No. A tray of microgreens is one harvest, and the cut is what ends it. Clemson Cooperative Extension tells you to snip just above the soil line with clean scissors. The rest of the extension guidance says the same thing, describes that one cut, and stops there. Nothing in it says microgreens regrow into a second crop. No source in this research documents a second cut off the same tray, so plan for one harvest and treat anything past that as luck rather than a schedule.
The pea tray was leaning hard against the window glass by the time I checked it. Stems had run well past the height in the guide, and the earliest true leaves were opening above the seed leaves. I used the same kitchen scissors that cut every tray in this house, gathered the greens into a loose bunch with one hand, and cut just above the growing medium. What stayed in the tray was a wet mat of roots and a row of bare stubs. It went out to the compost that night.
Microgreens get cut at the cotyledon and first true leaf stage, which is the reason the scissors go so low in the first place. Cotyledons are the seed leaves, the pair that came out of the seed itself, and at that size they make up most of the plant. One pass takes the stem and both of them. Growers ask whether microgreens regrow because the roots are still sitting there, wet and alive under the blade line, but everything green ended up in the bowl.
The second harvest microgreens growers hope for never shows up in the guidance here, and a new sowing closes the gap faster than most people expect it to. Harvest runs 7 to 21 days after germination, once the cotyledons are full and the first true leaves have emerged. On slower crops the marker is three or four true leaves, which takes about three weeks. Most trays are ready at 1 to 3 inches (3 to 8 cm) tall. Sow the replacement the day you cut and you are back in greens inside three weeks.
Count backward from the day you want greens on the plate instead of hoping microgreens regrow. Cut microgreens hold good quality for 5 to 7 days in the refrigerator, and a bit longer on some types. A tray that finishes ten days early is a tray you throw out. Use your own crop's spot in the 7 to 21 day window rather than one fixed sowing day, because a tray of peas and a tray of herbs will not land on the same date. Two or three staggered microgreen trays running a few days apart keep the supply steady.
Cut with clean scissors or a sharp knife just above the growing medium, once the cotyledons are full and the first true leaves have come through. No second cut is described after that, so sow the next tray the same day.
If a stub in your tray does push out something green, cut it and eat it. None of these sources documents a reliable second cut, so keep it out of your planning and out of your math on how many trays you need. The scissors and a fresh sowing are the whole routine. That habit costs less than a shelf of tired stubs you keep watering out of hope.
Read the full article: Microgreens: What Science Says and How to Grow
