How to Succession-Sow Microgreens for Weekly Harvests

One of the most practical upgrades any microgreens grower can make is setting up a succession sowing schedule. Instead of growing one tray at a time and then having a gap while the next tray grows, you stagger multiple trays so that one is always at or near harvest. It takes only a little planning and uses the same equipment, seeds and space — but produces a near-continuous supply of fresh microgreens rather than feast-or-famine cycles.

The Basic Principle

If a variety takes 10 days from sowing to harvest, and you sow a new tray every 3 to 4 days, you will have 3 trays in rotation at any given time — one just harvested, one nearly ready, and one just germinating. When you harvest tray 1, tray 2 is 3 to 4 days away from harvest. When you sow a replacement for tray 1, it becomes the new tray 3. The cycle then repeats continuously with no gaps in supply.

This works because microgreens are fast enough that the lag between sowing and harvest (7 to 14 days depending on variety) is short enough that a 3 to 4 day stagger creates an almost continuous supply. For slow varieties like basil (14 to 16 days), a 4 to 5 day stagger between trays works similarly.

How Many Trays Do You Need?

For a 7 to 10 day variety (radish, broccoli): three trays sowed 3 to 4 days apart gives consistent weekly harvests. For a 10 to 14 day variety (sunflower, peas): three to four trays sowed 3 to 4 days apart. If you want daily small harvests rather than weekly larger ones, increase to five or six trays sowed 2 days apart. The right number depends on how much you eat and how often you want to harvest. Most household growers find 3 to 4 trays in rotation comfortable to manage.

Managing Different Varieties Simultaneously

Growing multiple varieties at different timelines is the next level of succession growing. Radish (7 days) and sunflower (12 days) can be managed in the same rotation if you account for the different grow times. The easiest approach is to keep fast and slow varieties in separate mini-rotations rather than trying to stagger them together. Have two or three radish trays at 3-day staggers, and separately one or two sunflower trays at 4 to 5 day staggers. Each rotation runs independently.

Record Keeping

A simple paper chart or sticky note on each tray with the variety and sow date is all you need to manage a succession rotation. Label each tray as you sow it (date + variety) and you will always know which tray was sown first and which is approaching harvest. After a few cycles you will learn the grow times for your specific setup and conditions, which is more reliable than generic guides because it accounts for your actual light intensity, temperature and seed vigour.

Integrating Succession into Your Kitchen Routine

The most sustainable succession schedule is one that aligns with how you actually eat. If you use microgreens primarily in salads at weekends, a schedule that produces a harvest tray on Thursday or Friday is more useful than one producing harvests every single day. Build your rotation around your eating patterns and you will find that the harvest always arrives when you need it most, with minimal waste.