beginners: Radish, pea, and broccoli — why these three, how to grow them, and what to expect on your first harvest.
- Stages of Microgreen Production — Soak, Plant, Germinate, Lights, Harvest, Pack: A complete walkthrough of the full production process from planting to packing. Read this before your first tray.
- My Top Mistakes Starting & Scaling My Microgreen Farm: What I wish I'd known in year one. Read this after you've got your first trays planted and you're thinking about what comes next.
All available at the Microgreen Manager Blog
Prices and availability may vary. Amazon links may be affiliate links.
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