Introduction

Most microgreen farmers operate under similar conditions - indoors and climate-controlled. Despite having similar setups, everybody has their method for growing each variety. I’ll explain how I grow cilantro microgreens at my company, Piedmont Microgreens (PMG). We grow 400+ trays per week (TPW) at PMG, and 10% of those are cilantro. Here are the farm's parameters and the conditions for growing our microgreens. Yes, the relative humidity (RH) is high. I want the RH to be between 45-55%, but we’re working on it. Regardless, our crops grow well and we don’t have any issues with disease. We fertilize all crops with one dosing of dilute Ocean Solution. We dilute one ounce of Ocean Solution to a gallon of water. Every tray gets fertilized first thing out of germination. The rest of their life they get plain regular city water.

Avg. Farm Temperature	75°F/24°C
Avg. Farm Humidity (RH)	65-72%
Lights On	16 Hours
Lights Off	8 Hours
Shelf Spacing	10”
Lighting	2*T5 LEDs 22W/Shelf
Soil	Promix BX
Trays	1020 Shallow
Water	Municipal, Bottom Watering
Fertilizer	Ocean Solution

Growing Cilantro Microgreens

Cilantro can be a trickier crop to grow, but it's worth the effort. Cilantro is one of the top 3 to 5 crops for microgreen producers. It's in high demand and very profitable. Wait to try cilantro until you've mastered 5-8 easier crops, like peas, sunflowers, broccoli, radish, and mustard. Below is information on seed sourcing, product pricing, and gross profits for cilantro. You'll also see photos from our farm at the bottom of the article.

When planting cilantro, like any other crop, start with a layer of tamped soil in a 1020 tray. Evenly sprinkle your 40g of seed across the tray. Use a watering wand to hydrate the seed and soil. Top dress the seeds with a thin layer of soil. Spread the soil around with your hands until the seeds are covered. Lightly water the top layer of soil. Place a bottom tray under each planted tray. Stack your trays no taller than five to a stack. Place the stack on your germination rack, and then place a 10 to 15# paver on top. Leave the cilantro in germination for 6-8 days. The exact duration depends on your farm’s temperature and the type of seed. Cilantro has what’s called a “compound seed,” which means there’s more than one embryo per seed. Beet is another common compound seed. Why does this matter? Some seed suppliers offer “split” seed and some offer “whole” seed. Some growers swear by one version or the other, but I say they’re wrong. A split seed is simply a whole seed that’s been mechanically split in half. Regardless of which version you grow, the sowing density, 40g/tray, is the same. The main difference is that the whole seed is slightly slower to germinate. I suggest germinating split seed for 6-7 days and whole seed for 7-8 days. Some growers are adamant that split seeds shed their seed hulls better, but I think it shouldn't matter to a good grower. We grow whole seed and we have no problem with hulls.

Cilantro's grow time depends on many factors. It's mostly affected by your fertilizer and farm temperature. Higher temperatures and fertilizer will have cilantro ready in 17-20 days. If you plant less than 40g of seed, it could be as fast as 15-17 days. We’re on a 20-day grow, as you can see from the Microgreen Manager screenshots below. We get a healthy five ounces of product with uniform true leaf development. True leaves are key for cilantro microgreens to appeal to chefs. We suggest cutting the stems to be 1-1.5” long. Each chef is different, but we haven’t heard any complaints when a few seed hulls remain on the final crop. Many actually prefer to see a few because it adds an extra dimension. Keep the amount of seed hulls to <10%.

Product Size	Container Size	Price	Client Type
2 oz.	24 oz.	$16.00	Restaurants
8 oz.	64 oz.	$32.00	Distributors

Preferred Supplier	Sun Grown Organic
Preferred Variety	Leisure Whole or Leisure Split
Sow Density	40g/Tray
Est. Seed Cost/Tray	$1.50 (Buying 25#s of Seed)
Est. Gross Margin/Tray	85% (Restaurants)
Popularity Level	10/10 (Top 3)
Difficulty of Growing	Intermediate