A question I have been asked a lot is: “What’s the difference between growing microgreens and growing broccoli?” Both plants grow well in containers, but they have some very important differences.

Microgreens do not need a lot of sunshine. They require little or no watering. The growing medium should be on the damp side for the microgreens to retain their moisture.

Broccoli, on the other hand, does need plenty of sunlight and watering, but they will not grow well if they are over watered. If you water them excessively you will end up with lettuce or cabbage.

In general, broccoli tends to live longer than microgreens. Most have a six-year life span. You don’t want to feed them too much as that may cause them to grow too quickly and be in a rut where they’ll lose their flavor.

Broccoli, on the other hand, will grow more quickly and make you throw away a lot of seedlings because it will produce several crop lengths a year. That can be fine if you have the time to wait that long between crops, but the microgreens I grow have a shorter growing season.

Vegetables that are smaller will have less fertilizer to apply. So even though they have less space, the microgreens and broccoli plants do use more fertilizers to grow better.

If you are looking for a healthy broccoli, just remember that it will be cheaper than the microgreens. But if you want an exotic plant look at the broccoli instead of the microgreens.

Why is growing healthy broccoli a lot more expensive? When I first started growingmicrogreens I bought a very large container for about two hundred dollars. And now that they are in vogue, I can buy a small container for only one hundred dollars or even less.

This might sound like I’m telling my own commercial here, but the small container may be a great selling point for someone who is hungry customer. The hungry customer will pay a lot more for what they really want because it will look and taste better.

Usually the food stores sell larger containers because they sell a lot of food at one time. If you are buying a small container of microgreens, and you get five or six for your backyard and you only plan on growing them in your yard, then it makes more sense to purchase a larger container.

You can find these larger containers at the same places you buy them from food stores. I always tell customers to keep an eye out on eBay and Craigslist because you can sometimes get deals like this for a fraction of the price you would pay at the food store.

For anyone who is thinking about starting a vegetable garden, the only thing you must know is that it is hard work and it will take time. If you have no experience, then go with the microgreens and enjoy them for many years to come.