How, Why, & When to Trim Your Sprouts (Thinning)

The same steps and tips are written below.

Trimming your sprouts is mission-critical to growing big, healthy plants that give you more to eat and enjoy! Known as "thinning" in the plant world, it means removing some sprouts, giving the remaining plant(s) increased access to light, water, nutrients, air, and space so they can grow better without as much competition for resources.

Kelby will let you know when it's the best time to trim your sprouts and will include a task with details. All you need is a clean pair of scissors to cut your sprouts at their base:

One sprout may have several leaves. Every single stem coming out of the rockwool is one sprout, no matter how many leaves it has.

Leafy greens and lettuces include butterhead, breen, spinach, mustards, bok choy, tatsoi, and Swiss chard to name a few.

If you’re growing any fruiting plants (think tomatoes, peppers, etc.) or large flowers (sunflowers, hibiscus), you can cut these sprouts down to 1 per yCube too.

Tip: Leafy green, lettuce, and herb sprouts are all edible, so try ‘em out!

A leafy green yCube unthinned (left) and thinned down to 1 sprout (right)

A thinned (left) and unthinned (right) fruiting plant yCube

Herbs include plants like basil, cilantro, dill, and mint. Small flowers include violas, snapdragon, petunias, and marigolds.

An unthinned (left) and thinned (right) Basil yCube, with 3 sprouts remaining

You'll find every plant listed by name, below. Don't sweat it if you mix up a plant or two along the way - it's better to trim some sprouts than none! The exception is these five plants that we think you'll enjoy more if you let them grow untouched: Arugula, Chamomile, Chives, Garlic Chives, and Wheatgrass.

It's best to thin your plants after they've been exposed to plant food for 1 week, helping you to see which are the tallest sprouts versus which ones won't make the cut. Kelby will send you a task in the app when it's time to thin if you're growing your first set of plants or all new plants on your Gardyn.

Fruiting plants: Banana Pepper, Burrito Pepper, Candy Cane Pepper, Cape Gooseberry, Cucumber, Dragon Beans, Fairytale Eggplant, Goliath Pepper, Green Beans, Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper, Jalapeño, Lemon Hot Pepper, Mini Eggplant, Mini Okra, Mini Squash, Peas, Poblano Pepper, Purple Beans, Red Cherry Tomato, Shishito Pepper, Sweet Peppers, Thai Eggplant, Yellow Beans, Yellow Cherry Tomato

Lettuces & Leafy Greens: American Mustard, Breen, Bronze Arrow, Bull's Blood Beets, Buttercrunch, Butterhead, Cardinale, Celery, Collard Greens, Endive Lettuce, Flashy Trout Back, Green Bok Choy, Green Cabbage, Green Mustard, Green Salanova, Green Tatsoi, Hon Tsai Tai, Iceberg, Kale, Kale Lacinato, Kohlrabi (Purple and White), Lollo Rossa, Matilda, Mini Broccoli, Mini Cauliflower, Monte Carlo, Muir Lettuce, Perpetual Spinach, Pink Celery, Pink Swiss Chard, Purple Bok Choy, Radicchio, Red Amaranth, Red Mustard, Red Romaine, Red Sails Lettuce, Red Salad Bowl, Red Sorrel, Red Tatsoi, Romaine, Rouge d'Hiver, Shiso, Swiss Chard, Tokyo Bekana, Wasabi Greens, Yellow Swiss Chard

Large flowers: Bi-Color Sunflower, Blue Cornflower, Blush Hibiscus, Borage, Canna Flower, Sunflower, Red Hibiscus

Herbs: Basil, Bunching Onions, Catnip, Chervil, Cilantro, Dill, Holy Basil, Italian Parsley, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Lime Basil, Mint, Purple Basil, Purslane, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Stevia, Sweet Thai Basil, Sweet Marjoram, Tarragon, Watercress

Small flowers: Black Viola, Celosia Mix, Dianthus, Fiesta Gitana, Fuchsia Snapdragon, Marigold, Nasturtium, Night-Scented Stock, Oopsy Daisy, Pink Petunia, Purple Campanula, Purple Snapdragon, Radio Calendula, Red Impatiens, Scarlet Snapdragon, Stock Flower, Torenia, Viola, White Petunia, Yellow Snapdragon, Zinnia

Fruiting plants: Mini Strawberries (Red and Yellow),

Questions? Reach us at support@mygardyn.com, or chat with us! We're here to help.