Crunchy Popcorn microgreens Popcorn microgreens have a unique & delicately sweet flavor with a fresh & ”grassy” undertone, reminiscent of the mature vegetable. They have a delicious crunch, making them an increasingly popular ingredient in a variety of dishes including sandwiches, wraps, salads & sauces. You have to try this sweet microgreen for yourself! Health Benefits 🌱 Good source of vitamins A, B, C, K & E 🌱 Good source of minerals such as calcium & magnesium 🌱 High in chlorophyll, which can help boost red blood cells, heal damaged skin, neutralize toxins & lower inflammation. Flavor Profile 🌱 Fresh & sweet corn flavor with a grassy finish, evoking wheatgrass 🌱 Crunchy texture Appearance 🌱 Tender, long shoots 🌱 Light green in color, possible golden yellow hues How to use them: 🌱 Pile onto salads, wraps & sandwiches 🌱 Blend into sauces, dips, pestos & spreads 🌱 Garnish any dishes for a sweet flavor and refreshing crunch We’ve compiled some of our favorite Popcorn microgreen recipes. You can find them here! Follow our Micro-Popcorn Growing Experience The peel time is around 5-7 days after the initial soak. The grow time is around 8-10 days. Popcorn microgreen shoots will grow to be about 5-7 inches tall when ready to harvest. Day 1 Planting the Seed Quilt: Just follow the simple Hamama instructions. This video demonstrates how to soak your Seed Quilt for optimal germination. Give your Seed Quilt a quick shake to evenly distribute the seeds, add water to just below the fill line on your tray, then set the quilt on the tray’s bottom ribs. To ensure that it is adequately soaked, be sure to hold it down long enough for the quilt to turn a shade darker. After the soak, be sure that the quilt is properly propped on the tray's bottom ribs so that neither side of the quilt is dipping into the water. Make sure that no water is left pooling on top of the seed pockets. Find more watering tips here. Day 2 The Seed Quilt won’t look much different. The water level may have gone down from day one, which is normal (Do not add additional water at this point). Another thing to note is the environment where you keep your greens! When referring to temperature, anywhere between 65-80 F is best. The warmer they are in that range, the faster they will grow with predictable health. Cooler temps can stunt the growth and it'll take a little longer for the seeds to germinate. What’s the top layer for? It's important to have a weighted black-out period for the first few days of growing microgreens. The weighted black-out period (seeds held down + darkness) encourages the seeds to send their roots downward, as opposed to growing outward and sending out root hairs to grab moisture from the air. Days 3 - 4 You may see some germination by day 3-4 or so. You should notice even ballooning across the Seed Quilt more and more each day after that. At this point, they are starting to set their roots down into the coconut mat. Popcorn microgreens grow crazy long roots! White Fuzzy Roots, What’s the Deal? If you see these white fuzzy root hairs as shown above, know that your Seed Quilt is happy, healthy and growing! Don’t worry - these tiny little root hairs are a completely normal part of the growing process. When roots have access to lots of oxygen for root respiration, these tiny fuzzy root hairs form - a great sign of healthy, happy root development! Days 5 - 6 You should notice even ballooning across the Seed Quilt from the seeds germinating. This Seed Quilt will be ready to peel soon! Try not to peel too early! As the roots begin to grow, they need that top layer to encourage them to penetrate the bottom of the mat. Without it, the roots risk staying above the mat, which would cause them to dry out. Not only does it help the roots but it is also super beneficial for the greens themselves! It keeps moisture in from the initial soak, regulates temperature and humidity, and also shields the seeds from light during the germination process. Day 7 Peel Day! Once the greens are pushing through the top layer across the whole Seed Quilt, causing it to either rip or balloon up, it’s ready to peel. If the paper is ballooned, you can peel it off in one motion. If the paper is ripped, just remove the paper pieces individually. Typically with popcorn microgreens, you will see the shoots push right through the top paper from their strength. Day 8 Don’t worry if it looks like there are a lot of ungerminated seeds - because they are so big, it’s more noticeable but it’s normal (much like wheatgrass). You will still get a large, tall and lush harvest at the end! Days 9 - 11 Your micro-Popcorn will continue to grow each day from here on out. You’ll notice a big change in your greens from just morning to night, especially right after peeling and exposing them to light. They will turn greener as they absorb more light (with popcorn microgreens specifically, it is suggested to grow them with less light than other varieties as the color, texture and taste may change slightly with more light). As the greens get bigger they also tend to take up a lot more water. This is the perfect time to check the water level in your tray, especially if you live in a drier climate. If you notice that the water level has gone below the halfway point of the fill line and bottom of your tray, you can add enough water to reach the ridges at the base of the tray. This gives those roots enough water to sustain the greens without over-watering them. Never fill the water back up to the fill line. For a general rule of thumb, Popcorn microgreens will range from 5-7 inches tall at maturity. This is just a reference as growing conditions (light, temp, etc) will affect the mature height slightly. You’ll want to harvest at this point as popcorn microgreens tend to get more fibrous and take on a different flavor if left to grow too tall. They are sweeter and more tender when they are shorter. Harvesting & Storing your Microgreens Fresh Popcorn microgreens can be harvested by cutting at the base & storing them in a glass Tupperware or Stasher Bag in the fridge. They will last for about 10 days that way. The greens can also become slightly bitter and more fibrous the longer you leave them in the tray after maturing [We advise you to harvest popcorn shoots as soon as they reach maturity; If grown longer than that they will begin to develop their leaves which are very fibrous and not good to eat]. Learn more about harvesting your microgreens here. * Make harvesting & storing your homegrown greens a breeze. The Hamama Harvesting Kit includes a reusable Stasher Bag®, cute branded harvesting scissors, and natural fiber bamboo scrub brush for cleaning your grow tray. Do you need to rinse microgreens before use? When the microgreens are ready to harvest you don't need to rinse them, but you can if you prefer. Since there’s no soil, they’re already super clean. *For longer storage, don’t rinse the harvested microgreens before storing. Instead, rinse just before eating, if desired. What's next? After harvesting your greens, you can compost or re-purpose the used coconut mat. Learn how to Upcycle your Coconut Mats here. Give your grow tray a quick wash & plant your next Seed Quilt. Learn how to wash your grow tray here. Reach our team of Grow Coaches at hamama.com/help. We hope you enjoy our Crunchy Popcorn microgreens! 💚🌱 References: Xiao, Zhenlei, et al. “Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 31, 2012, pp. 7644–7651, https://doi.org/10.1021/jf300459b.
