Microgreens are described as young vegetable greens with an approximately 1-3 inches height. These young plants include herbs and vegetables like basil, mustard, sunflower shoots, and broccoli microgreens. They are also known as vegetable confetti or micro herbs. In fact, microgreens are in a growth level between sprouts and baby greens. The main difference between sprouts and microgreens is that sprouts do not have leaves, but microgreens do.
If Like to know more about microgreens, check these articles:
 <<What Are Microgreens >> and  <<Top 5 Types Of Microgreens>>
Why microgreens?
So, what is the advantage of microgreens? Why not regular vegetables? To summon it up in one sentence, micro herbs have much more nutrients than a typical plate of vegetables could ever provide and are also rich in flavor. They are described as highly aromatic flavored plants. They vary in taste, and their strong taste usually ranges from neutral to sour, bitter, and spicy based on the type of seed being cultivated. As mentioned, you can use many kinds of seeds to cultivate and grow your microgreens for your organic diet.
Corn microgreens
You can see the wide use of corn all over the world. Corn is a very popular cereal whose microgreens can imbue your plates with a nice-looking golden color. Corn shoots are beneficial sources of calories, and even people who dislike vegetables fall in love with them when they try them for the first time.
 corn microgreens overview
| Family | Poaceae |
| Nutrition | Vitamins A, B, C, and E, iron, calcium, and magnesium |
| Average days to germinate | 3 to 5 days |
| Average days to harvest (after germination) | 6 to 8 days |
| Difficulty | Easy |
Benefits of popcorn microgreens
Corn microgreens are pretty tasty and can be called the sweetest-tasting microgreens. They are also excellent sources of Calcium, Magnesium, vitamins A, B, C, and E, and above all, antioxidants that can help you prevent cancer. They also contain ferulic acid, iron, and beta-carotene.Â
Popcorn microgreens can boost your immune system. They can also help you improve your bone health and reduce hypertension. They help prevent anemia, reducing the possibility of diabetes or controlling it. Corn microgreens can contribute to fighting tumors that cause breast or liver cancer. They can also help your vision since they are a good source of vitamin A. So, it is beneficial if you can add them into your daily diet and benefit from their perfect taste and advantages.
How to grow corn shoots indoors
If you find it hard to buy fresh and organic corn microgreens every day, in that case, this article will help you learn how to cultivate this fantastic health booster microgreen at your own home. Growing corn microgreens is easy and rewarding. Both sweet corn and other commercial corn varieties with smaller seeds can be grown as corn shoots and will quickly lead to satisfying results.
Growing corn microgreens procedure
First, you need to pre-soak the corn seeds for 24 hours. Soaking the seeds will accelerate the germination rate and allow microgreens to grow simultaneously. Corn microgreens’ flavor is sweet and sugary and they do not need to be rinsed and drained. The germination process will take about 3-4 days, and you can harvest them in 10-14 days, but of course, that is one of the ideal timings, and if you wait more days, different outcomes will surprise you.
Try covering them with some dark plastic or other suitable materials as your corn shoots start appearing. You can also turn a sowing tray upside down and place it on your crops to cover them. That is what growers usually do to create a blanching effect. The blanching effect will add beautiful yellow color to your corn shoots and make them more attractive. After a week, the process is done, and you can take off the cover. But keep in mind that you need to another week before harvesting popcorn microgreens.Â
Do not let the shoots be exposed to sunlight prematurely. Since photosynthesis is why vegetables, herbs, trees, and plants are green, you can completely understand the importance of covering fledgling crops. Otherwise, the corn shoots will turn green. The yellow color of corn microgreens will let you have nice pale-yellow color on your salads. You can also mix them with green and red microgreens like beet microgreens and radish microgreens. In the end, you can enjoy the perfect combination of fascinating colors in your foods.
Harvesting corn shoots
After you harvest your corn shoots, keeping them in the fridge will allow you to keep them fresh and usable, but after a week, they will not have the same freshness as they used to. So, you have only one week’s supply of fresh corn microgreens before starting the process all over again.Â
corn microgreens seeds
Conclusion
To make a long story short, growing microgreens indoors is becoming more and more popular. Micro herbs have much more nutrients compared to regular vegetables. Among all microgreens, corn microgreens have their fans. They are easy to be grown indoors and can provide nice pale-yellow color, which makes any food or salad colorful. Popcorn microgreens are excellent sources of Calcium, Magnesium, vitamins A, B, C, and E, and above all, antioxidants. Corn microgreens can boost your immune system, prevent anemia, and control diabetes.
